Several of Dr. Seuss’s beloved stories are colliding in the North Riverside Players’ upcoming production of “Seussical” on Oct. 16-18 and 23-25 at the North Riverside Village Commons, 2401 Des Plaines Ave.
Tickets are available online at $25 for adults, $23 for seniors, $21 for students and $15 for kids 12 and under. The Friday and Saturday shows are at 7:30 p.m. while the Sunday shows are at 2:30 p.m.
With more than 40 cast members, the musical combines elements of many of Seuss’s books for kids into a family-friendly production, director Jay Fontanetta said.
“The main storyline is ‘Horton Hears a Who,’ but as long as you’ve got the Whos, then you can bring in the Grinch,” Fontanetta told the Landmark. “There’s references to the Lorax. There’s a number called ‘Havin’ a Hunch’ from [‘Bunches in Hunches’], another one of his books. There’s lyrics that refer to ‘Oh, the Places You’ll Go.’ It’s basically ‘Horton Hears a Who’ but with all these elements from his other books.”
Fontanetta said the troupe wanted to put on a fall musical that would be more appropriate for the whole family in an effort to vary the genre in the wake of previous productions.
“The last couple of musicals they’ve done were very adult-oriented shows. They did ‘Jekyll & Hyde,’ and the year before that, they did ‘The Wedding Singer.’ These are perfectly good shows, but not really family-friendly, not for kids,” he said.
The director said he threw his hat into the ring to direct in the hopes of staging “Shrek the Musical,” but the group ran into trouble when they tried to secure the rights.
“They’re on a national hold, so you can’t license ‘Shrek’ right now,” Fontanetta said. “That typically happens if they’re planning some kind of return to Broadway or major national tour.”
At the suggestion of North Riverside Players President Al Meyer, the troupe turned instead to “Seussical,” and the rest is history.
Fontanetta described the musical as one he holds in unexpected reverence.
“I do tend to like darker fare, more serious themes. I like a good black comedy. I love a good murder,” he said. “When they find out how much I like ‘Seussical,’ they’re surprised, but, really, the music is so good, and there’s such a good theme to it. I love the idea behind the story of, ‘Be independent. Be yourself. Be creative, and things will always find a way to work themselves out.’”
He said he also appreciates the wide variety of characters in the show that give many of the 42 actors a chance to shine and have their moment. But having so many cast members can also be a challenge, he said.
“This is community theater, and people have lives outside of community theater. They have conflicts sometimes,” he said.
Fontanetta said he made his best efforts to schedule rehearsals around the schedules of each of the cast members in order to maximize the group’s time, but sometimes conflicting commitments will leave some actors with work to do outside of rehearsal.
“They’re just going to have to learn it on their own and get caught up, or I’ll have to craft time into a different day to review it so the people that missed it can get caught up,” he said. “But I do enjoy a good-sized cast. There’s a really great sense of community or family that comes with working on a show like this with a big cast. And to be perfectly honest, anybody will tell you, cast size correlates to ticket sales.”
With 28 years’ experience and a bachelor’s degree in directing theater, Fontanetta said his philosophy for “Seussical” has been to start strong and delegate more tasks as the show gets closer.
“I’m very hands-on toward the beginning of the rehearsals because I’m blocking the scenes out or talking to the actors about their characters or how they deliver their lines. I’m working with the choreographer and saying, ‘Here’s how I envision this musical number,’” he said. “As the rehearsal process goes, I start to back off a little bit. Now, I have to trust that the choreographer understands what I want and can do it, and I have to trust that the actors are invested … You have to start adjusting your vision towards the other things, towards the lighting and the costumes and the set.”
When opening day comes, Fontanetta said he’s most excited to see his cast’s reaction to the final ovation once the show begins in earnest.
“It’s not about me; it’s about them. I think the best shows are the ones where you don’t notice the director made any choices. The shows happen so seamlessly, and the performances are so good, that you forget that there was even a director at all,” he said. “My favorite part is seeing the looks on the faces of the actors who have worked really, really hard these last 10 weeks to get the show up.”
