The Rise and Fall of Seussical
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- Опубликовано: 14 июл 2024
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Everyone thought Seussical would be a hit. It had an award winning creative team, a charming presence, and was based on the most iconic characters in books.
But then, just as quickly as it promising rise...it all came crashing down.
This is the story of Seussical.
Special thanks to Kevin Chamberlin and Eddie Korbich for their insight into this production!
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Why in the world would anyone take on a Dr. Seuss musical and think, "We need to make this sexy for adults"? If you want to make a sexy show, Dr. Seuss ain't it, babe.
Roald Dahl, maybe. Seuss? Nope.
"Our vision for the show was, in a few words, Seuss That F**ks."
To be fair, Seuss can work for adults, but it can’t be purely for adults. Like look at Green Eggs & Ham, Netflix turned that into a Seussian take on a Cold War spy thriller but it was still Seuss
a cousin of mine did suessical get last year over the summer, and the director wanted all the Bird Girls in corsets…
Speak for yourself. Thems whos in whoville are hot. Yucking on yum is not. Just saying thing 1 and thing 2 know some things.
Seussical truly is such a fascinating story. The original production started out simple, and found magic in that simplicity, just like how the books are simple drawings telling simple stories. Then it had a grand biggering phase where the magic dried up and the parts that made it Seuss were lost. Nowadays, it's often licensed out for high school and local community productions. I saw one not long ago where they couldn't really go for more elaborate props or backgrounds. And that little production was pure childhood magic and wonder. Seussical found its way back to its roots by being something that an underfunded theater department puts on, where the next big star can bloom into their talents. And I find that bit really uplifting.
My mom is a freelance costumer, and just through happenstance she's done Seussical more than any other musical, so I have seen Seussical a lot because of her. And idk, for me the more low budget Seussical is oftentimes the better it is. And Seussical is done a lot by elementary schools and youth acting programs- it does not get better than that, those performances somehow are always the best ones.
My favorite ever costumes version of seussical used normal clothing items in unusual ways to give the animal silhouette. It was like kids playing dress up, but cohesive and looked fabulous.
my school seems to be putting on the Suessical every year
I've done lights and a few other design positions on a few different low budget seussical jr productions with a local theater company and it's always a blast even if I see all the places where the design could be so much better if I had resources
It really is one of the best youth theater productions….it is such an ensemble cast with so many chances for solos from so many kids! Costuming can be as simple or fantastical as you like, and I’ve seen it done creditably with a single black and white “library” set. It also has a wonderful message.
This production has such a fascinating story and you told it so well! I'm waiting for the day they hopefully revive Seussical on Broadway!
Hey TPM vids!
Hey TPM vids
That and/or a live musical telecast on NBC too.
They should
@@seanie93horror26THIS is what i need
I feel like the Spongebob musical succeeded where Seussical failed. Both shows seemed to have an initial creative idea of immersing their (largely adult) audiences into a child's imaginative perspective, but Spongebob survived its creative evolution leading up to Broadway by ensuring that most of its set and props felt like either common household items or handmade creations. Its costumes aren't 1-to-1 with the cartoon, but they shouldn't be. Both musicals are at their best when they feel like playing make-believe, or like being inspired by these stories and characters as a kid, rather than feeling like corporate productions put on by theme parks with huge budgets.
That’s a fact
I agree. The SpongeBob musically deserves more flowers. It was SO amazingly done! I nerd out about it all the time.
Spongebob succeeded - (I'm not sure I'd go with that word) due to the show played into the types in created through the animation in the cartoon show.. I will defintiely five it amazing props for that set design as well WOW!
Suessical on the other hand doesn't come with that really (grinch and horton were not pop culture tv shows that Sopnge Bob was so the Creators actully had to create - They also (perhaps abig mistake) we encoumpassing a much larger worldwherethe audience has it's own preconceived nature of the character not one drawn out and animated for them.
