NCTYPlayguide for Teachers

MISSION STATEMENT: The North Carolina Theatre for Young People exists to celebrate the art of live theatre for young audiences, to enrich the lives ofyoung people and their families, and to connect the university with the community.NCTYP realizes this vision through: producing plays; facilitating outreach programsin schools and the community; and hosting events that unite educators across the region. NCTYP strives to embrace all community members in its offerings.

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CCONTENTSDr. Seuss Biography, pg. 2Synopsis of Seussical, pg. 2

Ordering Activity, pg. 3Website List, pg. 3

Write your own story, pg. 4Mapping Activity, pg. 5Critical Thinking, pg. 6Career Corner, pg. 7

Written by: Peter Duffy, Annika Pfaender & Jill LubertoDesigned by: Annika Pfaender & Jill Luberto

Edited by: Rachel Briley

Lyrics by

LYNN AH

RENS

Music by S

TEPHEN F

LAHERTY

Book by L

YNN AHR

ENS and

STEPHEN

FLAHERTY

Co-Conce

ived by L

YNN AHR

ENS,

Based on

the word

s of Dr.

Seuss

STEPHEN

FLAHERTY

, and ERIC

Idle

The Story of SeussicalSeussical is the colorful tale of imagination, friendship, and having the courage to face

the biggest of challenges. From the writings of Dr. Seuss, Seussical takes us on a whirlwindjourney guided by the Cat in the Hat. The story begins with Jojo, a young imaginative boy whoone day stumbles upon a magical hat. The hat belongs to one fun loving cat who whisks Jojoaway to the magical land of Seuss! It is here, in the Jungle of Nool, that Horton the elephanthears a cry for help from a small dust speck that actually is the small planet of Who! He placesthe speck on a clover and vows to save the Whos, telling them “A person’s a person no matterhow small.” In another part of the Jungle, Gertrude McFuzz is tired of writing love poems forHorton and feels that he doesn’t notice her because of her sad, little tale. She goes to MayzieLaBird and Dr. Dake seeking help. They give her pills from the pillberry bush and, volia!, hertail grows and grows!

The inhabitants of the Jungle of Nool think Horton has gone mad for they cannot hearthe Whos cry for help. The Wickersham Brothers, a group of trouble making monkeys, steal theclover, and with the help of Vlad Vladikoff, throw it into a vast field of clovers. Horton is lefthopelessly searching through thousands upon thousands of clovers. In comes Mayzie LaBird,sitting on her nest up in a tree. She wants a vacation and convinces Horton to sit on her eggfor a little while. Seasons pass and Horton is still stuck sitting on the egg, the Whos are stilllost in the clover, and Gertrude still cannot get Horton to notice her (even with a very, verylarge tail!) Can things get any worse for our poor elephant? Yes they can! And they do! Whilesitting on Mayzie’s egg, Horton is captured by hunters who in turn sell him to the circus! Allseems lost till Gertrude comes to her friend’s rescue, having found his clover. Communicationwith the Whos is restored but not until the inhabitants of Nool put Horton on trial for talking toa speck of dust and sitting on a egg! Horton cries out to the Whos for help, and it is Jojo, thesmallest of small who makes a great “Yopp!” The “Yopp!” is so great, it resounds throughtoutthe Jungle of Nool. Horton is finally heard and Whoville is saved. And then…well, what do you

think?

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About Dr. Seuss“A person’s a person, no matter how small,” Dr. Seuss said. “Children want the

same things we want. To laugh, to be challenged, to be entertained, and delighted.” Dr. Seusshas been a staple in children’s literature for over four generations and his books have helpedmillions of children from all over the globe learn how to read.

Dr. Seuss was born Theodor Geisel in Springfield, Massachusetts on March 2,1904. His mother, Henrietta Seuss Geisel, soothed her children to sleep by “chanting” rhymesremembered from her youth. Ted credited his mother’s nighttime ritual with developing therhyming skills for which he would become so well known. His education included studies atDartmouth College and Oxford University in England where he met his first wife, Helen. In1927 he began working for a leading humor magazine in American at the time, creating cartoons and writing humorous articles for them. Additionally he was submitting cartoons toLife, Vanity Fair and Liberty.

