The Joy of Seussical

 

 

Every year, my 5th and 6th graders perform in a spring musical. This time around, I chose Seussical Kids, a brand new musical for my school, even though I've been promising my parent volunteers that I will start rotating through past programs soon. 

 

But I've always loved the music in Seussical, and I liked the way the kid version of the musical told the story and wove together "Horton Hears a Who" and "Horton Hatches an Egg." And it wasn't too hard of a sell, considering the costumes, props, and set are just plain fun.

 

The music isn't super familiar to the non-musical theater population, but the kids bought into it quickly and entered the "Seussi-verse" with no problem. 

 

One 5th grader dressed up like the Lorax for auditions, even though the Lorax is not a character in Seussical Kids. 

 

 

The week of the performance, a 3rd grader asked me, "Why do you look so sad? Your hair makes you look stressed out and tired." 

 

My "stressed out" hair that day

 

I had been trying for a tousled look that morning. 

 

When a 5th grader complimented my hair later that day, I told them what the 3rd grader had said.

 

"Well, you do have an excuse to be stressed out," the 5th graders said with a shrug.

 

At least they were understanding.  

 

 

 

During the final rehearsal in my classroom, I found myself getting a little emotional.

 

"Mrs. Duggan, are you crying?"

 

"You don't know how good this is! They feel alone in the universe, but they find each other and become friends even though they're from two different worlds . . . "

 

I stopped as soon as I saw the kids exchanging sly grins. 

 

 

The day of the program, I set up a wig station in the gym. We asked the kids who wore wigs to slick their hair back tight against their heads, but they showed up with loose braids and messy buns and weird tendrils hanging in front of their faces. 

 

Luckily, one of my volunteers is a professional hair stylist, and she was able to put their hair into tight French braids before they visited my wig station.

 

 

 

In class, a few weeks before the musical, we were discussing "the why" of our performance. 

One 5th grade girl said, "Things are kind of difficult right now in the world, and some adults are worried and anxious. This could bring joy to our families and community." 

 

Mind. Blown. 

The day after the program, our school social worker told me, without any prompting, "Your performers brought so much joy this week. And boy, do we need that right now!" 

 

Mind. Blown. Again.

 

 

 

I was equally impressed as to how engaged the little ones were too. 

 

There were also reports of first and second graders peeing their pants because they were having too much fun watching the performance and didn't want to leave and go to the bathroom. 

 

 

 

The 1st graders said, "The monkeys were bullies. And why did Mayzie betray Horton?"

 

"Betray" was a word that came up several times . . . from six-year-olds.

 

 

There was collective indignation when Mayzie left Horton on the egg. You could hear the little kids gasp and scoff in the audience.

 

 

The best compliment came from a kindergartner though, the day after the musical.

 

"Mrs. Duggan, I went home and read 'Horton Hears a Who' last night!"

 

 

A joyful ending to our spring musical

 

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