Seussical was the first show I ever did (age 10)! I was a baby tiger in an ensemble of animals with Horton, and my mom was the adult tiger. Cant believe it’s been 17 years 🥲
Wow same! I was jojo in the fifth grade
Me too!! I was Mr. Mayor at 11🤭
I was a fish! I was in the group of animals and I danced around Jojo in the bathtub. It was such a fun time ♡
Omg same! First show I ever did and I was the Cat in the Hat! I was in 8th grade at the time so a little older but this show is still dear to my heart❤
was also my first! did mayzie in a summer workshop at around 6
Nathan Lane's expressions upon announcing the best musical of 1998 was a musical adaptation of a film in which he starred is absolute comic GOLD. A small detail, to be sure, but thank you, Brendon, for putting this gem in the video!
What's fun is to watch his reaction to the Lion King...and then watch his reaction to Avenue Q. Those eyebrows don't lie!
@@maryblakley3590 I'll have to check it out, thank you!
Not to mention how Drabinsky was a real life Max Bialystock! 🤣
^police raid Livent HQ^
"Sir, we found two books. One says 'show to the IRS', and the other says 'DON'T show to the IRS'."
@@JangobadassThis comment has made my day and I've only just woken up
Time stamp, please?
Fun fact: The actor who plays Bertram from Jessie was in the original Broadway production Suessical and played Horton. U can see him clearly at 21:44
Also played Fester Addams
The Producers, a show about an accounting scheme masquerading as a real Broadway musical, being the final nail in the coffin for this real-life musical plagued by fraud and scandal, is perhaps the funniest outcome this story could have (and makes me wonder if the choice to adapt The Producers to Broadway around the time Seussical's troubled development was sensationalized wasn't merely coincidence).
The beginning was fascinating, hearing Idle’s ideas vs the creators’ ideas. Because at first I go “yeah, Idle’s got the idea, Seuss is wacky and zany and chaotic” but really the other guys were more on the money- we all THINK of Seuss as crazy over the top because he gives the bare bones of some deeply strange and creative characters and lets the imagination of children do the heavy lifting.
I think there’s a middle ground of visual simplicity boosted by wacky character energy and well placed effects, but if you aren’t careful it turns into that made for TV Grinch musical 🤢
Then the show went full cereal, ending up a massive "Spectacle".
Seussical its the perfect example of why not every show needs to be on broadway
This show had/has so much potential! Beetlejuice and SpongeBob is proof that these out there projects can be dealt!
Same with "Carrie" and "Chess", which suffered a surprisingly similar problems of being too big for their own good...
...and not every story lends itself to being a musical. It seems these days they want to turn everything into a musical and get surprised when it flops.
If Seussical could be revived on Broadway, there are only two notes I would want to request: stage it at the Circle in the Square Theatre, and if a big budget is involved, spend it on the orchestra.
Omg YES!! I agree 100%!!
Interesting that you can see how Seussical served as an introduction to Broadway for Universal and Eric Idle who would then go on to produce Wicked and Spamalot in the years after.
I suppose for Idle it was only a model
@@givemethelamp2652”Shh!”
never knew Eric Idle was connected to Seussical, what a wild version his would've been!
Thanks for this. My dad, Rocco, was a well known Broadway producer. When I was a kid he took me to see Seussical in Toronto as he was thinking about producing it. He liked it, when I was asked I said, "no, it's dumb. The cat is creepy. Don't do this." When Seussical closed he gave me a hundred dollar bill and said, "thats for the millions you saved me."
Cool
It’s safe to say Brendon is in his revival era.
I did Seussical in 2012 and, from my experience and what you described, a definite improvement in story and character. I also met my husband, who was in the show with me. I was a bird girl, and he played Mr. Mayor.
She was a bird
He was a mayor
Can I make it anymore obvious?
