Horizon troupers spread their wings in musical “Honk!”

By DAVID DUPONT

BG Independent News

The Horizon Youth Theatre really has something to quack about in its production of the musical “Honk!”

Note, this is “Honk!” the original, not “Honk Jr.,” the shorter adaptation for young actors.

That’s ambitious, especially when the director Cassie Greenlee sets about to feature as many of her young cast members as possible. That cast has an age range of at least 10 years between your youngest ducklings to the lead William Cagle, who is about to fly off to Columbia University in a few weeks.

“Honk!” is on stage is on stage at the First United Methodist Church, 1526 E. Wooster, Bowling Green, Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $10 and $8 for students.

With so many kids getting featured roles, it has the effect of one of those big budget movies with a batch of cameos. Except here the cameos aren’t by a parade of stars but by stars, I’m sure, in the making. That everyone gets a chance to shine is testament not just to the work that went into this production, but to the troupe’s extensive training programs throughout the years. These kids aren’t just ready for this show, but for whatever appropriate show that comes their way.

The musical follows Ugly from hatching to the final realization of his true self. It’s a journey of self-discovery that takes him far from his native lake and puts him in precarious situations. Each of these episodes plays out as its own drama.  Ugly, hungry and cold, finds himself in a home inhabited by a pampered cat, Queenie, (Anne Weaver) and a domesticated hen Lowbutt (Narnia Rieske). Ugly stumbles into their house, followed by his indefatigable pursuer Cat (Thomas Long), disrupting their placid routine.

Suddenly Queenie is love struck by Cat, and the two felines have a delightful dancing scene. The hen Lowbutt fears Queenie will run off with Cat and leave her alone.

Then there’s Maggie Pie (Sophia Nelson), an intrepid and obnoxious reporter for “America’s Most Feathered.” She tries to score ratings with the story of Ugly’s poor mother (Sky Frishman) who has lost her child.

There’s Greylag (Jude Furlong) and Dot (Olivia Strang), leaders of a gaggle of geese. They are marching, not flying, goose-stepping as it were, just one of the gaggle of avian puns with which the writer Anthony Drewe has feathered the script.

At the end we get Maddox Brosius playing a bullfrog who wants to be a comedian and managing to croak out to good effect a number surely pitched for an adult.

Throughout the cast does well by the numbers, including nailing a few difficult harmony parts.

Frishman, as Ida, gives the show much of its heart.  When we meet her, she’s been left on her own by her mate, Drake (Isaac Douglass), as she waits for her ducklings to hatch. This leads to one of the funnier lines. “I may as well have carried on with a decoy,” she tells her friend Maureen (Scarlet Frishman). Then she’s left behind by Ugly, who has been lured away by Cat (Thomas Long).

For most of the other barnyard creatures, his disappearance is no loss. One even suggests it wouldn’t be all that bad if he were eaten by Cat. But Ida is a devoted mother, and she leaves the rest of her brood with Drake, who learns about responsibility, and heads out to retrieve Ugly. Frishman imbues Ida with a deep sense of love tainted by sadness.

Cat is just as intent on snagging Ugly for himself. “A duckling, but so much more,” he says. Cat provides the show’s comic spark. He’s a smirking, overly confident villain, who’s not without his charm. That Long is significantly shorter than Cagle only adds to the humor. The pair have real chemistry. And Long can dance. Whether it’s turning a few ballroom steps with Queenie or doing brisk tap as he prepares to cook Ugly for dinner, this cat is sure-footed and always in motion.

Cagle, who is returning to the troupe after several years away, gives the play soul. He plays Ugly with a blissful ungainliness. Yet in the early scene when he first swims with Ida, he exhibits a taste of the grace he’ll have when he discovers his true nature. Cagle registers his inner journey from a happy, trusting soul, to someone rocked by rejection and deception, but who still is hopeful. He’s on stage virtually the entire show. Even when just observing, he registers the sense that Ugly is learning something new.

Playing Ugly certainly proves to be a beautiful swan song to Cagle’s participation in Horizon Youth Theatre.