More Elephant Movement

Earlier in the semester, as a class exercise, Ms. Klein had the students all try embodying elephants to give me more insight into possible physical choices I could make when playing the character of Horton. Here are the results!

Reflection: Images

Photograph of me (center) singing during Biggest Blame Fool.

The end of the show: Paul Fleming (left), Tim Blok (center), and Jess Klein (right) wearing their red "Seussical" sweatshirts. 

The purple Who clover used in the show, now sitting upon my desk at home. Ah, the hours spent rehearsing with this prop!

Elephant Movement Video

This video of an elephant walking particularly informed my understanding of the way that Horton the Elephant would move. I'm not sure if I fully achieved quite the physicality I had wanted, but I definitely think I improved in being consistent/staying in character. 

Character Analysis - Horton

Horton sitting atop the egg: "I meant what I said, and I said what I meant. An elephant's faithful, one-hundred percent."

Why is your character important to the show?

Horton serves as the primary protagonist of Seussical. Horton's quest to save the Whos from harm (he feels a particular connection to the Whos, who are alone and defenseless) drives the main storyline of the show. Horton certainly feels persecuted and harassed by the various jungle animals who mock him and scornfully disdain the possibility that anyone that small could be living atop a clover. Horton's journey while sitting atop Mayzie's egg is also a primary feature of the second act. The show itself closes with the merging of the two Horton storylines: the Whos revealing themselves (ending Horton's unfair trial) and the egg itself hatching into an elephant bird.

What is your character’s superobjective (your character's objective for the entire play)? What steps does your character take to reach their superobjective?

I think that Horton's superobjective is, most broadly, a desire to do good and help out others. He is a compassionate, caring, and gentle soul, and is thrilled to find companionship in the tiny Whos (in particular, Jojo). Horton's two sub-goals are 1) protecting the Whos and finding them again after the bird drops the clover in the field and 2) protecting Mayzie's egg, and thus fulfilling his promise.

Horton is assured in his morality, always attempting to do the right thing even while enduring scorn from the jungle animals for protecting the Whos and later a host of other unpleasantness for protecting the egg (changing seasons/being sold at an auction/being put on display at the circus, etc.) Horton counts 2,999,999 clovers in his search for the clover with the Whos and sits atop Mayzie's egg for at least 51 weeks (and possibly a great deal more).

End of Seussical

Today is Tuesday, December 16th. The performances on Seussical came to an end last weekend, with the last of the three shows performed on Saturday the 13th. After a day of rest on Sunday, we returned to school yesterday to find the set taken down, the props gone, and the costumes mostly taken away - such is the nature of doing productions. Yesterday I had the bizarre experience of going home at 3:00 p.m. after nearly 6 weeks of staying at school, rehearsing, till 6:00. It's strange to think that I have completed my final musical at University Prep; the feeling of an era coming to an end is reinforced by my Early Decision college acceptance. In the next few posts, I plan to reflect on the process of bringing Seussical to life and commenting on my growth as I tackled the role of Horton the Elephant.

Beginning of Show Week

Today is Monday, December 8th, 2014. Our first performance of Seussical is a matinee on the 11th, followed by evening performances on Friday the 12th and Saturday the 13th. I am certainly looking forward to presenting the final project of this show - the result of nearly a semester's worth of work. I am also starting to get slightly nervous. The following are the notes I received from yesterday's (12/8) dress/tech rehearsal:

• I must stay in character until I fully exit the stage following the first number, Oh, the Thinks You Can Think! (during the build-up "jungle noises" before Horton Hears A Who). Staying in character/moving like an elephant/being consistent with character choices is definitely a note I receive often, and something I need to work on.
• Bigger reaction to "Humph!" before Biggest Blame Fool.
• Review the lyrics for Alone in the Universe (especially "You called my name / And you set me free...")
• Bigger scared reaction to the Wickersham Brothers at the end of Monkey Around.
• Don't turn to the audience and be presentational: visually show the audience the frustration and thoughtfulness that Horton feels. 
• Side-by-side with Gertrude McFuzz during Notice Me, Horton duet.
• Catch the egg like an egg (delicately) when Mayzie throws it at the end of her reprise of How Lucky You Are. Also, treat the egg like an egg when taking it out from under you in the build-up to Solla Sollew.
• Be more wowed by the clover when Gertrude presents it at the end of the number, and let the excitement/wonder build and build throughout All For You.
• Fix the issue with the trumpet noise/the tremolo during People vs. Horton the Elephant.
• Big reactions in the courtroom scene, get down from the tree with more drama and gravitas.
• Care about the Elephant Bird baby; hold the clover and the elephant bird as if they are the most precious things in the world.
• Go slower forward when walking with Lily at the end of the show.
• Note for all the cast: don't let the curtain call die! Form a straight kick-line with the other actors, and then go offstage in a straight line.

Searching for Whos in a Field of Clovers

"That bird let that clover drop somewhere inside / Of a great patch of clovers, a hundred miles wide! / I'll find it. I'll find it! I'll find it or bust! / I shall find my friends on their small speck of dust. / Yes clover by clover by clover with care / I'll listen and I'll call, are you there? Are you there? / Are you there? Are you there?"

This is similar to what I picture as the field of clovers where Horton embarks on his futile quest to find the clover with the Whos living on it.