"Seussical" was so much fun! Werner did an amazing job; his shows keep getting better and better. It was a huge colorful production that was super fun to watch. Rand and Ella saw it eight times and still weren't bored! There are loads of photos on the Ronald S. Selim Performing Arts Center's facebook page if you want to see pictures that aren't of Rand and Ella.
We spent a LOT of time at the theater Rand and Ella were spoiled rotten by the students. They were fed cotton candy and goldfish crackers and orange soda and all kinds of deliciousness. The two guys who played Thing 1 and Thing 2 were so nice to my kids -- they let R&E chase them everywhere and beat them up.
The dress rehearsal did not go so well -- Rand was adamant that he had changed his mind and didn't want to do it, and Ella said she was too scared to do it without Rand. Rand's costume looked a little like something out of "A Christmas Story" -- it was a gray pajama-type costume with feathers sewn on the back. He cried that he looked like an "iDot" (an idiot, but he doesn't know how to pronounce it and said it like iPod) and that everyone would laugh at him.
There was lots of talking and maybe some threats and the first two performances were so not so great, but at Performance #3 it all came together and from then on Rand and Ella were fantastic. Rand usually got a stomach ache right before he was supposed to go on and Ella just breezed through all of the shows.
They waited patiently backstage until their big entrance and came out from under the blanket calling "Tweet! Tweet!" They were supposed to hold hands with Justin and Sarah (the main actors) and look at whoever was singing. There is one part where they are both singing at the same time and Ella said that she was only going to look at Sarah because she didn't want it to look like she was shaking her head "no."
After that, they stayed on stage for one song and then waited in the back during the final dance number. Rand sang the song with the rest of the cast and did some of the dance moves, which was awesomely adorable.
Sarah always carried Ella out with her when she took her bow, but Rand didn't want to do that; he joined in for the all-cast bow at the very end. But on the last performance, Justin asked him one more time he wanted to go out and bow with him, and Rand said yes. It was such a cute surprise to see him come out with Justin! He was beaming. Justin and Sarah were so sweet so share the spotlight with our kids. I can't say enough good things about them -- they are great actors and kind people to boot!
We always snuck out to get their costumes during the "Hunches" song because it was dark in the auditorium. Ella and I were coming later for one of the performances and Rand was sitting with friends. When the song started, before I could even sneak up to get Rand, he was out of his seat and booking it towards the costume room.
We had many, many friends that came and saw the shows, which was wonderful -- we felt so supported!
When Ella was tying on her elephant ears for her last show, a student asked her if she was glad that it was all over. She said, "No, because I won't be able to go out and hold hands with Justin and Sarah anymore."
It was such a great experience for them, and I hope that they will remember this for a long time.
