A selection from a recent Burlington Post review of our production of Seussical, from Vic Hyde:
Seussical delivers colourful, kid-friendly show
Seussical, with music by Stephen Flaherty and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, is the current offering by Centre Stage Productions. The musical is, of course, based on the works of children’s author Theodore Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss. The story borrows elements and characters from several of his books. It centres around Horton the Elephant (Adam Falcone) and his quest to protect the people of Who-ville who live on a speck of dust. The story line is held together by a narrator in the form of The Cat in the Hat (Nick Marquis) who often works with his young friend JoJo (Kailin Brown). Among the many other characters who live in the Jungle of Nool and who cannot believe that Horton can actually hear a Who are Gertrude McFuzz (Beth Marquis), Mayzie LaBird (Sara Jeffries), Sour Kangaroo (Jenn Zdriluk) and General Gengus Khan Schmitz (Peter Hoffman).
From Who-ville we meet the Mayor (Matt Bishop) and his wife (Melisa Parisi) and there are another dozen or so performers who sing, dance and obviously have a great time in this sung-through musical that has the occasional piece of rhyming dialogue to help things along.
Costumes, set pieces and stage props are all highly colourful and indeed, colourful is certainly a good way to describe this Centre Stage version of the Seuss musical. Of course, you need more than just colour to make a show like this work and, happily, this version has it in spades.
Director Helen Zdriluk has not only brought together a lively, enthusiastic cast, she moves her people around the Stars Academy stage extremely well.
The result is a kid-friendly show (for kids of all ages) that is certainly one of the most enjoyable Centre Stage productions I can recall seeing.
If you have a chance (and perhaps a young child or two) you should consider getting yourself to the Stars Academy Theatre on Blair Road, off Mainway, where Seussical will continue its happy way on Sept. 3 and 4 at 7:30 p.m.
For tickets at $17 for adults and $12 for seniors and students, call 905-634-7324 or visit www.centre-stage-productions.com.