Reviewed Jaqcui Mulady
January 2013
Whoever coined the phrase “never work with children or animals” knew what they were talking about. There are going to be some very nervous adult performers around Adelaide having seen the calibre of the up and coming talent involved in this very colourful and slick production.
The show, based on the works of Dr Seuss, follows the life of Horton the Elephant (Mark Stefanoff) and his quest to save the people of Who. Along the way we meet “The Cat In The Hat” played exceptionally well by Samuel Williams at this performance and “Jo Jo” by Jayden Prelc also a standout with his facial expressions and stage presence. Other stand-outs include Tahlia Fantone as Gertrude, Naomi Belet as Maize and Georgia Bolton as the Sour Kangaroo. Georgia is a definite up and comer. The cast were well drilled in the Choreography and the entire production was bright, colourful and fast moving with never a dull moment. The set design worked well for the cast accessibility and the lighting and projection work was a very clever touch.
This very young production team headed by Buddy Dawson, Esther Riggs and Petra Szabo have a very bright future within Adelaide Theatre and the Adelaide Youth Theatre is just what Adelaide needs to train and nurture our future performers. Well done everyone.
