LMS To Stage “Seussical” “Seussical” BY FRANCINE FULTON
Guidas-Sidorick. “We were able to keep our theater family together.”
“There are so many shows out there, but they have heavy content. This is light and colorful and focuses on celebrating the importance of every individual,” said Karen Guidas-Sidorick, Lionville Middle School (LMS) Musical Theater drama director of this year’s spring show, “Seussical.” Elaborating on why she and music director Stephanie Reimers chose the musical, Guidas-Sidorick said, “We thought it was a beautiful story.”
She said that the pandemic has added some challenges to staging this year’s show. “For the first month of the rehearsals, COVID surged again, and we were navigating a large number of absences in January because of five-day quarantines,” explained Guidas-Sidorick. “The other thing is this year, because we did not have our formal show last year, we don’t have any veteran ... eighth-graders.”
“Seussical” will be staged at LMS, 550 W. Uwchlan Ave., Exton, on Friday and Saturday, March 11 at 12, at 7 p.m. There will also be a Sunday matinee on March 13 at 2 p.m.
However, she added, high school students return each year to LMS to help with the production. “What’s awesome about our little family is we have high-schoolers who come to do their graduation project with us, and they come back … long after their graduation projects are done,” said Guidas-Sidorick. “The high-schoolers want to be here. They are here because this is their home.”
“Seussical” is based on the well-known characters of Dr. Seuss, including Horton the Elephant, who discovers a speck of dust that contains tiny people called the Whos. Horton must protect that Whos and take care of an egg abandoned by Gertrude McFuzz. Themes of the play include friendship, loyalty, family and community. “This is the full-length Broadway production. We do not do a junior edition,” noted Guidas-Sidorick. Guidas-Sidorick pointed out that the scheduled musical at LMS in 2020 “High School Musical on Stage!” - was The cast of “Seussical” includes (back, from left) Kasyap Tumuluri as the canceled the day before opening night, Cat in the Hat, Locke Starling as Horton the Elephant, Christian when all in-person learning was shut Giancaterino as JoJo, (front) Rory Garry as Thing 1 and Shruti Venkatesan down in March. “That show just went as Thing 2. away; we didn’t break down the set until September,” she said. “When we were Zoom, where they learned about theater cleared to go back in, the eighth-graders and Broadway actors and practiced improv. Meetings culminated in the production had moved on to high school.” of an online musical revue that featured In 2021, students in the LMS popular numbers from musical theater. Musical Theater group met regularly on “We kept (the students) connected,” said
Guidas-Sidorick encourages the community to attend an upcoming performance. “They put on a show that rivals other age groups, and hopefully the community will enjoy it,” she stated. “We have fun, and we are a team. There is a huge sense of pride when they (perform).” Tickets to “Seussical” will be sold at the door. Tickets are also available to purchase in advance at www.dasd.org/LMS.
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