Seuss!

Two weeks to go until the show,

“What’s a Seuss? Does anybody know?”

wondered a befuddled flute player

his understanding couldn’t be grayer.

He’s an author, I explained,

my expression somewhat pained.

A wacky children’s writer,

and a goofy old blighter!

I remembered in a pinch

That infamous Christmas Grinch

A name known by all,

even this bunch could recall!

Seussical the Musical,

on stage for 3 nights

Fantastic and Spastical,

gave me a semester of frights!

The cast were trained by Suzanne,

with help from Helen and LeeAnn.

I directed the pit, you see,

yet there were problems none could foresee!

It all began one warm September day,

when the scores arrived – hip hip hooray!

Suddenly I realized the size of the job

My poor little heart began to throb.

Marit and I divided the stack

At last we were ready to attack!

The first rehearsal had me worried;

Did we have time? Would we be hurried?

“The notes are too high!”

“Six sharps? Oh my!”

“When do I play?”

“I’m quitting today!”

We had challenges galore –

notes missing from the score –

oh no, what a bummer!

We didn’t even have a drummer.

We tried and tried, but to no avail.

The notes wouldn’t align; the accidentals prevailed.

Our project was doomed to be a fail;

I begged to be thrown into musical jail.

One day, I heard via grapevine

of a drummer- how divine!

I laughed with mirth;

he had worked for Vic Firth!

Our tempos secured,

sharps and flats procured,

we tried it with the cast

and once again were aghast!

Hidden modulation,

discombobulation,

sudden cuts,

Help us!

What did we do?

We tried everything in Who

from gray pencil lines,

to secret hand signs.

Gradually the orchestra magic won.

The group began to think as one!

Somehow the orchestra played on

And uncertain soloists stayed on!

Performance nights arrived with a thrill,

“It’s here, are you excited, Jill?”

We dressed in stripes and black,

No player or actor could slack!

The audiences loved it, singing along

applauded every bit, breaking into song.

What a success! What a craze!

And now I dream in a Seussical daze!