My interest in Dr. Seuss ebbs and flows and, by proximity, so does my children’s. But just as it was in September 2010 when we four frolicked in Seuss World at Universal Studios Florida, our family’s current answer to “would you / could you” is a resounding YES!
It started in March when the Bear’s school had a fund-raising spaghetti dinner for, and then put on a production of, Seussical the Musical. If you aren’t familiar with Seussical, it’s basically a big ol’ plot & character mashup of several Dr. Seuss classics, namely Horton Hears A Who & Hatches an Egg, The Cat in the Hat, Oh The Places You’ll Go, Yertle the Turtle, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, McElligot’s Pool, and last but certainly not least, Gertrude McFuzz.
It’s Miss McFuzz and her desire to grow a more flufftastic tail (in the musical, it’s purpose would be to catch the eye of Horton – a plot point that surprisingly doesn’t make me gag) that, not at all surprisingly, became an instant favorite of my two girls. Having never meet her in book form until after the show, her songs, mannerisms and alternating meek & strong personalities were the belle of the ball.
A few days after the performance, I threw some wood on the fire by downloading the Seussical the Musical Original Off-Broadway Cast Recording – which is all kinds of outstanding – and the sharp, thoroughly wonderful Gertrude McFuzz omBook from the Dr. Seuss iPhone app powerhouse Oceanhouse Media.
In doing a bit of research (meaning I Googled it), it seems Seussical is a favorite of grade & high school drama departments across this great land of ours. I can’t recommend Seussical the Musical enough for any family, whether you know Dr. Seuss through books, the new Cat In The Hat Knows A Lot About That TV series, or the hideous mess of films ruined by Jim Carry and/or Mike Myers. Head here to see if your local school or theater is putting on Seussical this year.
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Because Annie from The Magic Tree House, Clementine and Ivy & Bean aren’t able to be distinguished by a wardrobe, and being inspired by Seussical and the Yertle the Turtle & other stories book, the Bear decided to become Gertrude McFuzz during last week’s dress-as-your-favorite-book-character day at school. Here’s her “smallest, plain tail ever was”.