Glee and High School Musical meet Dr Seuss. For those of you unfamiliar with teenage television culture, this equals American schoolkid stereotypes trying to break past being cool and discover themselves, with lots of clear, musical theatre voices and, in this particular production, rhymes and Dr Seuss stripes. If this was a film it would be a guilty pleasure. One girl’s imagination transforms her schoolmates into an explosion of colourful Dr Seuss characters who encourage her to overcome her shyness and try to share her love for Dr Seuss with her real-life peers.
The cast created a wonderful chorus with catchy songs about high school life using rhymes and costumes inspired by the genius Dr Seuss himself. There are a few gems who stand out in the cast. The two main characters, JT ( Margot Hoffman) and Charlie (Tyler Dammann), play kids struggling to defeat the stigmas of high school and celebrate their inner virtues with shining eyes and spotlight solos -that seem more Disney than Seuss. In the ‘real life’part of show JT befriends the charming cowgirl Sam (Mayadevi Ross) who steals the stage in a cheeky number about a cowgirl’s life without a steed or cowgirl boots.
The American High School Theatre Festival has been shipping American high school students over to enjoy and perform in the Fringe since 1994. Was this trip worth it for this Dr Seuss musical? Yes. This show makes you want to dig up all your old Dr Seuss books and delight in the way he writes again.
