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‘SEUSSICAL Jr.’ Shines Its Light This Saturday Through the Hearts of Local Kids Photos by Daniel Bozza, Written by Local Contributor Mount Tabor Arts Collaborative musical theater summer camp presents “Seussical Jr.” this Saturday night, July 22, at 7pm in The Tabernacle at 26 Simpson Ave, Mount Tabor NJ.
The Show Seussical The Musical opened on Broadway in 2000 as a compilation story including a dozen of Dr. Seuss's greatest hits with major characters from Horton Hears a Who, The Cat and the Hat, and Gertrude McFuzz.
The Director
Dawn Ward-Lau, Director and Choreographer of this production of Seussical Jr., has been creating programs and performances in Hudson and Essex counties for nearly 20 years. The Lau family moved to Morris County last year and brought with them contacts, experience, and commitment to their new hometown. The unusual combination of a neighborhood with it’s own theater, open space building, park and public library have created a campus-like setting for the two-week summer camp.
The Venue The town of Mount Tabor was developed in the late 1800’s as a summer retreat and revival community for the Methodist Church. While the community’s religious ways have long gone, the walkable spaces in Mount Tabor naturally come alive in the summer. The Mount Tabor Methodist Church has a prime spot on the hill and is host to the practice spaces for dance and set painting of Seussical Jr. “It’s exciting to see Mount Tabor explode with activity in the summer. It’s how this community was intended and how these walkable spaces were designed,” says Jessica Curry, President of Mount Tabor’s Children’s Day, a three-day
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The Cast
At the core of the Seussical story are the wild imaginations of Jo-Jo (played by Rhaya Lau) and The Cat in The Hat (played by Alison “Squeeze” Paterno). They have created a world outside of the normalcy of home and school; a magical place called the Jungle of Nool. Horton
(played by Vianne Bozza) is an empathetic elephant who works to save a tiny world discovered on a speck of dust, a speck that he must protect at all costs; creating a frenzy of loyalty and friendship among doubt. Jo-Jo’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Mayor (played by Vincent Bozza and Ava Cohen) do their best to put a stop to their daughter’s wild imagination, but the Seussical magic
is quite strong. Back in the Jungle, Horton has additional complications to manage, with Mayzie (played by Juliana Johnston), Gertrude McFuzz (played by Maya Lau) and Bird Girl (played by Gracie Miller). The show is rounded out by comically cool characters The Wickershams (played by Levi Morici and Soren Morici) and the diva Sour Kangaroo (played by Bella Bozza).
The Crew
Four more invaluable kids will add to evening production, without gracing the lit stage. Sophia Rodriguez is the Master of Props with a three person stage crew including AJ Imperati, Daniel Gardner, and Rachel Klemovitch. This team, and a dozen other talented kids ages 7-17, have helped build the architecture of a great performance by sharing their gifts in quieter ways. Sophia Rodriguez says, “I like watching and listening to the show while working on the sets. Everyone has been helpful. When they’re not on stage, they help me paint.” The multiple layers of creating theater truly involves a place for everyone.
The Set
Seussical’s stage has largely been designed by Jimmy Lau, landscape designer and cofounder of the Mount Tabor Arts Collaborative.
Melissa Wood, Art Teacher at Kent Place School, is one of the many folks that have brought those designs to life. Wood says. “This theater camp isn’t just for performers. The arts and tech side of theater allow so many opportunities of engagement to come together with a single goal. That ability to work together,
to experience that no member of an ensemble is any more important than another, will help these kids for the rest of their lives.”
The Camp
The Mount Tabor Arts Collaborative insists that while their summer camp results in a fullscale production, “Our camp is about the process. In our acting classes, kids learn public speaking, to think off the top of their heads. Through improvisation we are creating problem solvers, team players, and inventors,” says Ward-Lau. Ward-Lau’s style is to teach with her entire body- and students respond in kind. “Acting is a full body affair. It’s acting, and reacting. Kids have a voice in this world and theater invites that voice at every level,” says Ward-Lau.
The Music Music Director Sandi Zimmerman, retired from Newark Academy, taught the music and the lyrics to the eleven kids who will be on stage this weekend, but she has also shown them how to sell the songs, how to interpret them, and how to act their way through the music. Jennifer Roth, parent and visual artist says, “I’m blown away by the singing and dancing skills of these kids. After spending my days painting sets, sewing costumes, and building props while the kids rehearse, I find myself singing Seussical tunes at home.”
The Results?
