Oh Me, Oh, My! What a lot of Funny Things Go By – a review of “Seussical”

 

By Michael Buzzelli

There’s a plethora of material written by Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel), the beloved children’s author and poet, but Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty (with some help from Eric Idle) have distilled some of the iconic author’s stories into song in “Seussical.”

The Cat in the Hat (Beth Malone) meets up with JoJo (Henry Thomas) and tells him an extended, remixed version of “Horton Hears a Who.” Horton (Jacob Keith Watson), a talking elephant, discovers a microcosmic world populated by teeny, tiny people.

Nerd Alert:  “Horton Hears a Who” was first published in 1954, long before Stan Lee and Jack Kirby invented the Microverse in Fantastic Four #16 (1963).

The Mayor (Devin Neilson) and his wife (Laura Guley) are concerned about their world as it drifts aimlessly on top of a speck of dust until Horton hears their pleas and rescues them.

Horton makes friends with the Microworlder, the aforementioned JoJo. A Sour Kangaroo (a gloriously bigger-than-life drag diva Darius Harper) thinks Horton is one peculiar pachyderm. She enlists the aid of the Wickersham Brothers, a ragtag group of monkeys (Zephaniah Divine, Ian Dominguez Ball, and Davis Wayne) to get the Who’s from Horton.

Gertrude McFuzz (Susana Cordón), a bird with substandard plumage, is Horton’s fine feathered friend, who is not-so-finely-feathered. She is tormented by Bird Girls (Kylie Edwards, Jessica Ice, and Brittany Pent Rohm), basically, avian Mean Girls.

The plot doesn’t matter. “Seussical” has the LSD trip-feeling you’d get from classic Hanna-Barbera Saturday morning shows like “H. R. Puff ‘N’ Stuff” and “Lidsville.” The animals talk, birds and elephants can fall in love, and the microscopic  mayor’s son can make a big difference.

“Seussical” is silly fun. When Seuss couldn’t find a rhyme, he created a word and wedged it in. I was ga-fluppted by every zizzer-zazzer-zuzz and zong! The whole thing made my mind murky-mooshy!

Warning: If you take a child, they are likely to catch the performance bug, or, luckily, enjoy a lifetime of live theater. “Seussical” could be a gateway drug for theater.

The performances are spectacular. Thomas is adorable as JoJo. He has superstar potential. He’s a terrific singer and actor.

Malone’s Cat in the Hat makes the most of her role. She’s more of a narrator and crazy side character than hero of the story, but Malone steals every scene, as any hat-wearing-cat should. She gives off Robin Williams vibes, in a zany and in-on-the-joke kinda way. She’s giving full razzmatazz (not a Dr. Seuss word).

Cordón is a standout here. She gets some great moments and uses them to her fullest potential.

Harper sashays around the stage as if they own it. They are Fabulous with a capital F.

Side note: While the Cat in the Hat’s hat is red (and white), MAGA hats might want to stay away from a show that has a drag queen Kangaroo. 

There are some amazing costumes from Leon Dobowski (with some of the original costume designs from George Bacon), particularly the fish. The fish were kaleidoscopic marvels. Yes, there is a red fish and a blue fish, dancing along to some great choreography by Robbie Roby to excellent music by Catie Brown. 

Director Michael Heitzman kept the whole rigamarole (another actual non-Seuss word) moving.

To quote Dr. Seuss (in “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish”), “Oh me! Oh my! What a lot of funny things go by!” 

If you have children, go. Oh! This should be one of the places you’ll go!

-MB

“Seussical the Musical” runs until August 4 at the Byham Theater, 101 Sixth Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222. For more information, click here.