JoJo (portrayed by Carissa Smith) tries on the Cat in the Hat's hat, little knowing the cat (portrayed by Emily Klonowski) is looking on in W.F. West's upcoming performance of "Seussical The Musical."
Horton (portrayed by Sean-Patrick McNeal) places the speck of dust containing the Whos on a soft flower while the Cat in the Hat (portrayed by Emily Klonowski) and JoJo (portrayed by Carissa Smith) look on.
JoJo (portrayed by Carissa Smith) is astounded to be transported into the world of Dr. Seuss in W.F. West's upcoming show "Seussical The Musical".
When you step into the W.F. West High School theatre for its upcoming performance of “Seussical The Musical,” you will be instantly transported to the land of Seuss.
Swirling colors cascade from the stage, strange creatures dance in the background and truffula trees sway in the distance. They are the lights, sounds and colors of a Seuss book come to life.
“It’s just so colorful and full of life. I think kids will be mesmerized by it,” said director Brian Adams.
“Seussical The Musical” opens Dec. 7 at the W.F. West High School theatre and plays weekends through Dec. 15. Adams said the inspiration to bring “Seussical The Musical” to Chehalis came to him last year when his daughter was in a performance of it at Capital High School. He said he had never had any interest in the show and didn’t even know very much about Dr. Seuss’ characters but after going to six of his daughter’s seven shows, he said he came to an appreciation for it.
“Halfway through about the third show I said to myself ‘I get it. The world of Dr. Seuss is really wild and crazy,’” Adams said. “I went from being confused to ‘you know, this is really cool.’”
The story basically hinges on the classical Seuss story “Horton Hears a Who” where Horton the Elephant (portrayed by Sean-Patrick McNeal) hears a cry for help from the tiny Whos in the town of Whoville, which is located on a speck of dust. But Sour Kangaroo (portrayed by Kat Sheridan) and her young Kangaroo (portrayed by Briana Smith) are bound and determined to convince the rest of the jungle animals that Horton’s crazy and to destroy the speck once and for all.
“It’s really cool, especially if you’re like me and as a kid you read all of Dr. Seuss’ books,” Carissa Smith said. “To see it come to life on a stage after reading it in books as a kid is really cool.”
Along the way the tale is told by the Cat in the Hat (portrayed by Emily Klonowski) who leads the Who, JoJo (portrayed by Carissa Smith) through the world and stories of Dr. Seuss. They encounter many of Seuss’ other characters including that lazy bird Mayzie (portrayed by Jordyn Watson), the girl-bird with tail trouble Gertrude (portrayed by Macey Gering) as well as Things 1 & 2 (portrayed by Audrey and Laurel Toynbee), among others.
“I saw ‘Seussical” before and I fell in love with the bright and imaginative the world of Seuss is and how all the characters are portrayed,” said Klonowski.
McNeal said he also felt inspired last year when he attended “Seussical The Musical” at Capital High School, so he was excited to hear that W.F. West Theatre would be producing its own version. McNeal said he feels the music and dance numbers are especially captivating but that the entire show is an adventure audience members of all ages will enjoy.
“It’s a story that captures the childlike imagination everyone has, even if they try to deny it,” McNeal said.
The fun and excitement of the Seuss characters are enhanced by live music by Dr. Paul Brassey and a six-piece band of W.F. West students. The set built by Larry Sheridan features hand painted designs by Kate Faro of Olympia, who helped with the Capital High School performance and was recruited by Adams to help. And costumer Jeanne Sheridan worked with Adams to design and sew all 44 costumes (including costumes for the band members).
“I had a lot of fun with this,” Sheridan said.
