Director/Choreographer Alison Bretches and her group have a ton of fun with this one, with great performances and a lot of attention paid to each scene beginning with the huge opening number featuring their 200-member cast that fills up the stage and the aisles with lively and funky choreography performed with great energy and precision by the cast ranging in age from early elementary school to a few college kids.

That cast includes several great individual talents. Sammy Lopez is our dynamic emcee, The Cat in the Hat himself, leading the way with great attitude and humor. Thirteen-year-old Bella Briscoe is an outstanding Jojo with a great voice and nice touches like watching and picking up the mannerisms of the whos after the Cat makes him become one, and later when scolded by his parents for thinking too much when he daydreams about McElligot’s Pool, giving the song a touching ending when he looks on the verge of tears – a sensitive boy who loves his thinks and resolves to not give up on them, inspiring the Cat with his courage.

And then there are the characters in the story within the story, with a very likeable Mike Sheldon as the loyal Horton the Elephant defending the whos that only he hears even when everyone else thinks he’s crazy and he feels Alone in the Universe (with Jojo), and sitting on an egg when he gets tricked into it by Mayzie LaBird. Stefanie Miller is said Amazing Mayzie with good flirting and diva-ish charm as she talks Horton into sitting on her egg and shakes her gorgeous tail feathers in the face of the poor, envious one-feathered-tailed Gertrude McFuzz, the plain bird next door with a humongous crush on Horton the Elephant. Mady Rasy is brilliant in the role, a marvelous physical comedian and a natural sense of humor and original personality, also doing some great vocal work as the nerdy bird, but with a voice that can clearly knock it out in a non-nerdy way when needed.

Rounding out the cast is thirteen-year-old Brianca Renfro who nails her big vocals and character as the Sour Kangaroo giving Horton a hard time, while the Bird Girls make for fun and charming narrators and the Wickersham Brothers are very cool and intimidating bullies. While the ensemble of whos and jungle animals excel throughout, from the big opening number to the exciting conclusion.

Fresh off their recent publicity with their former student Adam Lambert in the limelight, MET2 keeps the good press coming with this production that shines on all levels – delightful sets by Alison Bretches, nice lighting effects by Mark Zetler, tons of enchanting costumes by Andrae Gonzalo and Kathie Urban (who founded the company with her late husband), and fantastic direction and choreography by Alison Bretches that captures both the goofy fun and the more touching moments possible with this show, from the sheer magic of McElligot’s Pool complete with exotic fishes, jellyfishes (umbrellas with streamers), cool lighting, props, and a disco ball for bubbles, to Mayzie’s painful rejection of her egg leading immediately into the beautifully poignant lullaby of Solla Sollew as a tearful Horton tries his best to be a father while he and the other cast members dream their own dreams, sharing a utopian vision and yet another world that Theodore Geisel, Dr. Seuss, gave to us.

Performs May 23 - 24, 2009

Rob Hopper
Executive Director
National Youth Theatre

~ Cast ~