I saw Suessical as a pre-teen when I was obsessed with Aaron Carter. My grandfather was the Broadway set designer, so I always went back stage after. I cried when Aaron came out at the start of the show to say he was too sick to perform that night. Never got to meet him in the end. But I love this channel, and it's nice to see my grandpa's sets again, even if maybe they were too over the top :)
I didn't know that about Ragtime, and that's crazy because Ragtime is so good. One of my favorites of all time
28:34 Thank you for such a fun and informative video on this musical. I was quite surprised to see myself in it (I’m behind Jojo during “It’s Possible” from the Hale Center Theatre production), and I’m currently in rehearsals for another production of this show. It’s become one of my absolute favorites to perform in, it’s a wonderful little piece of theater. The music is so fun (and challenging) to sing, and I’m glad it got a second life after its tumultuous run.
The Hale Center Theatre production gave me life! I still talk about it haha
@@WaitintheWings That makes me so happy to hear! It was a really amazing production to be in as an aerialist and Wickersham/Ensemble member.
The original cast had so much heart. I think that's why I fell in love with the soundtrack. I wish it didnt have such a kiddie/hokey attitude around it. Honestly, there was so much brilliance in its crestion. I think if this project was tackled now the results would have been different. Thank you for making this and treating the project with respect and compassion.
Way back in middle school I would listen to the original Broadway recording of Seussical many nights to go to bed (I had a revolving list), and tbh... I really love the route they went with it? Like, the more "sexy" parts never felt uncomfortable for me, and I still felt the whole "life is chaotic and there's scary things you deal with every day, but be positive and it's all bearable and worth it and beautiful" message. I guess that goes to show how strong the score and general writing was for this show was, and just how disjointed the actual stage production was. Hearing that it was turned essentially into an Isekai kinda rubs me the wrong way, cuz it already felt like we, as an audience, was being pulled into the story by The Cat in the Hat himself, but maybe I'm just biased. Regardless, I'll always love this show. I had no idea it had such a rocky run. Thank you for the video!!
I always thought Suessical was a major missed opportunity. When I first saw it I was waiting for them to bring out Lorax, Grinch, The places you’ll go, Yertle, etc., but the story really only focused on Horton which isn’t bad but I wish they did more with it
I feel like the real answer to who ruined the original broadway run is the whatever weirdo decided to make material for children sexy.
Thank you for remaking this video and showing how much you’ve grown. I liked the previous live concept, but this dives deeper and is much more polished. Bravo!
This means a lot. Thank you :)
I think every theatre kid has been forced to do this show sometime between elementary and high school (I was Jojo in 4th grade) and all the stories I've heard are absolute fever dreams haha
fellow jojo here! it was such a chaotic show but it brings back good memories anyway
Mayzie in high school! They didn't ever even give me choreo, they just set me loose to do whatever I wanted. Ah, that production was a trip! 🤣
this was the last show i ever did at my elementary school :’D i was yertle the turtle/vlad vladikoff/the circus ringmaster (yes, all 3) and it was honestly super fun
A true treasure of a show (and not one which everyone will get or understand). It hits the nail on the head about how heavy and tough reality can be without ever being discouraging. It's a show that isn't afraid to tell of the glories and heartaches of having an active imagination. If the show gets revived on Broadway, I hope they never lose that genuineness and spark of imagination. It's a show not for a kids or adults; rather, it's a show for imaginative and lonely minds young and old.
Seussical definitely deserves more love, and this is coming from someone who played a Jungle Citizen (and was the understudy for Mayzie La Bird) in my middle school production. It’s one of my favorite shows I’ve ever been in, if not my very favorite. :)
Seussical is so magical because I feel like so many people have a connection to it while they were little. Almost everyone I know who's been acting since they were young says that Seussical is one of their first, if not the first, musical they got to be in. In my opinion Seussical is the best at schools or youth programs, seeing young new actors take it on is amazing. Budget Seussical is also so good, as you explained Seussical just works phenomenally well in a low budget context, it often works better than it does in a high budget context.
Seussical was how I was introduced to musical theatre. I was 8 years old and I saw a performance at the high school I later attended.
Hi, Drake!!!
@@FilmObsessedLucy OMG HI LUCY!! 😂
Same here! Same age, same show, and it was at the high school I ended up at as well.
@@JuliaDelbel What a lovely coincidence!
