After months of rehearsals, Seussical opens this week for the very first time at Alden High School!

Seussical combines the stories of 14 different Dr. Seuss tales and transports the audience to the Circus McGurkus, through the invisible world of the “Whos” and right into the Jungle of Nool. The Cat in the Hat (Tim Hinsken) tells the story of Horton (Zach Bennett), an elephant who discovers a speck of dust that contains the Whos, including Jojo (Sam Syracuse), a Who child sent off to military school for thinking too many “thinks.” Horton faces a double challenge: not only must he protect the Whos from a world of naysayers and dangers, but he must guard an abandoned egg, left in his care by the irresponsible Mayzie La Bird (Lily Hart). Although Horton faces ridicule, danger, kidnapping and a trial, the intrepid Gertrude McFuzz (Brooke Meyer) never loses faith in him. Ultimately, the powers of friendship, loyalty, family and community are challenged and emerge triumphant.

The upbeat and catchy soundtrack from Seussical is brought to life through the direction of the Pit Band led by Mr. Bill Larrabee and under the direction of Co-Director and Vocal Director Mrs. Jill Farrell. This production features virtually no dialogue, which has allowed Choreographer Ms. Julia Wallace the ability to incorporate constant and sometimes stunning movement on stage. Co-Director Mr. Matt Masci’s design team including Technical Director Mr. TJ Northem tackled the unique challenge of bringing the works of Seuss from page to stage in an amazing abstract design with the help of Thomas Northem who volunteers as the set builder. Lighting and sound design, run from the new state of the art control booth, is crucial to the success of a production of this caliber. Lead Technician Max Northem led his technical team to this perfected final product with over 400 cues, 19 active microphones, and lighting designs featuring LED lighting and 20 moving lights. All of these numbers are new records as the most used in a production at Alden. Offering technical expertise in this area is volunteer Chris Clark. Stage Crew is led by Stage Manager Andrew Sigurdson and Asst. Stage Manager Zöe Guilliams who oversee the detailed painting & building efforts as well as stage movement. Dr. Seuss’ characters are brought to life through amazingly detailed costuming designed by Costume Director Mrs. Amy Froebel and her army of volunteers and the special effects makeup designs of volunteer Bill Holdsworth. In this show, the “Cat in the Hat” and the “Grinch” went through a unique custom casting process for partial face masks that fit perfectly to their faces to sell that Dr. Seuss look!