seussical questions

[schlitze]

Posted: 4/25/05 at 12:51pm

Hi--I'm new to the board. I just saw Seussical at OCU this weekend (Kristin/Kelli O's school) and was really impressed. It was a great production. I had heard a lot of negative things about Seussical in general, but ended up liking the music and the story much better than I thought I would. Can some of you experts tell me what you think about the show? How was it on Broadway--and did it deserve some of the negative reviews it earned? (At least, I think that many of the reviews were negative if memory serves.) I was also wondering if any of you saw Rosie as the Cat in the Hat and what you thought of her in the role. I teach/direct at a small high school in the midwest, and a lot of schools not much bigger than ours are doing this show, now that MTI has released it. So that's my final question--has anybody seen this done at a high school, and how was it? Thanks! :)

[matthius202]

Posted: 4/25/05 at 12:53pm

I saw it done by a university....but it was LOWER than high school level. It's a cute show. No depth. But if you have a good cast, it can be fun to watch. I would never call it a GREAT show. But the production I saw was GODAWFUL. The end. :)

[schlitze]

Posted: 4/25/05 at 1:06pm

Thanks, matthiaus. I agree that it's probably not a great show--Act II especially seemed a little muddled to me. But like you said, it was fun to watch since the cast was good.

[matthius202]

Posted: 4/25/05 at 1:09pm

I agree about Act II. Afterwards, I tilted my head and mouthed ...."Huh?" hehehe NO LIE! Scouts' Honor! :)

[schlitze]

Posted: 4/25/05 at 1:16pm

That's funny! I thought the story worked surprisingly well in Act I (Horton and the Whos are a good through-line) but got a little bogged down in Act II with the whole Horton being sold to the circus thing, Jojo quitting military school, etc.

I also think it was an interesting choice to have the Cat share narration duties with the "bird girls." Any thoughts on that?

[cathyhyatt]

Posted: 4/25/05 at 1:22pm

i live in connecticut and my friends doing it at her high school now. she's playing the cat in the hat. its may 6,7,13,14 so I havent seen it yet. but when I do...I'll be sure to let you know how it is.

[schlitze]

Posted: 4/25/05 at 2:05pm

Thank you, cathy. I'll be interested to hear what you think of your friend's production.

[perfectliar]

Posted: 4/25/05 at 3:43pm

I just finished a production of this in which I starred as a Wickersham Brother. Luckily our cast was extremely talented (our Gertrude McFuzz actually toured the country in the Sound of Music tour four years ago), and from what I've heard from audience members, it was a great production. We had two reviews from local papers and both were very positive, though to be fair they praised the cast and direction more than they did the show.

The music is fun and from what I've heard, the revised version that MTI offers is much better than the one that was on Broadway.

[schlitze]

Posted: 4/25/05 at 4:06pm

That's awesome that you were a Wickersham, perfectliar! I went to OCU to see their production because my former student (I'm a high school director) was a Wickersham. Not to name-drop or anything, but he's studying with Kristin and Kelli O's former voice teacher. (Which is exciting to me because we're from a teeny tiny town.)

Anyway, what are the revisions that were made, do you know? I hadn't heard anything about that until your post.

Glad your production got such a good response!

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 4/25/05 at 4:24pm

the new opening is god awful though. the broadway one was much much better...

[WildhornFanatic]

Posted: 4/25/05 at 4:32pm

Check out a picture of Ithaca's SEUSSICAL production, which was INCREDIBLE!!!!

http://departments.ithaca.edu/theatre/

[schlitze]

Posted: 4/25/05 at 4:52pm

What was the Broadway opening like, compared to the new one? I have to admit, I wasn't crazy about some aspects of the opening that I saw at OCU. A great production on the whole, though.

[WickedShopofQ]

Posted: 4/25/05 at 6:09pm

i was recently in SEUSSICAl(i was the Mayor) and having seeing it on Broadway(with Rosie) i knew lots of changes. For one, in the new version, the opening now includes some dark and scray music with 'think of something horrible and hairy...' which is different from the broadways happy go lucky opening. lots of lyrics and dialouge were change throughout the show. A day with the cat in the hat was cut and a new song was added, the circus mcgurkus. im pretty sure there wasnt really anything that wasnt change a little. i like the show and i thought it was good when i saw it on broadway. Rosie was cut, she couldnt do anything real physically active but she made the show better than i expected it to be. its a great show for kids to see and be in.

