Friday, May 18, 2007

Review of “Seussical"

"Seussical”: From One Audience Members Perspective

The Cerro Coso theatre department recently ran a three day production of “Seussical, A Dr. Seuss Musical” directed by faculty member Melinda Fogle-Oliver. The musical featured music by Stephen Flaherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, book by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty. The musical was co-conceived by Lynn Ahrens, Stephen Flaherty and Eric Idle and was based on the works of Dr. Seuss.

I enjoyed the musical immensely, but I would definitely say that my 4 year old son found it to be far more magical. By the end of the performance he was literally dancing in his seat along with the performers as the show closed. To me that says something about the power of a performance if it can hold the attention of a child that young and keep them enchanted throughout - and he was captivated the entire 2 hours of the show!

We were transported to the mythical world of Seuss, through the Jungle of Nool, and the microscopic world of Whoville. It was a whimsical, fantastical, hysterical, and magical venture through the imagination of Seuss where elephants talk and kangaroos sing. Led by the Cat in the Hat, we met some of our favorite Seuss characters including Horton the Elephant, The Grinch, Lazie Mayzie, Gertrude McFuzz, and all the Whos of Whoville. The classical tales were seamlessly woven together in a tapestry of color and energetic music.

The set design was simple, with a tile floor of cream and teal large squares and two large backdrops painted with Seuss-style art scenes. All of the props used fit with the Seuss style of objects and art. I thought that the costumes were done cleverly since several of the actors/actresses played multiple parts. Their face paint was done in a whimsical manner, stylistically reminiscent of Seuss, but in a way that made them able to go from one costume to another and look good in any outfit. I found it amusing that the stage hands had numbers on them, and I believe that was a reference to the numbers on some of the Dr. Seuss characters from his stories.

I thought the entire cast performed wonderfully but a few of the stand outs in my opinion were; Gertrude (Brittany Candra Throckmorton), Horton the Elephant (Savanah Liska), and JoJo (Becki Cornett). These three ladies have wonderful voices but beyond that they really exude the personalities of their characters and are very emotive in their actions and their facial expressions. You connect with them and therefore connect with their characters and find yourself moved by them. An excellent performance by them all.

The primary themes of the musical were to be aware of “How Lucky You Are” and that “a person’s a person, no matter how small.” The first focused on the idea that no matter how difficult things may get it is important to know that they can always get worse. Count your blessings and know that everything will be okay. The production team was successful in doing this because it was very touching at parts of the story and it made me think about how lucky I am. I shouldn't stress out so much about little things and remember to hang on to the friends and family I have. The second focused on the concept that everyone has value, no matter how small they are, what they look like, or what they do. I found this theme very endearing, especially when Horton the Elephant was singing to the little tiny Who’s that they were important, no matter how small they were. I was very impressed with this production.

The production itself, as mentioned earlier, is a musical that is a combination of some of the Dr. Seuss stories. We meet Horton the Elephant who hears a Who and ends up in a tree sitting on Mayzie’s egg, JoJo the Who that gets in trouble for thinking too much but whose thinking saves the day, and Gertrude, the bird with the one feather tail who tries to get Horton’s attention by taking some pills to grow a fancy tail, but then can’t fly because her tail grows so long! We see the Grinch, Yertle the Turtle, a Sour Kangaroo, Cindy Lou Who, and a variety of other characters that made the evening a hoot. I felt the story was a wonderful blend of the original Seuss books, and I enjoyed the songs very much.

I found the production to be whimsical and energetic. I also found it to be moving and the story of Horton and the Who’s in particular very compassionate. The music was lively and made you want to sing along. As evidenced by my 4 year old, it also made you want to get up and dance along with the characters. I was happy to see that in the end Horton found the Who’s and that he wasn’t the only one who heard them anymore; that Gertrude finally got Horton to notice her; that JoJo saved the day and the Who’s realized that thinking wasn’t such a bad thing after all. It was definitely a journey I, and I’m sure my son, will not soon forget!

More Seussical Photos