As much a part of the iconography of American culture as Lincoln’s beard or Marilyn’s dress or Mickey’s ears, the red-and-white striped stovepipe hat worn by the cat in Dr. Seuss’ most famous story is the fashion accessory that has helped forge generations of readers.
And it’s the first prop audiences will see in Iola High School’s version of “Seussical the Musical Jr.,” which descends on the Bowlus Fine Arts Center tonight and Friday, starting at 7 p.m.
The musical’s opening minute — in which a spotlight is trained on the familiar hat, slumping unattended in the middle of the stage — marks the rare static moment in a show that is otherwise brimming with jubilant doggerel and grand-scale choreography.
Directed by Richard Spencer, with musical direction by the very Seussian-sounding Ben Ballou, the script is a joyous mash-up of Seuss tales, which dwells primarily on the story of Horton, a gentle elephant — played with convincing tenderness by Aaron Terhune — who, in attending to his patch of clovers, comes across a speck of dust, upon which lives a colony of microscopic Whos.
The Whos, however, are evident only to Horton — who does his all to protect the speck of dust from the crush of an insensitive world — a fact which earns the loyal elephant the ridicule of his jungle community.
Chief among his antagonists — at least in the beginning; this being a children’s story, all enemies become friends in the end — is the Sour Kangaroo, played by the big-voiced belter Brynna Hollins, and the Wickersham Brothers, rambunctious monkeys led by senior Judd Wiltse, who brings his usual off-kilter charm to the role.
But Horton is steadfast in his protection of the Whos and Whoville. “A person’s a person, no matter how small,” insists the simple pachyderm.
Horton does find a friend, however, in the shape of sweet-faced Gertrude McFuzz — played with enormous sympathy by Abby Valentine — who pines for nothing so much as a long and colorful tail.
There is, in addition, a side-story — drawn from Seuss’ first Horton book, “Horton Hatches an Egg” — whose plot isn’t worth describing here, except to say that it features a swishing, diva-ish performance by the magnetizing Karly McGuffin, in the role of Mayzie La Bird, that is on its own worth the price of admission ($5 for a general audience; free for students).
JoJo, the smallest Who in Whoville, is played by Drew Tucker, who, like Horton, is a creature too sensitive for the world he was born into, and who retreats at the drop of a hat into the safety of his imagination.
Speaking of hats. The Cat as narrator is the glue that holds the production’s various parts together. Sophomore Zach Cokely delivers a manic, precocious performance that keeps the hour-plus production taut from start to finish.
The willingness to look hard at serious themes rescues the musical from the relentless whimsy which could condemn any Seuss-based production to the cavity-inviting confectionery aisle. As performed by IHS, though, “Seussical the Musical” is an anthem for the underdog, a hymn to the power of the imagination, and a definite whos-it for your whats-it.
