Oh the thinks you can think! (Thoughts on Seussical the musical)

     Hey there, friends. Have you ever seen a show that just sticks with you for a long period of time? I have one of those for sure, and it's a silly one, but with a lot of heart. Seussical, as you might expect, is a musical all about the characters and stories written by Dr. Seuss, the famed children's writer and poet. The plot of the show mostly follows Horton Hears a Who/Horton Hatches the Egg, but it connects many different stories, and does it in a way that unless you knew all of the stories, you wouldn't know any different. I just thought I'd take a short time today to talk about one of my favorite musicals, which also helped to inspire a more creative side of me. Let's take a day with the Cat in the Hat, shall we?

Oh, the Places You'll Go!

    As I said, this show goes through many classic stories that Dr. Seuss wrote, and the way that the show progresses is through the eyes of a young boy with an active imagination. He thinks the Cat in the Hat onto the stage, and from there, the Cat leads him through a whole adventure of his own. The boy fills the role of Jojo, the son of the mayor of Whoville in the story, Horton Hears a Who. Whether it's the tub flooding the house because he's thinking of McElligot's Pool, or just refusing the way that things are since no one will explain, Jojo faces all kinds of difficult situations. In a similar way, Horton is an outcast for believing that tiny people live on a small speck of dust, and it nearly leads to his undoing. Many characters in this show are chastised for thinking about seemingly impossible things, but in the end, Horton and Jojo's "thinks" save the show. The animals of the jungle of Nool are saved from doing something truly foolish, and the people of Whoville are saved from destruction, along with their whole tiny planet. I won't sit here and recount the whole story of the show, but if you've read a few Dr. Seuss books, chances are pretty high that you're going to see or hear something that you recognize. There's an "easter egg" quality to this show where you notice different things every time that you watch it, and you may latch onto another line in the music that you didn't notice before. The music is obviously a big part of the plot, and adds a feeling of silliness even whenever things seem bleak for our characters (which happens quite a few times in the course of the show).

    The music spans many tones and moods, and the musical inspirations for a few characters are hilarious and almost instantly recognizable. All it really takes is the first few notes from the Sour Kangaroo's introduction and you can tell who she was based on, and it cracks me up every time. The songs themselves are great, from the opening number, appropriately titled "Oh the Thinks You Can Think," the Cat's big Act 1 finale, "How Lucky You Are," the beautiful "Solla Sollew," or any of the other incredible songs here. One of my favorite parts of the show is just how well the music all fits together. The first 5 or so songs seem to flow together pretty perfectly, which means that this would be a challenging show to put together with a canned soundtrack as opposed to an orchestra. The timing is much more important so that whatever cue is coming won't get missed or you won't get left behind, which is a daunting task.

Every Show is Different!

    I recently saw a production of this show (which was my third time seeing it in one form or another), and it's really nice to see so many different versions of the same show. It's always interesting to see the different choices that are made, especially in the opening moments when the show is being set up. In the case of Seussical, the boy starts the show out by encountering the Cat's hat, and then the show kicks into full gear from there. None of the three shows that I've seen now started the same way, and that's a pretty cool experience! Obviously, this isn't a phenomenon unique to only Seussical, I have had the same situation happen with Into the Woods, where I've seen it a few times and they all start in a slightly different way. Obviously with that show, we have a more solidified blueprint with the movie being out now, but the movie cuts out one of the most prominent characters because he probably wouldn't work as well in the context of a movie as a show. Regardless, I think these little changes are important for the essence of what makes Theatre special, that there's no way two productions will be the same, even if it's something that you've seen a million times before.

The Plight of the Narrator!

    In Seussical, the Cat in the Hat really has no place in the story that is being told, and is treated more as a narrator to the proceedings. In early versions of the show, the opening song has a line where the Cat refers to himself as "your host and MC," Then proceeds to talk about how he'll show up in different roles as the musical continues along. I don't know what it is, but I absolutely love this type of character in shows. There's something really important about a character removing themselves from the story to make sure that things go a certain way, while not overstepping their boundaries for the most part. This show treats it very differently from Into the Woods, of course, with things ending much worse for the Narrator in that show than the Cat in the Hat in this one, but both characters have extremely important roles, with neither show being able to take place without their intervention. Something about the observing nature of these characters has always stuck with me, though the Cat is obviously one of the most chaotic narrators that there is, with Jojo even getting mad at him for getting him in trouble at a few points in the show (which, if you recall, the kids from the Cat's original story also do).

    Seussical may be aiming for a younger demographic, but there's something about these characters that can appeal to anyone at any age. Horton as he searches for a better place, like Solla Sollew, and deals with situations that only he can see (or in his case, hear). Gertrude McFuzz as she feels that no one cares about her unless she does something special with her tail. Jojo as he feels like no one understands him and is forced into nearly impossible situations with only his thinking to keep him company. It's an important and very relatable story, even if it doesn't seem like it, and ends in a great way, asking the audience to think up their own ending. All it takes is your mind to be open to a little creative thinking, and as the book clearly says, "Oh, the places you'll go."

    Thanks so much for reading this post, friends! I think this is the first time that I've ever attempted to write about a musical, so I'm still trying to figure it out a bit, but I hope you've enjoyed it! Do you have a favorite musical if you're into them? I would love to hear about some more shows that I could get invested in. I hope you're all doing well, and thanks again for all the support! Until next time, I'm Jonathan, a Self-Proclaimed Thinker, and I hope you think of many fantastic things!