And what a mischievous Cat in the Hat it is – with the great comic actor Brian Jerz creatively and hilariously leading the way, engaging the audience, and whimsically tormenting his fellow characters. Before it’s over he will have launched a giant beach ball into the stands, teased the Mayor’s Wife (Kendall Quan) by repeatedly keeping out of reach the instructions on how to raise a child (she eventually succeeds in ripping it away), startled little JoJo awake with a toy horn after silently asking the audience whether he should do it, become a purring cabana boy, a gun-happy bailiff, an auctioneer who gets the audience into it, danced with Thing 1 and Thing 2 (Lizzie Hicks and Shannon Hicks) before slamming them together, and turned into a manicurist who paints Horton’s nails and then asks him, “Did you want a flower? I made you a flower.”

“Is that extra?” Horton asks with cautious interest. Aaron Wolgemuth has a laidback, dry sense of humor that works great for the role of the loyal Horton the Elephant, and he carries his tender tunes well. A couple of those tunes are accompanied by his lonely little Who friend, JoJo, who finds himself feeling alone in the universe when his parents send him off to war for thinking to many strange thinks. Grahme Meneses is a charismatic JoJo who eagerly enjoys his imaginative worlds, gets a little nervous when they put him in the army, but manages even then to playfully taunt his yelling General Gengus Khan Schmitz (Michael Read) whenever the general’s back is turned.

Horton is adored by the plain bird next door with a one-feather tail, Miss Gertrude McFuzz, who has composed hundreds of little love songs for Horton, trying anything to grab his attention. Brittany Breeding plays Gertrude humorously with a bit of an edge. You don’t want to tick her off. In sharp contrast to the adoring Gertrude is the ultra-selfish “Amazing Mayzie” LaBird who pities Gertrude’s little tail and tricks Horton into sitting on her egg so she can get a little vacation. Thirteen-year-old Hayley Higgins truly is amazing as the vain Mayzie, demonstrating great attitude, body language, dancing, and singing (mostly singing her own praises).

Performed August 9-19, 2007.

Rob Hopper
National Youth Theatre

JoJo: