Upper School Seussical Performance Delivers Message of Perseverance

Upper School Shore students took to the stage in early March for their performance of Seussical. The musical appealed to patrons of all ages, offered members of the cast and crew important education outside of the classroom, and embodied aspects of Shore’s Community Code including openness, dependability, and being one's best.

For three nights, friends, family, faculty, and staff filled the seats of the Trustey Family Theatre to watch the beloved musical comedy. Based on a variety of children's stories by Dr. Seuss including Horton Hears a Who! and The Cat in the Hat, students brought familiar characters to life in an unexpected way.

“It’s a mix of all of these characters, but the stories are not necessarily Dr. Seuss stories,” says Director and Theater Arts Teacher Sarah Carlin. “The students were curious about how it was all going to come together.”

The Cat in the Hat serves as an emcee for a journey into the Jungle of Nool, where the audience finds Horton the Elephant discovering the town of Whoville on a speck of dust. Horton meets a Who child named JoJo and vows to protect her, as well as the abandoned egg of Mayzie La Bird. As Horton tries to get the other animals in the Jungle to believe him about the existence of the Whos, he is put on trial. Only his neighbor, Gertrude McFuzz, keeps faith in him, leading the two to form a special bond. Together, Horton and Gertrude free Horton, save the Whos and bring peace back to the Jungle of Nool, sharing the important message that being unique and fighting for your beliefs is always worth it in the end.  

Eighth grader Maia Schor played the self-centered Mayzie La Bird who becomes a better version of herself through an act of generosity. Maia has been performing in the Upper School musical since sixth grade, but began acting in Kindergarten at Shore with her class's performance of The Rainbow Fish.

“The overall message of the show is persistence or grit,” says Maia. “The whole message was to keep going.”

After Maia’s first Shore musical, High School Musical Jr. was presented virtually due to the pandemic, perseverance through adversity is something that she and her cast and crew mates are familiar with.  

Maia says that theater has helped her confidence, allowing her to be open and try new things. “In sixth grade and even last year I thought I could never do a solo and that it would be really terrifying,” she says. “And then I realized ‘wow, I can actually do this,’ and ‘this isn't so bad.’”

Maia will be attending Dana Hall for high school where she plans to continue acting. She says that participating in drama at Shore allowed her to make connections throughout the grade levels, and plans to use it as a way to get involved in the community next year.

Ninth grader Alder Hurley also plans to continue their involvement in theater as a stage crew member next year at Brooks School. Despite it being their first year at Shore and their first time ever on a crew, they jumped in as a stage manager, designing sets, coordinating scene changes, and even making a cameo as a kidnapper of Horton.

Alder says that the best part about their experience had to do with the friends that they made, pointing to the relationships they developed with students in lower grades.

Sixth grade cast member Carlo Colella echoed this sentiment, highlighting the importance of teamwork and dependability between the cast and crew. “Half of the things that the audience sees takes more than one person. It took all of us to get everything to run smoothly.” Carlo says that he enjoyed learning about the technology used in a production, and seeing a set come to life throughout the building process. 

Sets for the Upper School Musical are built by students in the Innovation Lab under the guidance of former third grade teacher Sam Hamlin, who has been the Set Designer at Shore since 2009. Despite retiring from Shore in June of 2021 after 36 years of service, he continues to return to Cabot Street every year to help with the musical.

By offering building and technology opportunities, students are able to learn new skills and “realize that they're an essential part of the production,” says Carlin.

Carlin adds that theater covers the bases of Shore’s education and mission as a school. “It invites students into a perspective of the human experience, teaches character, accountability to a community, and working towards a common goal,” she says. “All of that is part of the Shore ethos.”

Community went beyond the 32 cast members and 9 crew members. By performing a show with such age-accessible and well understood themes as Seussical, students and families of all grades were able to be a part of the experience.

In addition to the Shore community, Seussical reached fifth graders at Beverly Middle School. 350 students and 25 adult chaperones walked across the street for a preview performance, complete with a special intermission snack.

“Especially after COVID we recognized that Seussical would be a show that would really bring everyone together,” says Carlin. 

The bar for these performers is set high, but Carlin knows full well that they are able to reach it. Even more, they are able to reach the community and foster connections that last far longer than the run of shows.