The Cat in the Hat, Horton the Elephant, Gertude, JoJo, Mayzie, Sour Kangaroo and the Bird Girls are just a few of the quirky characters audience members will meet during the Ouachita theatre department’s spring musical, “Seussical the Musical.”
“Seussical the Musical” will run April 15-18 in Jones Performing Arts Center. The production includes a large cast of students in scenes retelling some of Dr. Seuss’ most famous stories including “The Cat In The Hat”, “Horton Hears a Who” and “The Grinch.”
In choosing this year’s spring musical, stage director Daniel Inouye and musical director Dr. Jon Secrest knew that ‘Seussical’ would entertain children both young and old.
“Anytime we choose a play we have to figure out what is going to be a good fit for the students and the community,” Inouye said. “We choose “Seussical” because it’s a musical everyone can get involved with. From little kids, to students and parents, we all know Dr. Seuss. This play is geared for all of our community.”
Filled with characters and themes from the beloved Dr. Seuss books, “Seussical” offers relevant stories with an exciting mix of music and laughter.
“The most fun part of this musical has been exploring a new style of music that we haven’t encountered before in our musical productions,” Secrest said. “Pop, rhythm and blues and gospel style music fall outside the boundaries we normally encounter in a musical education.”
Musical auditions and rehearsals began in January and staging began halfway through the semester. Many of the main characters are played by musical theatre majors Michael Krikorian, Jacob Watson, Rachel Street, Krysteena Koiner, Lauren Casteel, Haley Broadaway, Sam Parrish, Cortnie DeVore, Jody Lee, Daniel Collier and Heather Baker.
“My favorite part about getting this production together has definitely been developing the character of Horton the Elephant,” said Jacob Watson, a junior musical theater major. “It is something every kid has heard of somewhere along the way in his life. It’s a well loved character who has some amazing traits to learn from. Trying to search back through my life to find ways to connect with his loyalty, honesty, kindness, gentleness, joy, loving, all of those great things, has in turn brought about so much more of those traits and truly made me a better person through this whole process.”
Watson’s passion, along with the rest of the cast, is what brings a vibrant element to a show that is already entertaining in itself.
“I love working with students and the passion they bring to the project,” Inouye said. “There’s something exciting about getting together with a group of people to create art together.”
The cast includes 30 students, plus additional production crews for lighting, staging, make-up, props and costumes.
“The music is fun and the choreography is great,” Secrest said. “I think it’s going to be an outstanding show.”
Tickets are $10 per person. Tickets may be purchased by visiting or calling the JPAC box office at 870-245-5563 weekdays from 2-5 p.m. or online at www.obu.edu/finearts.
By Allison Cornell, Signal Writer
