Seussical
The Musical - Vocal Selections Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, music by Stephen Flaherty.
For voice and piano. With vocal melody, piano accompaniment, lyrics, chord names, color
photos and introductory text. 104 pages. See more
info...
The lyrical rhythms of
Dr. Seuss lend themselves to song. His words dance around in your head for years after you
first read them, and they always seem to assume their own unique pace and cadence. There
have already been some delightful animated shorts adapted from the books which featured
musical elements and there was one stunning surreal feature film about a dreaded piano
teacher, The 5, 000 Fingers of Dr. T.conceived by Seuss himself.
The illustrations in the books were always so evocative and faintly terrifying that they
too have long stimulated the imaginations of children the world over, inextricably
entangling themselves with the words and melding in the mind forever.
With Disney currently extending its stranglehold on the entertainment
industry to the musical stage, it was probably inevitable that Dr. Seuss would somehow
find his way to Broadway. Bearing a ‘conceived by’ credit for collaborators
Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Aherns and also former Monty Python songwriter Eric Idle,
presented by SFX Theatrical Group, Barry & Fran Weissler, and Universal Studios, Seussical
The Musical emerges as a rightfully colourful homage to the power of the thinks you
can think and the places you can go if you believe in yourself enough. That it cannot
quite soar is probably not its fault. Kids will like it anyway, though one would hope that
they come to it from the books in the first place.
The story is loosely constructed from elements of several of the works
of Dr. Seuss, but it centres primarily on the adventures of Horton the Elephant, played
most beguilingly by Kevin Chamberlin. When Horton hears a Who one day he becomes the
laughing stock of the jungle. But his dedication to protecting the tiniest planet in the
universe brings him into contact with a young boy in Whoville whose overactive imagination
has got him into similar trouble there. The action shifts back and forth between Whoville
and the Jungle, but the more interesting elements are in the latter, including the
hesitant courtship between Horton and the dowdy Gertrude McFuzz, played with wonderfully
goofy pathos by Janine Lamanna. The (mis)adventures of the Who boy Jojo seem little more
than a premise for a couple of songs performed by Aaron Carter, a rather insipid preteen
pop star whose voice is not particularly impressive to begin with and who frequently seems
dazed during his numbers. It is probably just as well that Chamberlin and Lamanna are on
hand to keep you engaged, and when things get particularly rough there is the delightfully
energetic Cathy Rigby, who pops up frequently as The Cat in the Hat to drop some
one-liners directly at the audience and to perform some tumbles.
The costumes are bright, colourful, and reasonably simple under the
circumstances. No attempt is made to add prosthetics or other effects to replicate the
peculiar look of Seuss’ characters. Even The Grinch (who appears now and again as the
reformed character he became after the end of his oft-told tale) simply wears a fluffy
green jacket and a pair of sunglasses. The designs are suggestive enough of the various
characters’ animal species though, and they are quite effective in the case of Horton
and particularly the mischievous Wickersham Brothers (a trio of troublesome monkeys played
with gusto by Shaun Amyot, David Engel, and Eric Jordan Young). The colour palette is
clean and strong, emphasizing rich comic-book like shades. The lighting and set design
reflect this style and though it’s not eye-popping, it looks good and suits the tone.
The choreography is busy and whimsical, again not making all that much
impact but keeping things moving. All in all the technical credits are what you would
expect for a Broadway show but not remarkable enough to single out for particular note.
Ahrens and Flaherty most recently won acclaim for their work with Ragtime (which
also earned a Tony nomination for Seussical director Frank Galati), and with the words of
Dr. Seuss to inspire them, one might have hoped for an exciting book. Alas the songs lack
originality and humour, with only a few mild bits of in-jokery to enliven them. None are
memorable and a few fall flat courtesy of the miscast Carter. It’s not that there is
no passion or energy in the performances, it’s just that nothing that Aherns does
with the lyrics can really touch Dr. Seuss and the Flaherty’s melodies are largely
pedestrian. All that’s left is a workmanlike homage to something truly unique and
inspiring, and though this makes for a mildly entertaining evening’s music and song
(especially for fans), it just can’t touch the heart and mind the way it ought to.
Simply celebrating thinks is not the same as setting them off, and at the risk of
appearing a bit of a Sour Kangaroo (boisterously performed by Sharon Wilkins), you’d
have to conclude that Seussical The Musical is doomed to play second fiddle to
its source material..
