Seussical's Lynn Ahrens: Dr. Seuss, I presume?
Broadway's loss is the Fulton's gain as the revamped 'Seussical: The Musical' rediscovers itself-and its audience.
SundayNews
November 21, 2004
By MaryAlice Bitts
Will you succeed? Yes you will, indeed! (98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)
- "Oh, The Places You'll Go!" by Dr. Seuss.
You've gotta have faith in yourself and your dreams. That's one of several heartening messages put forth in "Seussical: The Musical," a lesson co-creators Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty know well.
Dubbed the hottest writing team on Broadway after the stunning success of their Tony-winning "Ragtime," Ahrens (lyrics) and Flaherty (music) had every reason to expect the best with "Seussical," a musical play that brings 17 books' worth of Dr. Seuss characters together with one unifying plot line.
After all, who doesn't love Dr. Seuss (pen name of the late Theodor Geisel, who produced more than 50 children's books so popular that they've been translated into 15 languages)?
With a Tony/Drama Desk award-winning writing team at the helm, word was that "Seussical" - the Fulton Opera House's Nov. 26-Dec. 24 holiday production - couldn't miss.
That word was wrong, at first.
The show played brilliantly in the workshop phase. ("Hard-boiled producers went away in tears," Ahrens noted in a recent phone interview.) But technical and artistic troubles arose when the play opened in Boston in 2000, generating a buzz that the show was in trouble. And although a core of the audience reportedly loved it, the play closed after a run of just six months.
What went wrong?
"None of the producers understood that the show should be whimsical, wacky, simple," Ahrens said. "By the time it reached Broadway it was overblown. It had trumpets, a big band with amplified sound, and glitzy costumes."
That spelled danger for a play based on stories that live vividly in the imaginations of theatergoers: The big production couldn't match the Seussville in their heads.
"A lot of people are really invested in the books. If you fill in the blanks, the result isn't as good," Ahrens explained.
The play's future was dubious. But did Ahrens and Flaherty give up?
They would not, could not.
When Olympic medalist Cathy Rigby wanted to go on tour with it, continuing her role as an acrobatic Cat in the Hat, Ahrens and Flaherty went to work.
"We didn't have to change much," Ahrens said. "The problem wasn't really the show; it was in thinking we have to make it a big Broadway show. We altered one song and brought the boy who plays Jo-Jo Who into a more prominent role."
The director and costume designer were replaced, and the new, scaled-down production hit the road, eventually receiving the acclaim and success that had eluded the show on Broadway.
Six actors from that first national tour will appear on the Fulton stage, including Randall Frizado as the show's star, Horton. Broadway's Larry Daggett ("Ragtime") co-stars as the Cat in the Hat. Robin McKercher directs, and set designer Robert Klingelhoefer will tackle Seuss' surrealist, curvy-lined, tuffala-treed landscape.
And if you see it, oh, the places you'll go!
The story loosely centers around the plot lines of "Horton Hears a Who!" and "Horton Hatches an Egg."
Deep in the Jungle of Nool, Horton the Elephant discovers a whole planet of Whos in a tiny speck of dust - a planet he believes in, though he's unable to see it. Despite the ridicule of those around him, he tries to protect that speck - as well as an egg that was abandoned in the nest - since, as he notes, "A person's a person, no matter how small."
In addition to Horton and the Cat, Seuss fans will also recognize Gertrude McFuzz (in this play, Horton's love interest), the Sour Kangaroo, Yertle the Turtle, and Jo-Jo Who, a small boy in that dust-planet who has an overactive imagination.
He's in the right place.
"A central theme to the show is 'Oh, the Thinks You Can Think'. It's about the power of the imagination," Ahrens said.
That theme bubbles forth through Ahrens' uplifting lyrics and Flaherty's colorful R&B, Motown, gospel, pop, vaudeville score. Many songs feature words, phrases and narrative taken directly from Dr. Seuss books.
"What people don't realize is that the lyrics are 1 percent Dr. Seuss and 99 percent Lynn Ahrens," Ahrens pointed out. "I wanted to make it seamless."
She succeeded. When she and Flaherty met Geisel's widow, Audrey, "She gave me a big hug and said that she couldn't tell where his words ended and mine began," Ahrens said.
Ahrens adopts Geisel's hallmark anapestic tetrameter and trochees with apparent relish, capturing his love of nonsense.
"Stephen and I are both very juvenile," the lyricist said. "We had no problem getting into that space."
They also captured the underlying dashes of social commentary that have turned Geisel's books into modern children's classics.
"As a child you fall in love with these silly characters and their silly predicaments, and as an adult, when you re-read them, you recognize that they're quite profound. It's terrific material to work with," Ahrens said.
Geisel's style "is great for a lyricist. If I was stuck for a rhyme I could make something up. Anything goes! The whole thing is just kind of fun."
