honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Wednesday, December 8, 2004

STAGE REVIEW
Romance saves whimsical 'Seussical'

By Joseph T. Rozmiarek
Special to The Advertiser

The threshold question about "Seussical," playing at Diamond Head Theatre, is whether it's a kids show or aimed at adults. Only a few children attended the opening night performance, where the median age seemed to hover around 62.

TX Tario, foreground, is Jojo; Scott Moura, top left, is Horton the Elephant; and Colin Miyamoto is the Cat in the Hat in "Seussical."

Brad Goda

But like "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" and "The Lion King," the show seems to work for all ages, although some familiarity with the works of Dr. Seuss will definitely help in following the loopy plot that mixes together several Dr. Seuss stories.

The musical debuted in 2000, with book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty (who also created "Ragtime" and "Once on This Island"), with input from Eric Idle of Monty Python fame. Musical styles include pop, gospel, blues and R&B.

The main story line comes from "Horton Hears A Who," written in 1954, and "Horton Hatches the Egg", which dates back to 1940. A pair of pseudo narrators are drawn from "The Cat in the Hat" and "Oh, the Thinks You Can Think!" — but all these disparate elements don't begin to gel until nearly an hour into Act 1.

What finally pulls the mix together is a low-key and unrequited romantic relationship between Horton and Gertrude McFuzz.

Gertrude, a plain bird who pops pills to develop magnificent tail feathers that prevent her from flying, centers the entire show with her plaintive "Notice Me, Horton." To keep the plot from ending there, Horton the Elephant is too preoccupied with warming the abandoned egg to pay any attention to Gertrude.

'SEUSSICAL'

• 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 4 p.m. Sundays, through Dec. 19. Added 3 p.m. matinees Dec. 11 and 18.

• Diamond Head Theatre

• $42-$12; discounts for students, those 62 and older and military

• 733-0274, www.diamondhead-
theatre.com

Stephanie Conching plays Gertrude as a delightful, innocent waif in the Georgia Engle mode. Scott Moura is a doleful Horton, costumed in gray but with floppy ears and a hangdog expression that make him seem more Weimaraner than pachyderm.

While Horton and Gertrude provide the core of the show, Jojo and the Cat in the Hat link the scenes and offer a subplot.

Colin Miyamoto is a smooth and smarmy buttinsky as the Cat, oozing around the plot like a "Cabaret" emcee. The role of Jojo is double cast with TX Tario and Ka'iana Kau, with 9-year-old Tario in the opening-night slot.

Tario turns in a sharp, earnest and winning performance in a composite role. Encouraged by the Cat to use his thinking power, he imagines his way into Horton's Jungle of Nool, but he also becomes the little boy on the Planet of Who whose big voice makes himself heard.

Jojo also is drafted by the intimidating General Genghis Kan Schmitz — grounded by Viet Vo in resonating bass tones — and drilled in "Green Eggs and Ham" cadence until he opts to go home.

Grace Bell Humerickhouse does a strong supporting turn as Mayzie LaBird, who persuades Horton to sit on her egg while she goes on vacation. Other Seuss characters pop into the action like Internet ads. Alison Maldonado is Sour Kangaroo, DeAngleo Justice is the Grinch, and Arthur Johansen, Kyle Malis and Chris Villasenor are the Wickersham Brothers, a trio of dancing and tumbling meddlesome monkeys.

Greg Zane directs, with choreography by Timothy Albrecht, musical direction by Emmett Yoshioka, cut-out sets by Dawn Oshima and fantastical costumes by Karen Wolfe.

"Seussical" is colorful but convoluted, and true to Dr. Seuss' original imaginative spirit.