BWW Reviews: Country Playhouse's SEUSSICAL is Jovially Enticing and Blissfully Gratifying

It is summer in Houston. The heat index is soaring more and more each day. Moreover, many of our local theatre companies are producing family friendly fare that allows each and every one of us to beat the heat for fun theatrical treats. Championing this campaign is Country Playhouse with their whimsical and captivating production of Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens' SEUSSICAL. The Broadway incarnation tried out in Boston before moving into the Richard Rogers Theatre late in 2000. It was met with lukewarm reviews and closed on May 20, 2001 after 198 performances and 34 previews. Before hitting the road on its first of two national tours, the book underwent extensive revisions because of its marginal showing on Broadway.

SEUSSICAL is a rather complicated amalgamation of Dr. Seuss' canon of works. The central plot is mostly drawn from Horton Hears a Who!, but the musical interweaves familiar and iconic elements from seventeen other Dr. Seuss books like The Butter Battle Book, The Cat in the Hat, and Oh, the Places You'll Go!. At the top of the show, a young boy dreams up the character of The Cat in the Hat. Before long, The Cat in the Hat thrusts him into Who-ville as the mayor's son Jojo. Who-ville is a town on a tiny speck of dust that Horton is trying desperately to protect. Horton places the speck of dust on a clover, but ends up losing the clover. Meanwhile, in Who-ville, Jojo gets into trouble for thinking too much and is sent to a military camp, where he is enlisted to battle against the Butter Side Downers. With both Horton and Jojo facing perilous odds, they have to find ways to muster up their own courage to preserve.

Bobby Linhart's direction is bursting with opulent and mesmerizing energy and extravaganza. He has skillfully coached his large and diverse cast through numerous scenes that requires fascinating attention to details and enthralling pacing. He ensures that the audience gets completely swept away in the story and has a good time watching it unfold. Conversely, Act I does feel like it is about four songs too long; however, I am certain the fault here lies in Lynn Ahrens' character-laden book or Stephen Flaherty's somewhat repetitive score.

Choreography by Stephanie Linhart is full of joie de vivre and spontaneity. The perky steps are bustling with ebullient vitality. She creates enchanting images and fills the stage with agile, dexterous movements.

Claudia Dyle's Musical Direction is great as well. Under her direction, the cast sings the songs with resounding pluck and personality. As an ensemble, the whole cast is able to harmonize brilliantly and sounds wonderful on the larger numbers too.

Serving as the narrator and MC for the program, Kelly Harkins is phenomenal as the Cat in the Hat. He pristinely blends together the well-known character's trademark zeal and mischievousness, popping in and out of the play's action and messing things up along the way. More importantly, his Cat in the Hat tickles our ribs and leaves us smiling from his beguiling beginning on "Oh, the Thinks You Can Think!" to the entertaining ending.

Horton is remarkably played and sung by Mark Frazier. He instantly warms the audience's heart as he sings Horton's most famous line, "A person's a person no matter how small." Throughout his entire arc, the audience roots for him to be successful, as he keeps us engaged and emotionally invested through touching numbers like "Alone in the Universe" and "Solla Sollew."

As Jojo, Andrew Linhart is simply phenomenal. Despite his young age he skillfully carries the show and emphatically plays his role with sincerity and conviction. His rendition of "It's Possible (In McElligot's Pool)" is splendidly imaginative. He does superbly on his ballads as well, sweetly crooning both "Alone in the Universe" and "Solla Sollew."

Melissa Ramos, who was nominated for Best Leading Actress at the 2013 Tommy Tune Awards, gives a stellar and stirring performance as Gertrude McFuzz. Her ardent dreaming to be more like the other birds is sublimely touching and her character's arc, made all the more enjoyable because of her fantastic performance, has possibly one the most encouraging and uplifting morals in the production. Her renditions of "Notice Me, Horton" and "All For You" are evocatively spellbinding.

Jessica Rohe gives the selfish and arrogant Mayzie La Bird the right amount of family friendly diva attitude. She sings and dances with grace and ample agility, making her Mayzie La Bird the glitziest and flashiest character in the production.

The always-astounding Tamara Siler immaculately and soulfully plays the Sour Kangaroo. Imbuing the character with brassy bravado, she adroitly captures the audience's attention with her show stealing pizzazz. She expertly sells numbers like "Biggest Blame Fool" to the stratosphere and beyond. As her sidekick, Sofia Eden's Young Kangaroo is charmingly cute.

As Mr. Mayor, Mrs. Mayor, and General Gengus Khan Schmitz, Todd Klawitter, Jenny Taylor-Moodie, and Marc Shellum respectively do great jobs as the imposing adults that add hurdles to Jojo's journey. In true Seuss fashion, each of these actors plays these "villains" in such a way that they are not intimidating. They only misunderstand Jojo's desires and imagination.

Daniel Ewetuya, Olivia DiMichelle, Sam Flash, and Christopher Odeku are incredibly spry and adeptly athletic as The Wickersham Brothers. They tumble, leap, and bounce their way through the performance, filling the stage with laudable spectacle every time they are present.

Caitlin Camacho, Angela Pinina Harkins, and Morgan Rucker wonderfully play the Bird Girls. They easily remind the audience of any of the various groups of Doo-wop backup singers from history, filling the stage with their charisma and beautiful voices.

Charlotte Stinson and Sarah Stinson adorably play Thing 1 and Thing 2. They make the audience smile and fill our hearts with glee every time they take the stage.

The remaining members of the ensemble and cast all do impeccable jobs in their many assigned roles. Each one plays his or her roles with tangible and relatable joy, guaranteeing that every image and scene is completed and enchanting. Standouts include John Carmona's cameo as The Grinch and the extravagantly enigmatic dance done by the Hunches.

Light Design by Adam Richardson is astonishing and magnificent. He skillfully utilizes the upstage cyclorama and vibrant color washes to bathe the stage and background in fancifully capricious lighting, giving the show a bewitchingly dreamlike quality from beginning to end.

Costume Coordination by Anice Shelton and Property Design by Bobby Linhart and Madeline Townsend are both impressively breathtaking. The costuming immaculately uses erratically jocular and lighthearted patterns, cuts, and colors in every design. Both the props and costumes exquisitely capture the signature look of Dr. Seuss' illustrations from his beloved books.

Moreover, the Set Design for the musical is exhilaratingly bizarre, precisely recreating the skewed angles and illogical patterns of Dr. Seuss' illustrations. It serves as a gorgeously recognizable backdrop for the production.

SEUSSICAL at Country Playhouse is a jovially enticing and magical fable that is blissfully gratifying for the whole family. It proves a person is never too old or jaded for the world of Dr. Seuss and his distinguished cast of zany characters.

SEUSSICAL runs on the Cerwinski Stage at the Country Playhouse through June 29, 2013. For more information or tickets, visit http://countryplayhouse.org or call (713) 467 - 4497.

All photos courtesy of Country Playhouse.

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