[Icbanannie]

Posted: 4/25/05 at 7:39pm

YEAH I saw it at Ithaca College last semester (I go there) and it was AMAZING!!

I did see it on broadway and I loved it, but apparently it was changed for the national tour and now is more of a story between the cat and the hat and Jojo, but Jojo is a real boy from our world who is almost dreaming up his interaction in Suess world.Most of the songs are the same with some minor changes. And I agree the new beginning is strange. But Ithaca did an AMAZING job with the show, I went back twice to see it. I wish there were more pictures, but it was top notch quality and better then the broadway cast I saw BY FAR!!

And I did see Rosie O on broadway and I liked her. But then I went back again and saw Aaron Carter and that was not so good.

[schlitze]

Posted: 4/25/05 at 7:45pm

Thanks for your input, WickedShopofQ. What you're saying makes sense--the opening I saw at OCU was pretty dark, with a storm and "nightmares."

Sounds like the Ithaca production was awesome, Icbanannie.

[MrBungee7]

Posted: 4/25/05 at 8:42pm

I just finished a run of Seussical playing Gertrude McFuzz. On the whole, I'm not crazy about the show, but an energized cast can really bring it to life. It's best to go into it knowing that it's not the deepest of shows, but that there are quite a few really nice moments if you look. It's also great to see the amazing response from kids in the audience. I found that to be the most rewarding part.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 4/25/05 at 9:11pm

what theater did it play at on Broadway

[kangaroo]

Posted: 4/25/05 at 9:18pm

I saw it done at a high school level... but it was outstanding! Each lead character was just great, and all the cast members had so much enthusiasm. They weren't afraid of looking stupid or acting weird in front of everybody. The kangaroo girl probably had the best voice of the show... but each held their own.

I also loved the set, and it was so cute how everything was set up. I was interested in seeing this musical, because I know that my friends from that school were very skeptical about doing this musical... but I think that they did a great job and no other school in my region could even pull it off and come even close to what they achieved.

So there is my analysis. I think it's a fun musical to watch with children but even as teenagers and adults you can go back to your younger years and remember all the classic Dr. Seuss tales and I think the musical does a great job tying them all together... ~kangaroo

[MaTakeALookAtMe]

Posted: 4/25/05 at 9:18pm

schlitze, what day did you see Seussical at OCU? I saw it on Sunday with my niece. We had a great time. I agree that Act II seemed a little muddled, but the cast was fantastic. Micah Green was hilarious as the Cat in the HAt. Roy Lightner was great as Horton, but I was just really blown away By Rachel Thomas as Gertrude and Jennifer Sanchez as Mayzie. wow...they were just wow. Can sing , dance, act... So, yeah, the cast...and the great costumes...made up for any weaknesses the production had.

[WildhornFanatic]

Posted: 4/25/05 at 9:23pm

Thanks for the nice comments about our production. I was actually in the show here at Ithaca and it was one of the most amazing experiences. Next year we're doing GREASE and VIOLET.

[My Fair Lady]

Posted: 4/25/05 at 9:26pm

I've seen two awful productions of it. One was middle school and the other was 9th and 10th graders. The latter was better, but both were pertty bad.

[WickedShopofQ]

Posted: 4/25/05 at 9:29pm

it played at the Richard Rodgers Theatre

[carlobarlo]

Posted: 4/25/05 at 10:21pm

I was just in the show as Horton, but we cut most of the JoJo/ Boy storyline to keep the show more focused and concentrated mostly on the Horton storyline. We also cut a lot of the random things that happen... I think it tightened the show a lot, and made it easier to follow. I agree that the show can be pretty lame, though, without a lot of energy and a strong cast.

[cur10call]

Posted: 4/25/05 at 10:37pm

I have seen the show on Broadway three times and on tour once. I just got done working on a High School Production of the show. Rosie was good in the show. Not much of a singer but very funny and entertaining. I felt Cathy Rigby was very good as the Cat. She was funny and athletic. The show was enjoyable. Not well written but some good music. There were many changes in the music from the Broadway Production to the tour. It seems that the entire focus of the show changed. I felt that there was too many different stories mushed into the show. Not much of a clear direction. I think that if you involve the Cat more it help create better continuity throughout.

[CapnHook]

Posted: 4/25/05 at 10:41pm

matthius, I hope your not giving your opinion based on the production we saw at SETC.