Phiilp Lokic plays the lead role of Horton in the Sir Willfrid Laurier Secondary School production of Seussical the Musical. Fred Sherwin/Photo

In a radical departure of past efforts like Phantom of the Opera, Annie and The End of the World (With Prom to Follow), the folks in the theatre department at Sir Wilfrid Laurier Secondary School decided to tackle something slightly less dramatic this year and instead staged the wonderfully whimsical Seussical the Musical.

Seussical the Musical is based on the Dr. Seuss story of Horton Hears a Who! with the addition of characters like the Cat in the Hat, Gertrude McFuzz, Maysie LaBird, the Grinch and others.

It's also chock-a-block with catchy tunes like Alone in the Universe, How Lucky You Are, Oh The Thinks You Can Think and Havin' A Hunch. The production has 32 numbers in all, which means you need a talented cast with some excellent vocalists to pull it off. Fortunately, this year's group is blessed with a wealth of talent starting with Grade 11 student Partrick Lukic who plays Horton.

I remember being blown away by Lukic who played the Phantom in last year's Sir Wil production of Phantom of the Opera. He's even better as Horton. In fact, he's one of the best male vocalists I've seen in a high school production in a long, long time. His solo performance of Solla Sellew in the second act of Seussical was one of the many highlights of the this year's play. But it wasn't the only highlight.

Lukic was surrounded by a chorus of wonderful voices starting with Alyssa Rama who played Gertude McFuzz.

Rama's two solo numbers, Notice Me, Horton and All For You, were especially strong.

Other performances that stood out included Jordan Mason as the Cat in the Hat, Kelsie Smith as Mazie LaBird and Michael Danso, who was a sheer joy as Jojo and shone brilliantly during his solo, It's Possible, and in a duet with Lukic in singing Alone in the Universe.

The 32 member cast shone brightest during the ensemble numbers like Oh The Thinks You Can Think, the repises of How Lucky You Are, The Who's Christmas Pageant and Green Eggs and Ham which brought the production to a close. But for my money the most entertaining number was The People vs. Horton the Elephant which brought everything together.

Kudos to drama director Sonya Schrum who is the person responsible for pulling it altogether. And kudos as well to the school band who provided the soundtrack to the production under the direction of Megan Schwartz.

But the majority of the credit goes to the students, both on stage and behind the scenes. To pull off a production like Seussical takes horus and hours of reheasal and a level of dedication and commitment that is truly commendable.

I mean what I say and I say what I mean, Seussical was amazing 100 per cent.