It was the first show I ever did, at age 11.
I remember the live show musical episode on this.
I really like Seussical; I was the Grinch in our Who ensemble in my college's production of it. We definitely went all out regarding the set and costumes, but this really has me interested in seeing or being in the show again with minimal scenery and costumes lol
Imagine if NBC did a live musical telecast of Seussical. Who’d star in it?
watch them bring back Matthew Morrison for the Cat
Christopher Walken
@@alliewankenobi beat me to it!
Martin Short would be The Cat in the Hat. Kevin Chamberlain would reprise his role as Horton. Jane Krakowski would make a PERFECT Mayzie La Bird. Jenifer Lewis (or Jennifer Hudson) would be the Sour Kangaroo. And I have no clue who would be Gertrude…maybe Lacey Chabert?
And I’d LOVE to have an unknown child actor get his big break as JoJo.
Carrie underwood
I was part of my country's original Seussical cast as part of the ensemble 7 years ago, it was such a special event during a hard time in my life, thank you for covering the story behind the show.
Seussical was one of my favorite productions i took part of as an actor. I was in a local production i think in 2010 or so in Baldwin Park CA (i played the things) and its still a memory i look at fondly
I saw a local production on that show this year, it was phenomenal.
I saw a high school production of Suessical in kindergarten and it 100% sparked my love of theatre.
I love meeting new ppl as an adult bc none of us are involved in theater but we were all somehow in a production of seussical as a kid
I’ve always loved Seussical the Musical. “Alone in the Universe” is one of my favorite musical songs. I saw it in Seattle with Cathy Rigby as the Cat in the Hat and was absolutely in love with the production!
Having said that, an Eric Idle Seussical would have been amazing! Look what he did with Spamalot!!
Moral of the story: if you hire Eric Idle let him do whatever he wants
It pains me that you didn't make a The Producers reference with the two books, but not as much as it shocks me that a plot point in a Mel Brooks movie happened in real life
I LOVED this musical as a kid! I was in it in 7th grade.
Whoever was the first to suggest “We need to make this solely for adults” is a moron. As someone who is trying to enter children’s media, if you make something marketed towards kids with the same amount of quality as something marketed towards adults, a lot of adults will love it too. Bluey, The Owl House, and Hilda, are all great examples.
I am glad Seussical finally realized that in the end, it’s something few people believe is possible.
Umm. I just got call backs for horton and cat in the hat on friday
DO IT!! This was the first show I ever did & our Horton stole the show 🥰
Seussical still has a special place in my heart because I played Cat in the Hat my senior year. It was so much fun.
This is such an incredible story that I didn't know until now. I've been in 3 productions of Seussical and I now teach theater. To be able to give my students a bit of background on what is a touchstone piece for so many that grow up doing musical theater is invaluable. Thank you for this amazing mini documentary!
omg its giving "The Producers"
i have such a soft spot for seussical, especially after playing the cat in the hat this june - august. its such a crazy, chaotic, goofy show, but also a unique, catchy, and creative one aswell. really cool to see a video like this dedicated to it, i had no idea it had such a history!!
I love Seussical, it’s one of my favorites; and not just because I was in a community production when I was in high school, playing Thing 2
It really had such a grip like 15ish years ago. I was in Seussical Jr TWICE, once as a Bird Girl/Mrs Mayor, and once as Horton. I still sing the songs to this day 😅
I saw a high school production of "Seussical" several years ago. It was very cute!
Ah Seussical, it was the musical my high school was supposed to perform when COVID hit.
I'm sorry 😢
I have never seen Seussical, but years ago I had a dream I saw it starring Patrick Stewart
Kevin Chamberlain was so good as Horton. The lone bright spot is that he got a Tony nom for all his work.
As a video essay, the editing of this entire video is just… insanely good. 👏👏👏 And wow! That storytelling and delivery is just fantastic. You deserve your props.
