Michael Sanchez leads us through the blast as the mischievous Cat in the Hat. He can be seen enjoying the plights of his costars with bemused enthusiasm throughout the show. These include a couple of renditions of How Lucky You Are – once as a jazzy piano man (Michael is one of the few Cats in the Hat who really can play the piano), once when Horton is caught up a tree surrounded by hunters, and once when the poor whos are tumbling down into a vast clover patch during which Michael tosses the clover up in the air to watch them drop back down, then shakes them around, then sneezes on them (the ensemble of whos reacting to it all with hilarious fear, confusion, and disgust). He is almost always accompanied by his playful Thing 1 and Thing 2 (Danielle Sanchez and Brandon Kirshner) who vigorously give him a bath in McElligot’s Pool and later link arms with him as they happily skip off to war behind a bunch of marching cadets as if they were headed down the Yellow Brick Road.

Yes, there are wars and hunters and jungle animals that want to boil the whos in a hot, steamy kettle of beezlenut oil. As the lyrics say, this is Seuss – it ain’t Mother Goose. At the center of the storm is the devoted and trusting Horton the Elephant who vows to protect the tiny whos that no one can see and only he can hear, causing him a good deal of grief by his taunting jungle neighbors. Emmanuel Young, in his first lead role, is off to a good start as the loyal, steadfast Horton you feel sure you can trust. He sadly thinks he’s alone in the universe. But he’s not! There’s the bright-eyed Tyler Ulrich as the young, imaginative boy who gets tossed into the story by the Cat to become the young who JoJo, in trouble for thinking too many strange thinks, with Tyler performing in some of the show’s enchanting songs like It’s Possible, Alone in the Universe, and Solla Sollew. And then there’s Gertrude, the bird next door with a plain one-feathered tail who has a crush on Horton but can’t seem to get him to notice her despite creating some 8,527.2 love songs for him. The magnificent Kaitlyn Terrill amazes yet again, creating a lovably nerdy girl bird with expert use of voice and body language – and a little giggle whenever something goes her way (sometimes followed by an embarrassing little snort).

A few other standouts include Mia Bella Josimovic as the lazy, flirty, and vain Amazing Mayzie La Bird who brings it both acting- and singing-wise. Her hesitant reaction to seeing Horton still in the tree on the egg she stranded him on several months before is amusing and sad. Paige Santangelo knocks out her big numbers with gusto as the Sour Kangaroo, joined by additional great vocals by Young Kangaroo Savannah Montgomery. Toffer Williams is an enthusiastic General Genghis Khan Schmitz who is aglow in the glory of war. Jolene Grubbs is an emotional wife of the who’s mayor (Jon White), ultra-proud to be his loving wife. Chase Fischer, Ian Schroeder, and Toffer Williams make for some good and mean Wickersham Brothers, while Heather Banks, Emily Potashnick, and Sandy Shyu add good vocals and humor as the Bird Girls who help narrate the show (their grossed-out reactions to Gertrude growing a bigger tale is a hoot). The ensemble of whos and jungle citizens work perfectly together and really get the show’s humor, and put their special skills to use in The Circus McGurkus that include hula hoop dancers, a contortionist, and a headless chicken. And last but not least, Giovanna Zavala is the super-cute Elephant Bird who makes for such a nice family moment in the big finale.

Performed November 2-11, 2007.

Rob Hopper
National Youth Theatre

The Cat in the Hat -