"Seussical" by Nottingham Arts Youth Theatre

Nottingham Arts Theatre.

For those who have never had the pleasure of seeing "Seussical", the plot may be just a little difficult to follow, but here goes.

There is a small town called Who where the Whos live. The town is so small that it can fit within a speck of dust. Jojo finds a red and white striped hat, which belongs to the Cat in the hat who tells Jojo to imagine the Jungle of Nool, where Horton The Elephant lives. Horton hears a noise from a speck of dust, where the town of Who is, and so to keep it safe, he puts the speck of dust on a head of clover. His animal friends though do not believe Horton can hear anything from the speck of dust and ridicule him. The Cat pushes Jojo into the story and becomes the son of the Mayor and Mayoress of Who's son. That is where Jojo meets Horton. Horton is ambushed by a trio of monkeys called the Wickersham Brothers who steal the head of clover and from there on Horton, while minding an egg for one of his bird friends, and being captured by the circus, tries to retrieve the clover with the speck of dust on which contains the town of Who, where Jojo is. And then has to prove to the judge that he is not really crazy!!

Ok now you have the story!

The production has a cast of thirty-seven. And there is a total of onstage stars numbering thirty-seven. Every single person on that stage gives 110%. They all know exactly where they should be at any given time, they smile, they dance, they sing, they act and they give their absolute all. This is why this show is a massive success. It was like watching a show in the West End, it was so slick, so stylish, the vocals were spot on, the dancing was wonderful, the acrobatics were jaw-droppingly good. This is a show where everyone has worked together and it really shows. Chris has been directing shows for about twelve years but this is his first show that he directed a public performance in Nottingham.

Director Christopher Mundy must have a magic wand because everything was what you'd expect from a big touring show. He has a way of getting the absolute best out not only the older members of the cast - and when I say older I mean the oldest being just 20 years old - to the youngest of the cast, who all looked as if they were having the time of their lives on stage. Chris has been directing shows for about twelve years but this is his first show that he directed a public performance in Nottingham.

This musical is non-stop singing and dancing and choreographer Jessica Royce excels herself with this full-on dance spectacular. The choreography is incredibly creative and exciting and again shows the immense work that this cast have had to bring to this show.

We send our best wishes for a speedy recovery to Musical Director Gareth Wynne who is ill. Thankfully Jon Orton stepped into the breach and did a brilliant job covering for Gareth. The eleven-piece orchestra sounded incredible at the Arts Theatre and with this particular musical being all music, they were working full on for two hours, apart from the twenty-minute intermission.

The sound was perfectly balanced and I am pleased to say that the volume was louder than I expected but that seemed to add to the excitement of the show and the evening. I could hear every singer on stage, everyone was mic'd up, well balanced with the orchestra and I didn't have to strain my ears to hear any of the script or lyrics. 

The sound effects were crystal clear and timed perfectly.

The lighting was of the quality you'd expect from a touring production, in fact it was better than some of the touring productions I've seen in the past. There was a section of Ultra Violet lighting which really made the particular section very special. Ollie and Peter from College Street were responsible for this very professional technical design.

The set design was pretty amazing as well with everything from colour by numbers trees to giant lollipops and a multi levelled set, which was needed to fit all of the young actors on stage when they were all on at the same time. Cris Brawn and his army of helpers did a great job on the design.

Now, I'll be here all night if I mention every one of the thirty-seven strong cast, so here are just some of those megastars....

I last saw Louis Barnes-Cupit in "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat", which he was wonderful in. This part really proves what a brilliant frontman and showman Louis is. He gets to show off his skill for accents, timing, song and dance, as well as comedy acting and physicality. Completely faultless performance of which he should be very proud of. He has gone from strength to strength in everything that I have seen him in.

Playing Horton is Oliver Halford, and while he does not have an awful lot of choreography, he does show off a wonderful voice for musical theatre. He acts with his whole body as well as his face and, as one of the oldest actors in this group, he is someone who the younger ones can look up to and aspire to be as good as.

Freya Rhodes plays Gertrude McFuzz, who has fallen in love with Horton, Gertrude that is not Freya. Great vocals from Freya and lovely harmonies highlighted in her song "Notice Me Horton".

Eloise Rees, who played Jojo was a little firework, exploding on stage, a real bundle of energy. Brilliant singer and a very capable dancer, both of which she showed to great effect on stage.

Mr Mayor is played by George Young, who can give Louis B-C a run in the hair department. I have seen George perform as The Cat In The Hat a few years ago, and I noted his performance at that time. He looked liek he enjoyed every minute of his time on stage tonight, just as much as we enjoyed seeing him on stage.

Caitlin Young plays Mrs Mayor and matches George extremely well on stage with acting and vocal ability.

Emily Hope Wilkins gets to belt out some wonderful vocals playing Mayzie La Bird, and quite aptly she is amazing Mayzie!

The trio of Bird Girls brought glamour to the show and Charlotte Fisher, Hattie Campion and Kate Russell get to wear some incredible flashy Las Vegas style costumes.

I loved the kangaroos. Sophie Benner has got a cracking voice and her vocals have really advanced since I last heard her singing. She has power and great attitude and brings fun to the role. Florence Everitt plays the Young Kangaroo and also has that wonderful attitude in her vocals.

Louis Elliment plays General Gengus Khan Scmitz, in charge of the army in Who. loved the character acting and a walk straight out the John Cleese handbook for silly walks. Great fun.

The very naughty but fun Wickershams were played by Charles Beckett, Megan Holder and Zach Silcox. Zach really drew my attention with his voice. That rich and deep voice was not what I expected to come out of that cheeky young actor.

Someone who has never taken part in a musical before is Julian Magda who doubles his parts by playing the brilliant Yertle The Turtle as well as Vlad Vladikoff. They may only be small parts but his Yertle is especially memorable.

Another wonderful ensemble performance throughout, and it is great to see the younger performers providing so much energy in their roles and while they all did an amazing job, you could not help but notice little Sophie Rees who lit up every time she was on stage.

A more professional production you'd be hard pressed to find and with many earworm songs in the soundtrack like "Oh The Things You Can Think", "Alone In The Universe", "How Lucky You Are", "Havin' A Hunch" and "Green Eggs and Ham", you'll leave the theatre with these songs buzzing around your head for the next few days.

This week local theatre, and especially Youth Theatre, has shown me what an incredible pool of talent we have in the area, and that if they are this good now, what are they going to be like in a few years' time. Watch out West End, the East Midlands have your future stars ready and waiting for you.

"Seussical" is at the Nottingham Arts Theatre until Saturday 5 February, so if you are at a loss for what to do on Saturday, do not miss the chance on seeing this group of amazing performers, before you have to pay West End prices!