Thanks for this video! I was in Susssical as Gertrude McFuzz and absolutely loved the show. It's so interesting to see how chaotic the show was at the time
I did a production of this 14 years ago; I was one of the Wickersham brothers. It was kind of a mess of a show; we did it from the Jr. book which seems to have been based on the initial show (but the show went well thanks to the director deciding to cut a bunch of extraneous stuff, like the Grinch's cameo and McElligot's Pool.)
As a Seussical alumni (mayor of whoville in high school) this show will never cease to fascinate me
I was in a high school production of Seussical (in 2006ish) , and for myself and pretty sure everyone involved it was the second most amazing musical the school ever did (later did Little Shop Of Horrors though) at least for the cast ridiculousness and theater kid shenanigans level and the content being so ridiculous and confusingly toned half the acting was not smirking through lines =P
That said, it wasn't til a Simpsons joke where someone said "this is worse than Seussical!" that I became aware maybe it wasn't well regarded- and now you've put the nail in the coffin
Our family saw the revival of Suessical the Musical in Philly. Every one of us thoroughly enjoyed it. I did laugh though, at Hortons costume ; he wore gray Timberlands. 😂
I’m so excited to watch this! I’m currently in Seussical as Mayzie and have been looking for a video on the history. :)
When I was in 3rd grade, my teacher always used to play the soundtrack during quieter times in class. I loved it from then on. When I was like 20, I saw a community theater do it. I was one of the only adults in the audience, but it was so incredibly fun. I feel like that's how ot should be seen tbh.
This has become my favorite youtube channel and the narrator is my favorite narrator. His narration lights up the room, but the story is never about him, but about the story. The editing, the placement of ad breaks, the clever, detailed, analytical writing. Oh man, Wait in the Wings is the best of the best. Anyway, I saw Seussical in another state geographically far away from Broadway (I barely remember it). I accompanied my child's Montessori school trip to see Seussical in the early 2000s. I look forward to seeing more and more Wait in the Wings videos.
The music in seussical is truly so beautiful at points and its such a good show when the heart is there....this whole story is so fascinating
How do you manage to consistently make the most compelling, informative, and emotional video essays ever?!?
This is fascinating, and another case of ‘if you don’t know who your audience is, you can’t appeal to anyone’
I’m glad it ended with another rise though!
We are doing seussical this year and are almost done! It’s going to be actually so good for a tiny high school musical. Our whole cast is in love with the characters and messages. We have cried so many times listening to the tracks-
Same dude I’m doing it too :)
Getting to play horton in the jr version of this was such blast, especially when mobile egg sitting platform we had almost completely fell over with me on it😂😂😂😂 another great vid man!
It's really interesting when you compare what happened to hear with what I feel happens in Hollywood films than even nowadays certain TV productions and video games. Where the big official thing needs to feel them make it official so they over complicated and everyone's ego is on display and it's full of money and talent and power and no one can relate to it. Then it's given to like people who have talent but are passionate and our fans of the actual thing and are willing to collaborate in order to make the thing they've always wanted to see and it works. See, for example a lot of the latest Blockbusters with films like Godzilla minus one and other smaller productions. Like Hollywood is also very familiar of making everything edgy and cool and pomps and then it wears the audience out. And then meanwhile here comes this 15 to 30 million film and it blows everything out of the water because everyone collaborated with their passions in order to make the thing that they and the audience have always wanted to see. I think that is a success story in a cautionary tale across a mediums that is old as time
So, before becoming a butler for the Ross family, Bertram Winkle was an actor and played Horton the Elephant
Sussical was my first real musical I was in and it won best theatre production from our state so I guess sussical has a bit of my heart
why did this video make me cry
I loved seeing this show, when it was performed with the local children's theatre. To hear the entire story behind it is fascinating! Thank you for making this.
We are doing Seussical right now in my college- Im playing Mayzie! So interesting to hear the history of the musical. I actually think its underrated- some of the songs are awesome (Its Possible, Alone In The Universe and Oh The Things You Can Think are some of my faves!)
I played Mayzie as well! The best role imo:)
@@SomebodyThatYaUsedToKnow Ah! I hope it went well- I think its a very challenging role!
