Rockmart youth bring Dr. Seuss to life for a fun time on the local stage
Oh, the thinks you can think when you think about Seuss. That's what the community's local actors were singing at Rockmart's Cultural Arts Center on Friday. With junior theatre camp ending last week, it was time for the older actors to don their hats, elephant ears, and tails for a performance of Seussical Jr. that truly gave audience members something to think about.
Seussical Jr. Follows several classic Seuss characters as their conflicts intertwine with each other's. The story primarily follows Horton (played by Isaac Gober) who discovers a small f l ower with an even s maller village ( t he Whos) living on top of it. No one can hear the Whos except for Horton, and the protective elephant must defend his new friends against the naysayers and dangers of his world. Fortunately, through all of his dan- gers, Gertrude Mcfuzz (played by Anna Snider) helps Horton and maintains faith in her elephant companion.
Seussical did its job very well because listening and watching the musical made me t hink many thinks. My eyes were primarily drawn to The Cat in the Hat (played by Alli Streetman) who, despite being portrayed as a hero, seemed to being cause a lot of mischief throughout the play via strange and odd powers a cat should not have. I came to the conclusion the Cat in the Hat was evil.
The Cat's evil intentions were primarily exposed by his role as a narrator. The cat often interacted with characters in the play, but would pause time (I believe The Cat in the Hat has the ability to freeze time) to tell the audience "t hings were about to get worse." This means the evil feline had the ability to interact with the characters, knew what would happen next, and still chose not to help them.
One of the most diabolical things The Cat in the Hat did occurred when the Horton naysayers threatened to place Horton in an insane asylum and boil the clover with the Who village on it. The Cat in the Hat had previously spoken to a Who- vil l e r esident- JoJo (played by Rob Laltrello-) and was fully aware that Horton was not insane. Despite his knowledge that the Whoville residents lived on the flower, the cat still sang joyously for the flower to be boiled.
Thankfully the powerful performance by the cast and crew captured my attention so well that I could truly think about what was happening before me. I believe now that the Cat in the Hat used his wide array of evil powers- time freezing, shrinking, interpretive dance- in an attempt to see the Whoville and its people completely destroyed. Also, at one point the Cat in the Hat acted as a medical doctor despite not being licensed.
Cast and crew t hat helped t he audience think many thinks but were not mentioned include: Director and Assistant Directors: Margaret Jacobs, Paige Duff, and Stevi Reeves. Those in leading roles included Chloe Green as Mayzie La Bird, Mary Laltrello as Sour Kangaroo, Branson Lewis as Mr. Mayor and Hope Garrett as Mrs. Mayor.
Also in the play were Hannah Jones, Emily Jones, Sierra Post, Jeanna Suppes, and Kylie Thomas as Bird Girls. Brevin Barnes, James Portwood, Thomas Vest, and Hunter Wolfe as The Wickersham Brothers. Hannah Aiken, Abby Allrred, Lily Anderson, Sierra Fincher, Savannah Jackson, Hailey Milam, a nd Syndey Streetman as The Whos. The technical Director/ Sounds: Rex Garner and Hailee Brand.