Behind the Seussical: Feathers, Bad Weather, and Working Together!

If Dr. Seuss read the title of this article, he would probably cringe at my rhyming skills. However, I do think he would appreciate his books coming to life onstage in Seussical, performed by the MHS Theatre Society from March 8 to March 10.

While many of you saw the show on stage, what you don’t know is the amount of work that went into putting on a production such as Seussical. The actors rehearsed for months to get every note, scene, and character pitch perfect. Auditions were way back in November, and the Theatre Society worked nonstop since then! 

Actors work hard, they really do. But, what about the sets, props, and costumes? What you may not know is that there was a whole behind-the-scenes team that worked equally as diligently to make everything run smoothly for the show. Every Saturday for three months or so, backstage crew came to school in the morning to paint sets, sew costumes, and design props. It took a village!

As the opening night drew nearer, the club put in extra effort. The week leading up to opening weekend is known as “tech week.” Actors, backstage crewmembers, and costume designers were at rehearsals from after school until as late at 10:00 at night. Although it was extremely stressful, the week gave a good amount of time for techies and actors alike to form friendships and bonds. This is what makes the MHS Theatre Society such a tight-knit family. We all work together for a common goal: a stellar opening night.

This year, just when everything was coming together beautifully, a disaster struck. On the morning of opening night, all of us awoke to a mountain of snow that buried our hopes and dreams. Opening night was cancelled.

But, the show must go on! The performance was re-scheduled and we added back-to-back shows on Sunday. Saturday night became the opening performance.

And, what an incredible night Saturday turned out to be. With a near full house, the MHS Theatre Society put on Seussical. With rave reviews and a lot of support from the community, the show was a success, but not without the effort of the hardworking actors and crew of the Drama Club.

With such a talented class of graduating seniors, who knows the places they’ll go next!

This article was written by Bethany Merlin, a Medfield High School student and member of the student newspaper, The Kingsbury Chronicle. The piece is part of Medfield Patch's weekly series, "Warrior Weekly," helping provide information about MHS to the local community.