November 24, 2006
By Tabisa Mntengwana
STUART Little is a mouse, the only mouse in his family; the rest are humans.
This rather strange premise is the basis of a wonderful musical, brought to life by the National Children's Theatre with humour, colour and educational lyrics.
The show is based on the book by American author EB White and is interpreted by artistic director Joyce Levisohn. Ronna Frank provides the music.
Stuart Little features talented singers and actors who play a variety of roles. It runs until 20 December, making it a great holiday treat.
Audience members get into the swing of things, and help Stuart - played by Vanessa Harris - take decisions in his quest to find his lost friend Margalo, the little bird, played by Taryn Bok.
Stuart Little - the Musical in on at the National Children's Theatre until 20 December.
Stuart faces many challenges, ranging from the fact that he is a mouse and his whole family are humans, to being short and having people look down on him. Clayton Botha plays Stuart's brother, George, who is a very supportive and caring sibling.
"We should not use the word 'mouse' in the house in case Stuart feels like an outcast," he advises.
And so the Little family gets rid of everything that is mouse-related or has the word 'mouse' in it, starting with a songbook that is filled with mouse songs. They also replace the word in songs with rhyming words, such as louse. Stuart grows up as part of the Little family. He is teased by others because he is a mouse, but he never allows this to get him down as he knows what he wants out of life.
Jacques le Roux plays Mr Little and Mrs Little is played by Yule Mabhena. Snowbell, the family cat, is played by Shaun Brian Murphy.
Mrs Little helps an injured bird, Margalo, which becomes friends with Stuart. But Margalo leaves without saying goodbye and Stuart's journey to find his friend begins. On his travels, the audience must help him take decisions, and meet the many people he gets to know along the way.
One of these is Harriet Ames, played by Claudine Marais, of Amesland. Amesland is owned by Harriet's family and everything in Amesland is named after the Ames family, even the local dam, where Stuart and Harriet meet for a date. Other people Stuart meets are the local handyman, the captain of a ship called Wasp and some dogs, his biggest fear.
The musical ends with an educational song in which children are encouraged to seek what is right and always to be helpful to others. However, we are never quite sure whether Stuart eventually finds Margalo.
Performances during government school terms are at 9am and 10.30am on week days and on Saturdays at 10.30am and 2.30pm. During school holidays performances are from Monday to Saturday at 10.30am and 2.30pm.
Tickets are available at Computicket or from the National Children's Theatre on 011 484 1584.
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