After another year of hard work from theater students, and following the success of other school musicals earlier in the year, like Mamma Mia, OHS theater is set to debut its Seussical performance.
Students put in work through both December and January, driven by their determination to put on a good show for OHS students at the start of February.
“It’s based off Dr. Seuss and all of his different books so it’s a conglomeration of ‘Horton the Elephant’ and there’s the ‘Cat in the Hat.’ There’s a lot of the classic childhood books and so they fuse it with a story about having a bright imagination,” said Benjamin Hsu, senior.
Seussical explores several messages that align with the source material of classic children’s books, but though they may not often be considered, they are important lessons for people of any age.
“There’s a whole conflict between being able to think what you want, and being conformed into what other people want you to think, so it goes both ways for a character named JoJo and Horton himself. It’s a great play to learn about how you’re able to have your own opinions,” Hsu said.
Alongside characters like JoJo and Horton, Seussical is filled with other distinctly animal characters, coming from a variety of different Dr. Seuss books that come together to make a unified musical.
“With Seussical, it’s mostly animal characters that are usually Dr. Seuss characters and so I have to have more, not necessarily animal characteristics, but definitely have to incorporate more of an animal-like embodiment of the character, rather than more of a humanized version,” said Megan Wolny, senior.
Seussical is a play with many parts that all work together to create the musical, from the ensemble cast to some of the more well-known characters like the infamous ‘Cat in the Hat’.
“I’d say this is probably the first time I’ve played a character that’s as quirky as this because the ‘Cat in the Hat,’ he’s very energetic and he is kind of a moderator in a sense. He’s like everywhere all at once. It’s kind of weird. You see him in different places all the time and he’s just a high-energy character. I’m not usually cast as that, so this show is a good opportunity to experiment with that,” Hsu said.
Seussical, with all its unique characters, courtesy of the books by Dr. Seuss, gives everyone involved a chance to have fun with it and enjoy the production.
“[My favorite part of being in theater is] probably meeting new people and getting to express yourself when you’re doing musicals. I’m in the ensemble, so I’m a Who. The people are really nice and we get to do a lot of fun dances,” said Imani Williams, freshman.
To get Seussical ready for the stage, everyone needs to work together throughout the time they have been allotted to get it done.
“Because this is the senior show, or the AP performance show, we typically take our class time to work on rehearsals and practicing all the dances, choreography, and practicing music, but now we started doing after-school rehearsals with our ensemble, and building sets, and really preparing to clean and finalize the show,” Wolny said.
With all the hard work and dedication that goes into making a performance a success, OHS theater students have continuously put in the effort during their rehearsals to show up for their team.
“Honestly, rehearsals have been going great. It is hard because we do have to accommodate a lot of people’s schedules, but overall they’re really great. Everyone carries their weight in rehearsing, and we all work as a team to make it all work together,” Wolny said.
After the performance has finished, this year’s seniors are at last reaching the end of their high school theater experience and for many, the idea that it is soon to be over is unbelievable.
“It honestly feels unreal. Coming into freshman year I didn’t expect to actually get into all the shows that I did and honestly, it’s a great feeling and the role I got, even though it only is called a bird girl or I am featured ensemble, it’s still something I enjoy looking forward to every day, coming into class and being with my peers,” Wolny said.