Many parents note how their children are happy and exhausted after camp. Mount Tabor resident Tina Miller has loved to see her daughter Gracie, age 9, “come out of her shell. She’s definitely more confident and has found her singing voice.” Gracie Miller loves that she gets to be in so many different scenes. These youngsters have quite an evening planned for Saturday night. Consider your calendar booked.
Need even more motivation to get to the theater this weekend?
Here are 10 more reasons not to miss the show: 1. SEUSSICAL IS A GREAT STORY WITH AN EVEN BETTER MESSAGE Horton, the empathetic elephant, has a most famous phrase that comes just after feeling that he is alone in the universe in his quest to protect the Who’s in Whoville. “I’ll just have to save (them) because after all, a person’s a person, no matter how small.” 2. TEN BUCKS, FREE PARKING, AND CLOSE TO HOME This show is a low-cost, low-pressure, local theater experience for your own children. Think they’ll be a little squirmy? No problem. The more early exposure your family has to artistic performances, the more prepared they will be for a lifetime of artistic appreciation and engagement. With a ticket price of just ten dollars, all of which goes to the non-profit Mount Tabor Arts Collaborative, you simply can’t go wrong. 3. DIRECTOR DAWN WARD-LAU IS NEW TO MORRIS COUNTY, BUT NOT NEW TO KIDS AND THEATER Decades of experience with kids on stage have boiled into ten packed days of camp. At the heart of Dawn’s gift with musical theater and kids is her high level of excellence while maintaining a ‘Theater for All’ attitude. Danielle Merzatta, a local visual artist who dropped by rehearsal to lend a hand with set painting, notes, “The clip and call of the director's voice felt like another layer to the soundtrack of the show. Dawn pulls out the next level from the kids- and definitely empowers them with confidence on the stage.”
4. THIS PROGRAM DOESN’T JUST SAY IT’S INCLUSIVE, IT ACTUALLY IS Students don’t have to audition to get a spot in this cast or crew, as many county theaters require. You’re in before you even sign up. Dawn Ward-Lau finds, “that folks don’t always know how to support kids in theater. ‘This one is too afraid,’ or, ‘This one isn’t ready.’ That messaging, and sometimes even silence, takes away potential. We work with the strengths AND complexities of the group. I don’t teach acting to make actors, I teach acting to have an avenue for children to feel comfortable in their own skin. We find the bar and then we raise it. And we leave rehearsals flying.” 5. THE COSTUMES AND WIGS ARE AMAZING Actor and Artist Rebecca Schall VanDuzer has created a series of head gear to match this productions exceptional costumes, many of them on loan from the Orbit Arts Academy in Atlanta, Georgia. VanDuzer insists, “The character visuals of this production are so exciting- for kids to have access to this level of professionalism so close to home is such a gift. Both to the actors and the audience!”
6. THE MUSIC IS FUN, FUN, FUN Seussical Jr.’s hit songs include the uplifting, “It’s Possible” and the emotional “Alone in the Universe.” “Oh, the Thinks You Can Think” has the entire energy of the cast more than once. Bird Girl Gracie Miller, age 9, says her favorite song is ‘Amazing Mayzie.’ What will be yours? 7. DISCOVER WHAT MUSICAL THEATER CAMP IS LIKE Mornings have included sessions in Acting, Theater Games, Blocking, and Character Analysis. In the afternoons, scenes are built together with Music, Dance, and Choreography. Every day has some open time at the playground, downtime after lunch, and of course, plenty of arts and crafts as the sets and props come together piece by piece.
8. KIDS THAT WORK THIS HARD DESERVE A GREAT AUDIENCE There is no greater way to reward the hard work of these kids and than to give them the house they deserve. What better way to spend a Saturday evening than to generously receive the magic of this play! TIckets are available for cash at the door or you can purchase them online HERE.
9. IT’S LIVE THEATER & THERE’S NO SECOND CHANCE In this age of video consumption and virtual reality play, theater has an even greater potential to impress. Unlike so much of the recorded, searchable, digital experience that kids consume today, live theater comes and goes. Sure, you can catch a clip online, but the energetic
performance of Seussical this Saturday is something to catch- like it’s own Brigadoon that will come and go; it’s a mountaintop moment not to miss. 10. THIS IS A CAMP YOUR KIDS COULD ATTEND TOO Check out this seedling project as you look towards camp experiences for next July. This group of kids may be the first to experience the Mount Tabor Arts Collaborative’s musical theater camp, but they won’t be the last. Director and Choreographer Dawn Ward-Lau already has her eyes on next summer.
See You At The Show!
