We all know of the famed author Dr. Suess, after all he was the biggest author of many of our childhoods. So in turn many students will be ecstatic to learn of the choice of play for the spring musical. The Ridgeview drama club has decided that they will be performing Seussical for this year’s spring play on Apr. 25 in the auditorium at Ridgeview, due to its whimsy and inclusivity for all actors. The Seussical is a musical that includes some of the most well known Dr. Suess characters.
The Seussical follows the story from the famed Dr. Suess book Horton Hears a Who, which follows an elephant named Horton who discovers a tiny town inhabited by a people known as who’s, due to his remarkable hearing ability. “He finds the clover, and everyone around him makes fun of him. It also follows Jojo, the Cat in the Hat, and they are going on this wild adventure to help Horton and save the who’s,” explains Ava Oenelas, the actor of Mrs. Major.
The books that Dr. Seuss wrote for children are very whimsical and fantastical, which would lead those interested in the play to believe that the play would emulate this atmosphere of whimsy. While the play does have the air of fantasy associated with the many books of Dr. Seuss, it also has somber more vulnerable moments for its characters. Kelci Cerri, the instructor of the Drama club, explained, “A lot of it is high energy and fun and exciting, but there are moments of vulnerability in the characters, which is sometimes easier when it’s fun and happy, but there are moments of like I said, being vulnerable that are being portrayed in the characters.”
With this year being the debut for Seussicall here at Ridgeview, there are also many new freshmen that are showing promise for both this year and the years to come. “We have a lot of new freshmen playing a lot of the lead roles this year, but they’re very strong and I’m excited for them and I’m excited for what they have in the years to come,” says Cerri.
However this debut raises some new problems for the tech crew, who are responsible for much of the behind the scenes production of the play. One of the problems Seussicall poses is the construction of props for the play. “Definitely all of the slides, swings, and monkey bars because it’s Seussical, it’s all a bunch of children’s stories. The hardest thing is probably going to be nailing them in and making sure it’s stable so we don’t have any accidents.”, explained Delilah Gutierrez, tech crew member.
Those interested in the play will be able to watch it on April 25 and the 26 at 7pm. There will also be showings May, 1 and 2 at 7pm as well. “I think the hardest part about playing my character is going to be just learning everything, because it’s just a lot to learn. There’s a lot of songs and dancing, and I gotta be prepared for any outcome,” said Ornelas.
