Plaza Arts Center and The Arts Barn collaborate on Seussical for summer musical

Published 10:56 am Thursday, April 20, 2023

By Lake Oconee Breeze

For the third year, The Plaza Art Center and The Arts Barn are collaborating on the Summer Broadway Intensive program. The two organizations have put together ’Once Upon A Mattress’ and ‘Godspell’ the last two summers. For this summer, the group is taking on Seussical — a fun, family oriented musical.

Performances will take place over two weekends this summer — July 6-8 and – July 13-16 on stage at The Plaza.

In its third year, the intensive two-week marathon production culminates in seven performances for the public. The Plaza and The Arts Barn are working together to provide young adults in tenth grade through 25 years of age a chance to garner their skills ranging from acting, singing, set building and costume design all the way to the technical aspects of a show.

The students learn the intricacies of live theater under the direction of a Broadway veteran, Henry Scott.

Oconee Performing Arts Society (OPAS) is once again sponsoring the scholarships for the camp. This allows for participants to be able to attend no matter what their financial status is — something that has been very important since the Broadway Intensive’s inception.

Seussical is now one of the most performed shows in America. Seussical is a fantastical, magical, musical extravaganza bringing to life Dr. Seuss characters, including Horton the Elephant, The Cat in the Hat, Gertrude McFuzz, lazy Mayzie and a little boy with a big imagination — Jojo. The colorful characters transport us from the Jungle of Nool to the Circus McGurkus to the invisible world of the Whos.

The Cat in the Hat tells the story of Horton, an elephant who discovers a speck of dust that contains the Whos, including Jojo, a Who child sent off to military school for thinking too many “thinks.” Horton faces a double challenge: not only must he protect the Whos from a world of naysayers and dangers, but he must guard an abandoned egg, left in his care by the irresponsible Mayzie La Bird. Although Horton faces ridicule, danger, kidnapping and a trial, the intrepid Gertrude McFuzz never loses faith in him. Ultimately, the powers of friendship, loyalty, family and community are challenged and emerge triumphant.

Tickets are just $25, $20 and $15 and are on sale now at plazacenter.org.

The Plaza Arts Center mission is to connect the community through the arts. The Plaza has a 500-seat theater, community rental venue, After School Arts Program, Old School History Museum and much more.

The Arts Barn LLC focuses on bringing individuals together as a community through music, dance, theatre, and other arts.

For more information on the performances, follow either organization on Facebook or visit plazacenter.org or theartsbarn.net.