Seussical Crew and Pit Q&A

Graphics by Anna McClelland

Crew

Claire Evans: Student Director Junior

Q: Why is Seussical different from other musicals?

A: I like it a lot because there are so many lead characters, which is cool because it’s not subjective, I guess. I also like the music in it; it’s all really peppy and upbeat. It’s cute and not too deep, and after Our Town, it’s kind of nice having an upbeat show.

Q: Why did you want to be the student director for this musical?

A: I was having trouble deciding if I wanted to audition or be crew chief, and my friend Kylie Ledford said I should student direct. I was like, “that’s a good idea!”. I thought it was really smart, and my friend Isa (Fimbres) just student directed Our Town so it worked out really well and seemed like a good opportunity for me.

Q: What are you looking forward to the most?

A: Seeing the end product, 100%. I’ve seen bits and pieces of it – I’ve been down to the dance room watching the Bird Girls and I’ve come up to the choir room to listen to all the music, and we’ve done some blocking and character stuff. When all the million things come together, and every aspect of crew which is so much stuff, seeing it all is really going to be cool. And being on the director side, I see what Cappy (Capello) wants and I get to see his ideas come to life.

Q: What are your responsibilities as student director?

A: A lot of organization. I get (to direct and choreograph) my own scene, and I’ll being doing some character work by myself – which is also for time saving purposes – with big characters.

Meg Mcsweeney: Stage Manager Senior

Q: Why is Seussical different from other musicals?

A: The biggest difference for Seussical, for me, is just the energy of everyone it in. We have everyone participating. The cast is so excited, and everyone is proud of their roles and so happy to be here. And crew, we have an amazing crew this year and awesome crew chiefs.

Q: What are you looking forward to the most ?

A: I don’t think I’m looking forward to anything specifically, except for traditions and stuff that come with show week. I think I’m most excited to just be here, and I’m just waiting for something exciting to happen to match my excitement.

Q: What are your responsibilities as stage manager?

A: What I’ve found out so far is that it’s my job to know everyone. Know the face, know the names, and be the person that someone can go to and be like “Hey, where’s this person?”. I’m working on being good at that, but I am very excited for my job during the show, which is calling cues and being on headset. One of my favorite parts of the show is being on headset.

Claire Harken: Costumes Sophomore

Q: What makes the costumes of Seussical different from costumes in other shows?

A: As long as I’ve been here, we’ve never done a show like this. The designs are a lot more cartoonish since its Seuss. I did Cinderella last year and it was just of that time period and normal, but now we’re making all of the costumes which is fun.  

Q: What character has the most interesting costume?

A: “I think the Grinch, also because of the makeup, but he might have fur on his face and a whole santa costume, and hands of fur. The jungle animals will also have hands of fur, and we’re making those completely from scratch, so that’ll be fun. We have a lot of rules from Cappy (Capello) for keeping them neutral colors, but we also have to “Seussify” it, as everyone says, so making it really fun. We use straight up fur as skirts and leggings and designs for it all.

Q: What are you looking forward to the most?  

A: The process of making all of the costumes is going to be really fun, and designing it, which is what we’re doing right now. I guess that’s the most fun part. There’s a lot of discussion and we look up different musicals and look through books of Dr. Seuss to get ideas shape-wise what we need and ideas of what we can do.

Loren Davis: Set Junior

Q: How are the sets of Seussical different from other shows?

A: They’re a lot more colorful and big and childish; they definitely try to invoke the imagination of the audience.

Q: What set are you most excited about?

A: We’re doing a two-story platform that comes on and off stage that’s going to be really cool. All the cast goes on and off on it.

Q: How much time will crew spend on building sets?

A: On average, my crew hours end up being around 90 to 100 hours. It kind of depends per-show but it’s definitely on the higher end for Seussical, so it’ll be around 100 hours. The sets are more complex to build because of the different scenes they rotate around: dream state and different worlds like Whoville and Horton’s world. We have really big side entrances as well, so it’s really intricate.

Orchestra Pit

Cooper Lintner: Alto Saxophone

Sophomore

Q: How is the music in Seussical different from other shows?

A: It’s not as classical and it’s a different variety of instruments. Last year for the musical we didn’t have Alto Saxophones, which is the instrument that I play, but this year that’s included. I would say there is definitely more variety in parts.

Q: What is your favorite song in the show?

A: “Oh The Thinks you Think”. I heard it as I was growing up and I’m hearing it now but I’m also making music with it, so it’ll be fun.

Q: What are you most excited for?  

A: I’m excited to finally start practicing under the stage. This is my first year in pit, and it’ll a good time.

Lucas Coffman: Trombone

Sophomore

Q: How is the music in Seussical different from other shows?

A: It’s much more in a jazz-funk type style, and I would say it’s harder than most of the music we play. For me, it’s a lot more high in my range and the music is so varied styles.  

Q: What is your favorite song in the show?

A: Probably “Here On Who”, because it goes between a jazz and a funk style.

Q: What are you most excited for?  

A: I’m most excited for when it comes together and when we start to perform, because we’re still in a very early workshop phase that doesn’t sound like much. I’m excited for when it does actually sound like music.