The theatre department is performing “Seussical” as its annual spring musical this weekend. The show is inspired by the iconic works of children’s author Theodor Seuss Geisel, commonly known as Dr. Seuss. The show’s run began on April 30 for a community show with free American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation, and there will be three more shows on May 1 at 5 pm and May 2 at 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. The shows will include a silent auction and raffles to various events, food places and even a parking pass.
The theatre department has been preparing for this production for more than half the year with auditions starting in January and practice officially beginning after the end of their “The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon” production.
The musical “Seussical” was chosen for a multitude of reasons, with the two main ones being that it would incorporate middle school students and offered a story that would allow a lot of room for creativity.
“I really wanted to make it a goal to collaborate with our younger community and get our feeder schools coming here,” theatre director Lorelei Wernecke said. “It’s a way to get younger kids seeing what theatre is. So doing a show where we knew we could promote it to a younger audience was important. But it’s also a show about having fun. I feel like that’s something we all need right now, it’s a little break from the world and a way to have a good time and celebrate the world of Seuss.”
The show marks Wernecke’s first spring show at West and the biggest production that she has directed to date. Senior Victoria HooSang also faces a unique role as both a backstage crew member (assistant choreographer) and as the actor portraying Yertle the Turtle. HooSang often found that she forgot to choreograph herself into the dances.
When HooSang heard that the spring play was Seussical, she was excited because it reminded her of the spring musical theatre put on her freshman year, SpongeBob.
“I was actually really excited about it, because my freshman year musical was SpongeBob, and I feel like Seussical and SpongeBob are both very whimsical and excited and high energy, and that’s why SpongeBob was my favorite musical,” HooSang said. “So I was excited to end on such a high note this year.”
Frankie Riley is one of the many eighth graders from Lincoln Junior High School who are in the play. She plays Bird Girl. Riley heard about this opportunity through her principal.
“I joined this play because I love theatre and I already knew a lot of people in Niles West,” Riley said. ” Working with the high schoolers is nice, everyone is so welcoming and this show has made me want to join theatre in high school even more.”
HooSang encourages audience members to be swept up by the magic.
“It is such a magical musical and I think that you really just have to sit there and take it all in,” HooSang said. “There’s so many twists in the story and so many things that are unexpected. And it’s really fun.”
