Review: SEUSSICAL Is Eighty Minutes of Musical Heaven at Pittsburgh CLO

It's a rare thing when the junior version of a show becomes the default version. Seussical is the exception, a show whose streamlined eighty-minute version has proved to be the ideal way of experiencing it. Gone are the subplots about the Lorax and the military-industrial complex, to focus instead on Horton and the Whos. It's a welcome shift, turning a slightly unwieldy show into a breezy, propulsive comedic fairytale. Pittsburgh CLO's production, directed by Michael Heitzman, is a candy-colored, endlessly entertaining romp for the whole family, with a slightly contemporized vibe.

An imaginative boy (Henry Thomas) conjures up the Cat in the Hat (Beth Malone) as an imaginary friend. Energized by the boy's creativity, the Cat spins Dr. Seuss's tale of "Horton Hears a Who," pushing the boy into the role of daydreaming Jojo. Can this misunderstood dreamer connect with a very sensitive elephant (Jacob Keith Watson) and save his miniscule planet from destruction at the hands of the ignorant or outright cruel denizens of the Jungle of Nool? Of course he can, this is Dr. Seuss we're talking about! 

Director Heitzman, along with choreographer Robbie Roby, keeps the show moving in a constant hum of activity, from the freeform movement of the Jungle to the mechanical, almost Disney-like world of the Whos. As musical director, Catie Brown makes Ahrens and Flaherty's score shimmer; few composers make the sound of a synth-based score as vibrant and organic as A&F do here. (There are moments in the Seussical score where the DNA of Once on this Island peeks through for just a few measures.)

So much of Seussical depends on your Cat in the Hat, and Beth Malone both surprises and satisfies. Better known for her wry, dour Alison in Fun Home, Malone exudes warmth and a controlled zaniness as the Cat. Right off the bat, she enters with a cartwheel, but this is not the histrionic, over-the-top portrayal often associated with the role. Malone finds a sunny but understated "fun aunt" vibe in the role, only mugging when absolutely appropriate. Her chemistry with Henry Thomas as Jojo is palpable; right away we can see an almost motherly bond develop between them.

Jacob Keith Watson is gently soulful as Horton, giving passion but a relatable everyman quality to the thoughtful elephant. His gentleness and subtlety is a great foil for Susana Cordón's madcap manic-pixie-dream-girl of a Gertrude. Cordón can be seen next door in Young Frankenstein, in such a different role that I had to double-check that it was the same performer. Mark my words, Pittsburgh has a new incoming queen of musical comedy.

While it's hard to say Seussical has any villain per se, the two who come closest are both standouts. Darius Harper, a CLO perennial, returns here as the Sour Kangaroo in a scenery-chewing treat of a performance. Toting a puppet joey, dressed in half-drag a la seventies Bowie but sporting an unmistakeable lavender Little Richard pompadour, Harper belts, sneers, dances and raises all kinds of hell as the jungle's meanest inhabitant. On the other end, Kate Loprest brings broad comedy and a genuinely unsettling darkness to egotistical Mayzie LaBird. Much as I hate to spoil one of the evening's funniest gags, the scene where Mayzie brings out a cigarette and starts chain-smoking gets one of the biggest reactions of the night; it's straight out of vintage Looney Tunes. Loprest is very funny, and sings and dances like crazy, but what I walked away remembering is how she made this flighty bird into a real presence with psychological depth; there were one or two moments, particularly Mayzie's soliloquy at the circus, where Loprest moved Mayzie past cartoonish self-absorption and into narcissism bordering on sociopathy. Move over Mother Gothel, Mayzie's taking your place as "worst mother in musical theatre" just as sure as you took it from Mama Rose.

The twelve piece orchestra under Catie Brown's lead and George Hoydich's coordination sounds twice as big still; the use of Hammond organ as a linchpin of the orchestration creates these massive wipes of sound percolating from low and building to great crescendos. It's the sort of a show where a kid who likes singing and dancing will be blown away by the color and spectacle and energy, but a kid who has the budding ear for music will begin to find the complexities and harmonies of Ahrens and Flaherty underneath the bubblegum. Somewhere in the audience at Seussical is a kid whose life is about to be changed. Will it be yours?

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