Give a Holiday Who: Seuss stories come alive at Stockton Civic Theatre

Think creating a theatrical world that pays homage to the imagination of one of the world’s most beloved children’s authors is easy. Think again. It can be a daunting task that takes cartoonish color, whimsy, cheeky poetry, nonstop energy, and maybe some fairy dust.

Or, in the case of Stockton Civic Theatre, a speck of dust hidden amongst a stage full of clover.

SCT held its special holiday presentation of Seussical the Musical on Thursday, with a four-weekend, 17-show run starting today and ending Dec. 15 in the Clyde Nielsen Auditorium, 2312 Rose Marie Lane. The musical provides an upbeat amalgamation of several books by Theodore Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss.

“When putting together our season we realized we had several epic shows and wanted to do something fun that balanced everything else and still had the name recognition of the others,” said Dennis Beasley, SCT’s artistic and show director. “It’s been on our list for a long time, and this seemed like the right time for us to do it.”

Two of Dr. Seuss’s most well-known and beloved characters – the Cat in the Hat and Horton (of Horton Hears a Who fame) – drive the plot, which attempts to bring to life many Seussian characters, themes, and situations from the famed author’s 60-plus books. Other famous characters who stop by include Yertle the Turtle and the Grinch. Meanwhile, some of Seuss’s lesser-known characters, such as the Sour Kangaroo, Gertrude McFuzz, and Mazie LaBird, are also featured prominently.

Those familiar with Dr. Seuss stories will witness references to The Lorax, Hunches in Bunches, I Had Trouble Getting to Solla Sollew, If I Ran the Circus, and, of course, Green Eggs and Ham. The musical features works dating from Seuss’s first book in 1937 (And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street) to his final book in 1990 (Oh, the Places You’ll Go!).

If there’s a message to the madness, cast member Jesse Garcia said it’s one of acceptance.

“Obviously, we want people to enjoy the show and have a good time,” said Garcia, a senior at Grand Canyon University who plays the Cat in the Hat. “But I also hope they walk away thinking that no one should be judged solely on their ideas and opinions. That’s really the whole message of the show.”

Geisel passed away in 1991 at the age of 87. By then, his books had sold some 600 million copies, been translated into 20 languages, and spawned several award-winning primetime television specials. Hit live-action movies came after his passing. Seuss’s birthday of March 2 is now celebrated as National Read Across America Day.

Meanwhile, Seussical has had an interesting history. It debuted on Broadway in 2000 and was anything but a hit. Panned by critics and audiences alike, it reportedly lost more than $10 million during its short stint in New York. Producers attempted to recoup some of those losses by casting famous singers and movie actors in leading roles. For example, Rosie O’Donnell took a turn as the Cat in the Hat, and Aaron

Carter played Jojo, the little boy whose shenanigans create much of the zaniness that weaves it way through the labyrinthian mixtape of Seuss stories, poems, and songs.

After Seussical closed on Broadway, some members of the creative team – who have won Pulitzer Prizes and Tony Awards for shows such as Ragtime and Once on This Island – went back to work and fashioned a version that landed Off-Broadway in 2007. It has now been staged thousands of times by nonprofessional theaters, including community and high school productions, in the U.S. and abroad. Children’s theaters have staged a junior adaptation of the musical for almost two decades. The rights fees paid to stage the musical in its various forms have paid back the original deficit many times over.

And because “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” is part of the plot, many theaters opt to perform the show during the holiday season, as SCT is doing now.

“It’s not shocking to me that Seussical didn’t do that well on Broadway. It’s probably too saccharine for a cynical New York audience,” Beasley said. “It’s also not surprising that a show full of Dr. Seuss stories would be very well received on the community and educational stages.”

One challenge for the actors and musicians is that Seussical is basically sung through from beginning to end, almost like a pop opera. There are few scenes in the traditional sense, and most speaking parts are done in rhythm with musical underscores. Those stylistic choices continually advance the action as Seuss characters come, create their mayhem, and go.

If you want to go, plan on purchasing tickets as soon as possible. Holiday musicals in the 300-seat SCT auditorium tend to sell well even when the Grinch, Cat in the Hat, Horton, and Yertle the Turtle aren’t the main attractions.

Editor’s note: Stocktonia News Service writer Rick Brewer plays General Schmitz in Seussical.