Over 38 days, the cast and crew of the Frosh-Soph musical, “Seussical,” have dedicated countless hours after school and on Saturdays rehearsing for the show. 

“Seussical” is a multifaceted musical made for all types of audiences, and it is based on Dr. Seuss’s books. 

On a surface level, “Seussical” feels like a shallow kid’s musical. However, “Seussical”’s conflicts and songs, on a deeper level, present a more mature musical.  

With music, dance, and blocking rehearsals, the cast and crew worked together to accurately portray the story to their audiences on Nov. 21-22.

In the time they had, the cast and crew of “Seussical” managed the time well. 

“I was looking at a year ago today pictures [from last year’s Frosh-Soph Musical, ‘The 25 Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee’], and it’s funny, we were just starting tech week,” sophomore and ensemble member  Izzy Laude says. “It’s a lot shorter.”

“Seussical”’s first song, “Oh the Thinks You Can Think!” is about embracing imagination, one of the musical’s key topics. 

“[The musical]’s kind of like the imagination of a little kid and how it sort of expands throughout the story,” sophomore and ensemble member Sara Deodhar says. 

Full of color, joy, and dancing, the stage’s whimsical and imaginative presence invited their audience to enjoy the show.

“‘Biggest Blame Fool’ might be my favorite just because it’s so much energy. You see everyone on stage,” Laude says. “I think it kind of sets the tone for the show, and it’s really fun.”

Besides its energy, “Biggest Blame Fool” also supports the deeper meaning of “Seussical.”

For context, one day, Horton the Elephant (the person in the middle with the gray shirt), hears someone yelling “help.” Horton looks around and sees a small speck of dust, and realizes that the person yelling must be on it. Wanting to protect these tiny people, who are called “Whos,” Horton places the small speck of dust on a clover. 

Discovering Horton’s plan, the rest of the jungle thinks Horton is crazy, so, they tell Horton he’s “talking to a speck of dust,” because how could something that small exist? But, Horton resists, arguing that everyone matters no matter how big they are.  

On a shallow level, Horton ignores the jungle creatures. However, on a deeper level, Horton resists peer pressure and chooses to trust his gut and do the right thing.

JoJo is a Who and a little boy with a big imagination that his family doesn’t accept. As a result, JoJo emotionally struggles until another character, the Cat in the Hat, tells Jojo to embrace his imagination in the song “It’s Possible.” 

“[It’s Possible] is like, if you put your mind to it, like you can think of anything,” Deodhar says. “Which I think is kind of what Dr. Seuss is kinda about.”

Sophomore and ensemble member Elle Vandelaan says “It’s Possible” was her favorite song from the musical. 

“I feel like at the beginning [of rehearsing “It’s Possible”]…it was just kind of hard to really get everything together,” Vanderlaan says. “and…when we finally put it all together, it was like cast and everything, I was like, ‘wow.’”

Feeling down about the jungle’s rejection, Horton sings “Alone in the Universe,” a song about believing in oneself even when no one else does. As Horton sings, JoJo appears and they connect over their wild imagination. This is especially powerful for kids to see, as they have big imaginations. 

The song’s style is also powerful for the cast members. 

“For me, my favorite [song] to do is probably ‘Alone in the Universe,’” Maute says. 

Gertrude is a bird who doesn’t have a lot of feathers and doesn’t embrace her uniqueness. Also, she has a crush on Horton, so there’s a lot going on with her character.

Jealous of the other amazing birds with a lot of feathers like Mayzie, who sings about it in “Amazing Mayzie,” Gertrude goes to a doctor and takes pills that will give her more feathers. 

From a depthless point of view, Gertrude is desperate and irrational, but, with a deeper point of view, Gertrude acts out of insecurity. 

When an eagle steals Horton’s clover and throws it into a field of millions of clovers, Horton immediately starts looking for it. 

One day, Horton stumbles upon Mayzie, who has an egg and is sitting in a nest. Desperately wanting a break from guarding her egg, Mayzie begs Horton to guard her egg for an afternoon. Being a people pleaser, Horton agrees. 

“Egg, Nest and Tree,” is about Horton getting attacked by hunters and getting sold to the circus. 

During “Egg, Nest and Tree,” Horton feels miserable but still guards Mayzie’s egg because he promised her he would. 

While Mayzie relaxes in Palm Beach, Horton sadly sits on her egg at the circus. But, in need of entertainment, Mazyie goes to the circus. Seeing Horton with her egg, and realizing how much she doesn’t want to be a parent, Mayzie permanently gives her egg to Horton. 

Almost guarding an egg for a year and losing the clover, Horton feels somewhat miserable. So, Horton tries to comfort himself and the egg by singing “Solla Sollew,” a song about a perfect world where Whos matter.  

Gertrude finally finds the confidence to tell Horton how she feels about him, and she gives Horton a clover. 

Excited about the clover, Horton talks to JoJo and confirms he’s still there. Meanwhile, the rest of the animals decide to put him on trial because they think Horton is a delusional liar and is “talking to a speck of dust.” However, Horton tells the Whos to shout to the outside animals that they exist. It works, and the Whos are saved.

Also, the egg hatches and the animal is a mixture of an elephant and a bird. Recognizing what Gertrude means to him, Horton chooses to co-parent the animal with Gertrude, giving Gertrude, and everyone, a happy ending. 

Overall, “Seussical” is made, and works for, all types of people. 

“I think it’s really a show that you kind of take out of it what you want to take out of it,” Laude says. “You could come and you could just see kind of the broad meaning of it and just like the happy, fun ‘Seussical,’ or you could come and you could kind of decide to like, look further into the deeper meanings.” 

With its warm, fun, and dedicated cast and crew, “Seussical” was another Frosh Soph musical success. 

In the future, the music and theater program hopes to bring more kids into the program, which their musicals can be used as a stepping stone for. 

“I think there’s been like a really big push in the last couple of years,” Deodhar says. “For more younger kids to come see the shows and hopefully come see and be like, ‘wow, that’s really fun, I wanna be a part of it when I get older.’”