'Seussical' Premieres on WH Junior High Stage Tonight

“Seussical the Musical” premieres at 8 p.m. this Friday at the Woodland Hills Junior High School auditorium, and local students have been hard at work putting the finishing touches on the production.

Tyler Mcguigan, co-director of the show, said they decided to take on a bigger challenge after last year’s production of “High School Musical.”

“I performed in this show at Woodland Hills High School and love it and figured that the kids would as well so it was an easy choice,” Mcguigan said. “The music for this show is very catchy as it all rhymes.  We have a great group of kids that really enjoy what they are doing which will get the audience more involved.”

The show has a second run at 8 p.m. this Saturday as well. It also is directed by Anthony Martello. Tickets are $6.

The story centers around Horton the Elephant, who finds himself faced with a double challenge—not only must he protect his tiny friend Jojo (and all the invisible Whos) from a world of naysayers and dangers, but he must guard an abandoned egg, left to his care by the irresponsible Mayzie La Bird.

Although Horton faces ridicule, danger, kidnapping and a trial, the intrepid Gertrude McFuzz never loses faith in him, the only one who recognizes "his kind and his powerful heart."

Ultimately, the powers of friendship, loyalty, family and community are challenged and emerge triumphant, in a story that makes you laugh and cry, Mcguigan said.

“For this show I have been mainly doing the blocking and teaching the music,” McGuigan said. “There is a decent amount of dancing or choreographed music so Mr. Martello has been doing a good bit of the work and has done a fantastic job with it. We also have an extremely dedicated group of parents who have been working hard with the costuming and set building. Without them this show would be no where.”

He also said rehearsals have been going well.

“The kids are doing a great job and are really starting to put everything together,” he said. “We have a great mix of students with varying levels of experience in theater which has been great. A lot of them are really growing in their maturity on stage.”

He also said he is looking forward to the show’s local debut this weekend.

“I can't wait to see to see how the kids perform when there is a full audience,” he said. “It is one thing to do it for empty seats but the rush of performing for people is huge and I love seeing how kids react.  When they are in costume under the lights it will be amazing.”