Open Door Theater Presents 'Seussical', Opening Feb. 3

From Open Door Theater: Open Door Theater Presents Seussical™ Opening February 3, 2017

Open Door Theater has very big news

Come see Horton, the Cat in the Hat and some Whos

Don’t just walk, but please run

Don’t miss the fun:

Get tickets for“Seussical”™ the musical!'

Open Door Theater of Acton is proud to announce its February 2017 production of Seussical™, the fun and fantastic musical adventure by composer Stephen Flaherty and lyricist Lynn Ahrens (Ragtime, Once on this Island). Seussical™ features many of your favorite Dr. Seuss characters including Horton the Elephant, the Cat in the Hat, the Grinch, and the Whos. All these and more are brought together through the tale of a boy named JoJo who is unnoticed by his peers and thinks “unusual thinks”, but finds an ally in Horton the Elephant. Audiences will journey into the storybook world of Dr. Seuss as this creative duo tries to convince their friends to see that “anything is possible” if they can only imagine beyond what is right in front of them.

For over 35 years, Open Door Theater has been providing accessible and inclusive community theater experience to families and individuals “on both sides of the curtain.” In his work Dr. Seuss celebrated the value and dignity of all people as he famously expressed with “a person is a person, no matter how small.” Dr. Seuss’s guiding principle of equality is reflected in Open Door Theater’s artful use of diverse talent. With thirty percent of the cast members self-identifying as having a disability, Open Door Theater cultivates the unique gifts of cast members to enrich the performance, as exemplified by the role of Jojo, who is performed by two actors: twelve year old Joe Saraceni of Sudbury, who is Deaf and performs entirely in American Sign Language, and thirteen year old Eric Fish of Stow who performs in English. Director Brian Kelly’s vision for the dual role strives to capture both the tone of Seuss’s work and the mission of Open Door Theater.

Kelly says that, “In casting two boys to simultaneously play one role we hope to highlight the idea that despite our differences, everyone has something important to say and everyone has the ability to contribute something valuable to the world. “That mission has been recognized by the Eastern Massachusetts Association of Community Theaters (EMACT), which presented Open Door Theater with a special award for accessible theater in 2014, and nominated our 2015 production of Shrek: The Musical in several categories, and by the Middlesex West Chamber of Commerce, who named Open Door Theater the Non-Profit of the Year in 2016. We are proud to be a charter member of the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s UP Initiative, working for increased accessibility at all organizations.

For audiences too, Open Door provides an accessible experience. We will again this year present Seussical™ in several accessible performances, including a sensory-friendly matinee on Saturday, February 11th. This performance will feature adjustments to the performance including a social story and preshow introduction of characters, having the house lights partially on, reducing the sound volume, a nearby “chill out” room with a monitor screening the show for audience members who need a break from the theater, and gluten-free snacks. An ASL-interpreted performance for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing will occur at the Saturday, February 4th matinee; and an audio-described show for those who are blind or who have low vision at the February 11th evening performance. Every performance will feature Open Captioning, using integrated projections to enhance the onstage action.

Open Door Theater will present Seussical™ in performances running from February 3-12th, 2017, in the Dragonfly Theater at the R.J. Grey Junior High in Acton, MA. For information about the show, accessibility details, and to get tickets, visit our website: www.opendoortheater.org.

Show Dates:

• Friday, February 3, 2017 at 7:00pm
• Saturday, February 4, 2017 at 2:00pm (ASL-interpreted)
• Sunday, February 5, 2017 at 2:00pm
• Friday, February 10, 2017 at 7:00pm
• Saturday, February 11, 2017 at 12:00pm (Sensory-Friendly)
• Saturday, February 11, 2017 at 7:00pm (Audio-Described)
• Sunday, February 12, 2017 at 2:00pm

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Ticket sales start on December 19th: call the Open Door Theater Box Office at 978-264-8150 or purchase online at www.opendoortheater.org/tix

For information about theater accessibility and special shows:

www.opendoortheater.org/accessibility/, or ellen.Burditt@gmail.com

Photos courtesy of Open Door Theater