Seussical was the first show I ever did and I was the Cat in the Hat! it is an awesome show and i had so much fun.. this show is still so dear to my heart even though it was only about three years ago now!
Seussical is very close to my heart, because without it, i wouldn't have found my soulmate. Him and i were both in the JR version when we were kids, and slowly fell for each other during the production. Now, we've been together for a long time, and intend on marrying in the future. :)
I remember the Rosie O’Donnel casting but I wasn’t aware of all the other shenanigans behind the scenes!
Putting her in anything other than *Grease* is a total Max Bialystock move.
i remember when my middle school did a production of this. Sadly unforgettable
My high school did this when I was there and I loved it. My local community theatre is doing it next June! Can’t wait!
Thank god Garth Dabrinsky was caught and never caused any issues on Broadway again
This story is so crazy! I loved it lol
I never expected this musical to have such a rough history at the start!! I saw a local production of it last year and it was so sweet and fun.
I played the bass Wickersham Brother in my community theatre production several years ago. Not gonna lie: for show this cheesy, it so much fun to be a part of
Same! I was a bird girl in my productions and the limitations of the Broadway show mirror’s our own in my communites production
@@The-bird-outside-your-door It’s not a surprise that politics like this show had could fuck it up for the audience to enjoy
I never would have guessed that this musical had such a wild history behind it... (Andrew Keenan-Bolger finding out he was getting canned was _rough_ to hear)
This was a great watch! Thanks for providing some background to one of my biggest comfort musicals ever!!
Wow, what a journey this little family show had to go though 😄😄😄💜
This show meant a lot to me in high school the music kind of slaps
i really hope they revive the show one day, considering how much it’s improved since it first opened. seussical also has such a special place in my heart, it was my first lead role (jojo) and is the reason why i’m pursuing theatre as a career
Cool video!!!
3:29 Times Square was also a mecca for queer and trans people in the 80s, many of whom were estranged from their small towns and had to turn tricks to survive living in the only place they felt would accept them. Commercialization of the area began during the AIDS crisis. Who knows how many people, how much history was displaced so that Coca-Cola could have a 10 story ad. It's heartbreaking to think about what we've lost.
I just did a production of Seussical
Haven’t seen “Seussical,” but really enjoyed your video. I credit my love of reading to Dr Seuss.
I saw suessical on Broadway, it was so good. So endearing, funny and creative. Loved it!
1. I was wondering if you were ever going to do a proper WitW on Suessical! I remember tuning in for the live episode, and watching this version is just a perfect view into how much you and this channel have grown!
2. Props for doing the sponsored section entirely in the Suess rhyming scheme!
3. As soon as I heard the name "Livent", I loudly gasped, "Oh no!!!" 😂 You know shenanigans are going down when Livent and Garth Drabinski are involved!
I got to see Seussical on tour with Cathy Rigby as The Cat. I was so captivated by it…and then I feel like I saw it absolutely everywhere done by every community theatre group 😆
My bestie is currently in rehersals for a local youtheatre production of suessical and I cant wait to see her in it :D
Absolutely baffled by the decision to brand Seussical as "erotic." That quote read like the scene in Sweet November where Keanu Reeves is doing his ad pitch for sexy, dangerous hot dogs. That being said, I did Seussical Jr. in fifth grade and loved it! I was one of the bird girls.
I just got casted for seussical, I was looking up the music for practice and found this, this is actually pretty fascinating
We’re doing seussical for my senior year, next year. Even with its rough past, im so SO excited for it. When it was shown that seussical was an option for next years show, my heart was set on it 😅 maybe I’ll remember about this comment afterwards and updating with the role i get. Itll be 6-8 months, but maybe lll remember lol
commenting here so you tell me what role you get (yes i am forcing you). i was in a production a few weeks ago and played ms. mayor
Great video.
Wonder what Eric Idle cut would have been like.
This brought me so much nostalgia. I did this at a local theater when I was in forth grade and played JoJo. This brought back some great memories