Is there a childhood author more beloved than Dr. Seuss? Is there any way one could make Dr. Seuss better? Why, yes! There is! Add music to our favorite stories and bring those cherished characters to life on the stage. Seussical the Musical is one of those special shows that appeals to all ages and usually guarantees a fun evening at the theater!
Sunday afternoon my daughter and I had the pleasure of seeing Seussical the Musical in Des Plaines. The Footlighters Theatre Company, I believe, is sponsored by the Des Plaines Park District. As such, they used a lot of young talent in their production. I always enjoy children participating in theater; I want them to discover the same love for it that I have. This was clearly a well-rehearsed and well-organized production that I’m sure every parent found to be a positive experience for their child. And there was a lot to enjoy as an audience member, too.
The first thing I really noticed was the pit band. Great sound and energy, they looked like they were also enjoying the performance. Many times we don’t get to actually see the band and I enjoyed their positioning in the theater. It’s nice to have the band outside of the pit!
Costuming for this production was spot on. Costumers Danielle Soldat and Joellen Flener, along with their crew, managed to capture the very essence of Dr. Seuss with bright colors, outrageous wigs, strategically placed hula hoops and lots of feathers! Well done.
There were several outstanding performances, but having limited time again, I can only touch on a few. Mayzie La Bird (Desiree Gonzolez) and Gertrude McFuzz (Lauren Hagan) had fantastic voices and hearing their songs was a pleasure. I’m not sure which Jojo I got to see (Katherine Smail or Katherine Parker) but she also had a great voice and knew her role perfectly. The Cat in the Hat (Peter Sisto) was funny and playful, just what you want from The Cat.
The star of the show, though, was most definitely Horton the Elephant (Kent Joseph). An amazing singer and actor, I looked forward to every single time he was on stage. From “Horton Hears a Who” to “Solla Sollew” each song was sung with an emotional connection that I was missing from the rest of the cast. Joseph’s bio states that he has been involved in a good number of productions that were nominated for Jeff awards. It shows. Hands down, one of the best performers I’ve seen on the community theater stage.
Were there things that could’ve been done differently? Well, yes. Of course there were. The most important one for me, though, was the emotional connection to the show. Seussical is a silly musical, no question. However, that does not mean that the characters can’t be “real”. The lack of development across the board suggests that the rehearsal process focused almost exclusively on memorizing, blocking, and dancing (which are all obviously very important) and didn’t leave a lot of time to figure out exactly why Mayzie felt the way she did about her egg. Or just why Gertude loved Horton so much. Or even just how worried the Whos are about their tiny little world. These connections are what make a good production excellent.
The other important part that I felt needed some work was the pacing. The show just didn’t move as quickly or as succinctly as I wanted. As I said, this was a very well-rehearsed performance and there weren’t the physical issues that can mess with the pacing, such as traffic patterns or forgotten placements. It was more an overall lack of energy and (again) emotion that slowed the forward movement of the show.
Generally speaking, this is a production that everyone involved with should be proud of, but to be a brilliant one it needed to be taken to the next level of development. Having said that, the kids were cute, the adults were super talented, the set interesting, the costumes bright and fun, almost everything you want from Dr. Seuss on stage. Get up to Des Plaines and check it out. And take the kids. My daughter thought it was fantastic and smiled the whole way through. Speaking of whom, she wanted me to tell you her favorite parts were the General (Bud Jones) giving the opening announcement and the surprise at the very end. She’s still talking about the surprise at the end! Clearly, she’s a seven year old girl!
For photos of the show, go here.
Seussical the Musical is presented by Footlighters Theatre Company at Prairie Lakes Theater in Des Plaines and runs through August 7. For tickets and information, go to www.dpparks.org.
