Suessical the Musical Students Spotlighted at Dunbar

Oh the things you can think then you think about Seuss; Seussical the Musical is coming to Dunbar.

The performance will be from April 9-13 at 7 pm with a Saturday matinee. It will cost $12 for adults and $10 for students.

Like last year’s performance of The Little Mermail, this year’s musical will include elementary aged children who will play the young “Whos” in Whoville. The kids will be either younger siblings of cast members or children of Dunbar faculty.

The story line of the musical will be familiar to most, children and adults alike.

The main books Seussical is based on are Horton Hears a Who, Horton Hatches the Egg, One Feather Tail of Gertrude McFuzz and Butter Battle Book.

For those who did not grow up reading Seuss’ tales, the plot is a combination of multiple books, some of them with overlapping characters.

There are only a few changes to the original stories and many of the lyrics are direct quotes from the children’s books.

Horton Hears a Who is a book about an elephant named Horton, who found a tiny speck that happened to be a planet named Whoville, home to little creatures called Whos.

Horton realizes their planet is in danger so he vows to protect it. Other animals make fun of Horton and try to destroy the speck. Horton does everything to try and save Whoville, even though he is ridiculed.

Horton Hatches the Egg is a story about Horton who got tricked into sitting on Mayzie’s (a bird) egg while she goes on a trip, turning into a permanent vacation to Palm Beach.

Since Horton is sitting on a nest he gets made fun of and is forced to be part of a circus.

Horton never gave up on the egg and finally the circus traveled to Palm Beach and Mayzie tried to take the egg back.

When the egg hatched, the creature turns out to be an elephant-bird and Horton was allowed to keep the baby.

One Feather Tail of Gertrude McFuzz was written about an awkward bird named Gertrude who only had one feather on her tail and was really embarrassed. Gertrude went to see her uncle Doctor Dake to take a special berry that would make her grow more feathers.

She then grew too many and couldn’t fly, Gertrude finally ends up accepting herself for who she really is.

The Butter Battle Book, written during the Cold War, is about two different cultures that lived on different sides of a wall.

The Yooks and the Zooks had one main difference causing this whole dispute: the Yooks eat their bread with the butter-side up, while the Zooks eat their bread with the butter-side down. Realizing that the reasons for war were trivial, both sides called a truce.

Senior Josiah Howlett, who plays Horton, said that knowing these plotlines is helpful, but not necessary. “We show you a lot of the stories in the musical,” he said. “But it would be cool to see the characters you already recognize from the books.”

You can think of a lot when you think about Seuss, like Dunbar Drama Department’s upcoming musical.

Come out and support our drama department… watch their production of Seussical the Musical.

Josiah Howlett

Playing: Horton the Elephant

Nickname: Josie or Biggins

Favorite Movie: Spirited Away

Favorite Type of Music: Musical Theater

Favorite Quote: “A waffle is like a pancake with a syrup trap.”

Favorite Board Game: Life

Favorite Food: Tacos

Favorite Emoji: the Elephant

One Word to Describe Yourself:  Enthusiastic

One Word to Describe the Musical: Fun

Erin Connors

Playing: JoJo

Favorite Movie: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Favorite Type of Music: Les Miserables

Favorite Quote: I would pick anything Edgar Allan Poe wrote.

Favorite Board Game: Life

Favorite Food: Chocolate

Favorite Emoji: I really love the snail Emoji.

One Word to Describe Yourself:  Unique

One Word to Describe the Musical: Amazing

 

Brennon Sidebotham

Playing: Cat in the Hat

Nickname: Nana Nom Nom

Favorite Movie: The Breakfast Club

Favorite Type of Music: Indie

Favorite Quote: “As you think, so shall you become.”

Favorite Board Game: Cards Against Humanity

Favorite Food: Applesauce

Favorite Emoji: The Kissing Cat

One Word to Describe Yourself: Nixon

One Word to Describe the Musical: Tremendous

 

Addy Bell

Playing: Gertrude

Nickname: Blue Bell

Favorite Movie: Frozen

Favorite Type of Music: Anything that’s not rap

Favorite Quote: “Be a voice, not an echo.”

Favorite Board Game: Mexican Trains

Favorite Food: Spaghetti

Favorite Emoji: Crying Laughing Face

One Word to Describe Yourself: Giggly

One Word to Describe the Musical: Spectacular