Go to the Top
SundayNews
November 21, 2004
By MaryAlice Bitts
Will you succeed? Yes you will, indeed! (98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)
- "Oh, The Places You'll Go!" by Dr. Seuss.
You've gotta have faith in yourself and your dreams. That's one of several heartening messages put forth in "Seussical: The Musical," a lesson co-creators Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty know well.
Dubbed the hottest writing team on Broadway after the stunning success of their Tony-winning "Ragtime," Ahrens (lyrics) and Flaherty (music) had every reason to expect the best with "Seussical," a musical play that brings 17 books' worth of Dr. Seuss characters together with one unifying plot line.
After all, who doesn't love Dr. Seuss (pen name of the late Theodor Geisel, who produced more than 50 children's books so popular that they've been translated into 15 languages)?
With a Tony/Drama Desk award-winning writing team at the helm, word was that "Seussical" - the Fulton Opera House's Nov. 26-Dec. 24 holiday production - couldn't miss.
That word was wrong, at first.
The show played brilliantly in the workshop phase. ("Hard-boiled producers went away in tears," Ahrens noted in a recent phone interview.) But technical and artistic troubles arose when the play opened in Boston in 2000, generating a buzz that the show was in trouble. And although a core of the audience reportedly loved it, the play closed after a run of just six months.
What went wrong?
"None of the producers understood that the show should be whimsical, wacky, simple," Ahrens said. "By the time it reached Broadway it was overblown. It had trumpets, a big band with amplified sound, and glitzy costumes."
That spelled danger for a play based on stories that live vividly in the imaginations of theatergoers: The big production couldn't match the Seussville in their heads.
"A lot of people are really invested in the books. If you fill in the blanks, the result isn't as good," Ahrens explained.
The play's future was dubious. But did Ahrens and Flaherty give up?
They would not, could not.
When Olympic medalist Cathy Rigby wanted to go on tour with it, continuing her role as an acrobatic Cat in the Hat, Ahrens and Flaherty went to work.
"We didn't have to change much," Ahrens said. "The problem wasn't really the show; it was in thinking we have to make it a big Broadway show. We altered one song and brought the boy who plays Jo-Jo Who into a more prominent role."
The director and costume designer were replaced, and the new, scaled-down production hit the road, eventually receiving the acclaim and success that had eluded the show on Broadway.
Six actors from that first national tour will appear on the Fulton stage, including Randall Frizado as the show's star, Horton. Broadway's Larry Daggett ("Ragtime") co-stars as the Cat in the Hat. Robin McKercher directs, and set designer Robert Klingelhoefer will tackle Seuss' surrealist, curvy-lined, tuffala-treed landscape.
And if you see it, oh, the places you'll go!
The story loosely centers around the plot lines of "Horton Hears a Who!" and "Horton Hatches an Egg."
Deep in the Jungle of Nool, Horton the Elephant discovers a whole planet of Whos in a tiny speck of dust - a planet he believes in, though he's unable to see it. Despite the ridicule of those around him, he tries to protect that speck - as well as an egg that was abandoned in the nest - since, as he notes, "A person's a person, no matter how small."
In addition to Horton and the Cat, Seuss fans will also recognize Gertrude McFuzz (in this play, Horton's love interest), the Sour Kangaroo, Yertle the Turtle, and Jo-Jo Who, a small boy in that dust-planet who has an overactive imagination.
He's in the right place.
"A central theme to the show is 'Oh, the Thinks You Can Think'. It's about the power of the imagination," Ahrens said.
That theme bubbles forth through Ahrens' uplifting lyrics and Flaherty's colorful R&B, Motown, gospel, pop, vaudeville score. Many songs feature words, phrases and narrative taken directly from Dr. Seuss books.
"What people don't realize is that the lyrics are 1 percent Dr. Seuss and 99 percent Lynn Ahrens," Ahrens pointed out. "I wanted to make it seamless."
She succeeded. When she and Flaherty met Geisel's widow, Audrey, "She gave me a big hug and said that she couldn't tell where his words ended and mine began," Ahrens said.
Ahrens adopts Geisel's hallmark anapestic tetrameter and trochees with apparent relish, capturing his love of nonsense.
"Stephen and I are both very juvenile," the lyricist said. "We had no problem getting into that space."
They also captured the underlying dashes of social commentary that have turned Geisel's books into modern children's classics.
"As a child you fall in love with these silly characters and their silly predicaments, and as an adult, when you re-read them, you recognize that they're quite profound. It's terrific material to work with," Ahrens said.
Geisel's style "is great for a lyricist. If I was stuck for a rhyme I could make something up. Anything goes! The whole thing is just kind of fun."
Go to the Top
Labels: dr. seuss, fulton opera house, lynn ahrens, mary alice bitts, MaryAlice Bitts, seussical
posted by MaryAlice Bitts at 9:37 AM
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