Seussical?- Page 2

[Broadway Bob*]

Posted: 1/9/06 at 3:52pm

To those who accuse SEUSSICAL of being too HAPPY... What's wrong with that? Why does every show have to be a depressing evening of death/disease/chandeliers? I was priviledged enough to play Horton this past summer and I can guarentee you that when I was sad I was SAD with real tears and everything! (The director, musical director, and actress playing Mayzie all mock-yelled at me for making them cry every night). The show was one of the most popular shows my theater has done in a LONG time. Kids LOVED it and more importantly, so did their parents! We had many people tell us that they only came to bring the kids and ended up loving more than their rugrats! It is a wonderful, heartfelt show that leaves the audience and the actors lifted up and happy.

(I also love it because it's one fo the rare shows where the fat character actor gets the prettiest songs and gets the girl at the end! YAY!)

[LaVieBoheme015]

Posted: 1/9/06 at 4:22pm

OMFG I was in that...i was a dancer....It was the worst experience of my life...THE SHOW IS SO ANNYING

[*ASH*]

Posted: 1/10/06 at 4:41pm

Enough with the rhyming!!!! It's sung through, so it's gonna rhyme!!! It's a great show, really child freindly, cheesy, happy............. I want my school to do it!!!!!!

[inlovewithjerryherman]

Posted: 1/10/06 at 5:21pm

Don't listen to anyone, it's a very entertainig, lighthearted show that's ideal for families.

The Broadway production was a little shaky, but the book and score have been revised since then, and with a strong cast, it can be a very entertaining show. It would definitley be a blast to perform in, especially as one of the leads.

[sognatora]

Posted: 1/10/06 at 9:35pm

I was just in it a month ago, and it's not my favorite show, but it is just so incredibly cute. And yes, some parts of it are overly happy, but it's done in tongue-in-cheek way. I played Gertrude McFuzz, so the majority of the time I was pretty sad! With ballads like Notice Me Horton, Alone in the Universe, and Solla Sollew, there's definately enough emotional weight to bring down to, maybe say, cloud seven. But believe me, there are enough cloud nine moments to last a lifetime.

As far as the success, incredible. It is a fact that our school sold more tickets than ever with this show. People absolutely loved it! It also works with a flexible budget.

[lovesclassics]

Posted: 1/10/06 at 10:11pm

I think SEUSSICAL has a lot more to it than people are giving credit. It's not happy, happy, happy. None of Seuss's works were ever that one dimensional, and neither is this show. If you take a deeper look, you'll see that it has a couple of pretty lonely individuals (Horton and JoJo) who are trying to find their ways in the world. They are both outcasts because they are different (Horton hears the Whos and JoJo can make things happen by using his imagination). They finally start to feel better about themselves when they meet and discover that they can help each other and become heroes in the process. The very quirks that make them different are what make them special in the end. They are able to save the Whos because of the skills which up till now their peers have criticized.

The show also has a pretty heavy anti-war message. And the Cat is almost like the Emcee in Cabaret. He causes things to happen that on the surface look mischievous, but he is actually setting things in motion that force Horton and JoJo to become who they are supposed to be. Sure, the dialog rhymes and the songs are catchy. But the show, like Seuss's work, is multi-layered. There are deeper meanings of social conscience under the fun. There is also a lot of tenderness between Horton, JoJo, and Gertrude.

A lot of how SEUSSICAL is perceived is in how it is played. The Broadway production suffered from too much glitz. Some of the productions that others have described in this thread seem to have been played as children's theater. It shouldn't be. It has as much substance for adults as it has for children. I saw a production in Boston last year that captured all of the subtleties without sacrificing entertainment value. Special effects were kept to a minimum so that the focus stayed on the story and the people. It was treated with respect and played for real emotion. It wasn't cartoonish in any way, although it was colorful and vibrant. The mixed audience of adults and children seemed to enjoy it very much.

Give it a chance. I just hope the creative team responsible for mounting your show gives the material the treatment it deserves. The book and score are quite good.

LC

[inlovewithjerryherman]

Posted: 1/10/06 at 10:24pm

hurrah for LC!

[HatBoy]

Posted: 1/10/06 at 10:26pm

Hey-- my school did a production of this a few months ago, and we always get it professionally videotaped, so there's a video of "Monkey Around" on www.youtube.com ...

Our Lead Wickersham was in the top 16 of Canadian Idol-- woo!

I thought the show was really fun, it's creative, and I definately thought it was stupid when I first heard about it..

..but it grows on you! The rhyming isn't THAT bad either.