What's so great?
Well, I have a different perspective. I play the cast recording in my 2nd/3rd grade classroom quite often and my kids
love it. Every year. Never fails. They become completely hooked on the songs/story - and this year a local theater was doing a production. I arranged a field trip, and tried not to tell them about it (for it was 8 months away.) One by one I had kids running in telling me it was coming - mind you, kids who have never been to the theater but noticed *this* production being advertised. I had to break down and tell them, and for months we had to keep track of when we would be going on a huge calendar.
May finally came, and because I had a *difficult* class, I was concerned about how they would behave in the theater. Well, from the first moments the orchestra started until the lights came up - they barely moved. They were completely mesmerized by the show - and the little bit of familiarity they had with the cast recording helped - for they lit up when certain songs began. I can't even describe how wonderful it was to see their reaction to this.
Only one of my kids had previously been to the theater, so it was such a wonderful feeling to have their first show be so enjoyable. One of my girls was so excited about the show that her grandmother took home some information regarding their summer workshop classes for kids. Now, she is enrolled in their kids theater program.
I took my class 2 years ago to another musical (won't name it) and they did *not* have the same reaction. They were bored and it ranked last in their "favorite field trip" survey. In fact, I had to convince my co-workers to return to the theater for
Seussical because they didn't want to try another show. They didn't think the kids would enjoy it.
That's what I think is so great about this show.