The cast members of the musical Seussical
performed three shows in Sacred Heart’s
vintage 500-seat auditorium to nearcapacity crowds. The seminarians use the
freewill audience donations to fund future
spring performances.
The Cat in the Hat
Comes to the Seminary
Seminarians stage
Seussical, the seventh
production since
revival of theater
program in 2010.
“P
utting on a play is
a huge endeavor,”
explains Matthew Hood,
third-year theologian from
the Archdiocese of Detroit.
“Not just because we are
all full-time students, but
because of all the different
aspects that go into making a show successful—set
design, costumes, music,
acting, and many, many rehearsals.”
In spite of the time pressures, the
seminarians, under the direction of
Matthew, pulled off another outstanding
theatrical endeavor, staging the musical
Seussical on Friday evening, April 1,
with two shows on Saturday, April 2.
An estimated 1,200 people—including
many delighted children—attended the
colorful, whimsical production based
on the much-loved stories of Theodore
Seuss Geisel, a.k.a. Dr. Seuss.
Thirty-five seminarians contributed
their talents to the musical about the
imaginary town of Who-ville and the
adventures of Horton the Elephant,
the little boy Jojo, the Cat in the
Hat, and other endearing characters.
Seminarians performed all of the
parts except Gertrude McFuzz (Grace
Knoche) and Amayzing Mayzie (Katie
Crombe). Seminarians designed and
constructed the sets, played some of
the musical instruments, and worked as
backstage crew and ushers.
“As the director, my job is to look at
all of these dimensions and put them
all together,” Matthew says. “It is really
amazing watching guys who have never
been on stage, never worked on a set, to do
it for the first time.” Seussical is Matthew’s
second occasion as director, including
last year’s production of Camelot. He
had worked as assistant director going
back to the seminarians’ staging of 12
Angry Men in 2010, the year the theater
program was resurrected after a twentyyear intermission. Winona theologian
Matthew Wagner served for his first time
this year as assistant director.
Joseph Campbell (Theology III,
Lansing) believes that staging yearly
plays fits well with the goals of Sacred
Heart’s priestly formation program.
“Most of all, with the guys being
comfortable getting out in front of
people, especially with the emphasis on
homiletics [preaching],” says Joe, who
was one of Seussical’s narrators. “It’s
good getting used to being in a public
role. That is going to be a big part of our
lives from here on out.”
“In a show like Seussical, with so many
big characters, it really pushed us to the
limit,” Matthew says. “But every year we
are surprised at the level of creativity
and talent we have with the seminarians.
“It was a lot of fun to put it on—for
everybody.”
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