The 33 Perry High School student actors and 23 student crew members who pooled their powers Friday night in producing “Seussical” deserve high praise for delivering a very polished performance.
The final performance is Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Perry Performing Arts Center.
“Seussical” is a musical medley of themes from the popular children’s books of Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, who wrote and illustrated 60-some titles that sold a stunning 600 million copies worldwide.
Written by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, the musical adaptation debuted on Broadway in 2000 and had two nationwide tours. The plot brings together elements from 20 Dr. Seuss books, with most focus on “The Cat in the Hat,” “Horton Hears a Who!” “Oh, the Thinks You Can Think,” and “Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are?”
Ahrens and Flaherty preserved the moral values prominent in the original Dr Seuss books, such as honesty, courage, unwavering faithfulness and unfailing belief in the redemptive power of human imagination and human compassion.
Dr. Seuss was also a champion of free and independent thinking at a time during the 20th century when society’s demand for mental conformity was relentless and sometimes even violent, a painful lesson that Socrates and Jesus also learned in their respective ages, too.
The hero of free thought in “Seussical” is represented by the charcater JoJo the Who, acted and sung superbly by PHS sophomore Ainsley Marburger. The overpowering voice of conformity is represented in the musical by the Sour Kangaroo, played by senior Madison Mason, whose own powerful singing voice perfectly suits her character, with melodic punctuation added by Amber Banway as the joey or Young Kangaroo.
Horton the Elephant, sung by senior Eoin Davis, is also an independent thinker, believing “a person’s a person no matter how small” and believing in the Whos depite the opinions of the Sour Kangaroo and all the Citizens of the Jungle — even in defiance of the law of the jungle and its pitiless agent, Judge Yertle the Turle, played by senior Camden Studer, who also takes on the parallel role of General Genghis Khan Schmitz.
Horton has his admirers, such as the flamboyantly colored Mayzie LaBird, expertly sung by senior Jayden Whitney, and the less flashy Gertrude McFuzz, excellently acted and sung by junior Dannah Karolus, whose most minor mannerisms are perfectly timed. Gertrude longs to be noticed by Horton, even to the point of artificially enlarging her tail feathers, but Horton is more interested in his imaginary friends.
Disaster looms when the steadfast Horton assumes nesting responsibilities for the flighty Mayzie LaBird’s egg, and he finds himself captured and auctioned off to work in the Circus McGurkus. The circus performers include a cameo appearance by PCSD Superintendent Clark Wicks in the role of a sideshow juggler, which he carries through like a good sport.
The emotional climax of the musical is reached with Horton’s singing of “Solla Sollew,” with its longing for a place “where they never have troubles / at least very few.”
There’s a far away land, so the stories all tell,
Somewhere beyond the horizon.
If we can find it then all will be well.
Troubles there are few.
Someday we’ll go to
Solla Sollew
Bird Girl Anna Ridnour performs ballet steps during the singing of “Solla Sollew,” and the senior’s grace and poise bring a sublime gravity and beauty to the song. But the skies are still stormy for Horton and the Whos, who sing:
Our skies are unbearably dark,
And war is unbearably near,
And that’s not the end of our troubles here.
So here on Who we live in fear.
We’re drifting through space
And cannot steer!
A troubled and a tiny land.
Horton encourages the beleaguered Whos to bear up and be brave and speak out.
Don’t give up! I believe in you all!
A person’s a person, no matter how small!
And you very small persons will not have to die,
If you make yourselves heard! So, please! Try!
The day is saved in part by Gertude McFuzz, who does herculean tasks for Horton’s sake, and in part by JoJo the Who, who sounds his barbaric “Yopp!” over the roofs of the world, confounding the tribunal and converting the Sour Kangaroo and all the Citizens of the Jungle.
So be happy you’re here.
Think of life as a thrill
And if worse comes to worst,
As we all know it will,
Thank your lucky star
That you’ve gotten this far
And tell yourself
How lucky you are!
The PHS staging of “Seussical” was directed by Jenn Nelson and Randy Peterson. The program notes read, “Dr Seuss believed in helping a friend, in not giving up, in keeping a promise. He believed in the value and dignity of others, in working to preserve the fragile sweetness of the natural worls and in the pure power of the imagination. The cast and crew are proud to share these beliefs with him.”
