“He was never any trouble until this thinking thing began.”
The words and worlds of Dr. Seuss have always been on point, whether it be about the Cold War (The Butter Battle Book), believing in yourself and standing by your morals (Horton Hears a Who! – although that one has many more themes as well), and the power of imagination (The Cat in the Hat).
He has brought countless kids joy with his endlessly entertaining stories, and his work has even spawned animated and live-action feature films of his children’s books.
And as of this millenium, there’s one more to add to the books – a musical, or more appropriately titled, Seussical.
The Nakusp Secondary School (NSS) Musical Theatre program took on the big challenge of adapting the pop culture hero’s works, and doing it right at the Nakusp arena on Jan. 19 and 21.
So let me get to the conclusion – the kids did an amazing job.
From the bashful elephant Horton, played by Rowan Greger, to the Cat in the Hat, played by Helen DeWit, Gertrude, played by Riley McCormack, Jojo, played by Nonni Charles-Lundaahl, the mayor and his wife, played by Sean Harper and Bailey Henschke, and many more – each of the kids did Dr. Seuss justice to his infamous characters and stories.
Seussical takes more than 15 of his classic books and turns them into a melting pot of Seuss tales, intertwining characters and places from all of his stories into one two-hour production full of laughter, tears and lasting messages.
Think of the play, as you will, as a sample plate of all your favourite foods. You get bits and pieces of different styles and tastes, and in the end it feels like you’ve had a whole meal. That’s what the Seussical is like.
You have classic characters such as the Cat in the Hat, the Grinch, Horton and Jojo, and you mash them all together into one joyful stew.
The music accompanying the kids provided perfect background music, sound effects and melody to the songs the young adults sang throughout the night.
There were 16 musicians, including teachers, the NSS band and volunteers from the community to help bring the world of Dr. Seuss to life for those in attendance.
But we can’t forget the other actors on stage who provided hilarious supporting acting scenes throughout the night. From the monkeys harassing Horton, to the bird girls taunting Gertrude, they did just as good a job as the main actors, even during their scenes.
If Horton was talking about Whoville, monkeys were seen laughing at him in the background. If Gertrude was complaining about her tail, the bird girls would be snickering or rolling their eyes at her defiance.
In the end, it was a great performance by the NSS musical theatre kids. If a line was flibbed or words forgotten, it wasn’t noticeable to the audience who seemed to love the performance.