It was on a dare from his publisher that Dr. Seuss created an entertaining children’sstory from a list of only 220 words. From this, The Cat in the Hat (1954) was born and Dr.Seuss became a household name all over the world. For the next four decades Dr. Seuss wroteand illustrated over forty-six books for children, in addition to winning three AcademyAwards, and the 1984 Pulitzer Prize. Dr. Seuss died on September 24, 1991, leaving behind alegacy of memorable characters, unforgettable words, and colorful images that both youngand old have cherished and will treasure for years to come. As a matter of fact, he added two

new words to the English language: nerd and grinch!

A giant storm has swept through Whoville, and the script forSeussical is now out of order!! Help the Whos put the nine eventsback in the right order.

Horton finds the speckof dust that is actuallythe planet Who!

Jojo finds a mysterioushat lying in the middle of

the street

Jojo yells out a giant “YOPP!”

Horton is captured by

hunters and soldto the circus

Gertrudegoes to

Mayzie LaBirdand Dr. Dake forhelp to make her

tail grow.

The

Wick

ersh

ams

and

Vlad

Vla

diko

ff st

eal t

he c

love

ran

d th

row

it in

to a

fiel

d fu

ll of

milli

ons

of o

ther

clo

vers

!

Gertrude rescuesHorton and gives him hisclover, which she foundafter seven weeks of

looking.

MayzieLaBird

convincesHorton

to sit on her egg.

Horton is put on trial by the Citzens of the Jungle of Nool.

Check out these cool web sites!

www.seussville.com The official Seuss web site run by Dr. Seuss enterprises and Random House

www.catinthehat.org The Springfield, MA national monument Seuss site

http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/seuss.htm A teacher resource file with Seuss related lessons

http://atozteacherstuff.com/Themes/Dr__Seuss Lots of lesson plans and printables

www.k-state.edu/english/nelp/seuss Links to all things Seuss on the web

Cat Hat Rat Run Fun Son Spun Race

Case

Chase Boy Girl Water

DaughterThe

AAn

TieTry

TugBut

HugBear

StareWear

TearNever

EverWeather

BecauseHad

HeHe’d

SheShe’d

HisHer

SledBed

Head

TimeSli

me

There OnceWas

Who

Drew Very Smart Heart Sad Mad

Thidwick the Moose isbearing the weight ofmany animals, who areriding on his antlers. Hewants Horton to help him.

Cindy Lou Whois very sad and

lonely. She asksHorton to go on a

picnic with her.

Horton meets the Lorax, who tellsHorton of the poor starving Bar-ba-

loots. The Bar-Ba-Loots have no food toeat because the Truffula Trees have all

been cut down by greedy business men. Horton wants to help

them, but he doesn’t know what to do.

The Grinch asks “Will youhelp me steal all the toys

from the children in Whoville?”

START:

THE END:

Horton’s way isblocked by two kinds

of Sneetches, who arearguing about which

group gets to rulethe land.

Teacher Facilitated Activity

This page is scattered with shapes, which contain an obstacle, a question, or another character from a Dr.Seuss story. With your help, Horton can learn something from each encounter.

1. Invite the students to choose a shape from which to start.2. The students then deterine the order in which Horton will travel to subsequent shapes. 3. Pose the question “What might Horton encounter between his starting place and the next shape?” Invite

students to share their responses. For example, one student might draw a sea between the two shapes. 4. Pose the question “How might Horton work through that obstacle?” This time the student who chose the sea

would decide how Horton might cross the sea: he could swim, build a bridge, or ask a whale to carry him. Invite the students to share their responses.

5. Encourage students to record their ideas in images and words on the shape map below.

Dr. Seuss ’ s Gertrude McFuzz UNCG’s Gertrude McFuzz

Us e c o n s t r u c t i o n p a p e r, g l u e , f e a t h e rs , s e q u i n s , m a r k e rs , a n y t h i n gyo u c a n t h i n k o f t o c re a t e y o u r o w nc h a r a c t e r f r om yo u r f av o r i t e D r. S e u s s

b o o k .

Le t ’s Work on Our Cr i t ica l Think ing Sk i l ls !

Look at the costumes from the UNCG production of Seussical. What do you noticeabout them? How are they different from what you saw in the books Horton Hears aWho, Horton Sits on an Egg and Gertrude McFuzz? Fill in the Venn Diagraom belowand show how the costume for Gertrude McFuzz, and the image of Dr. Seuss’Gertrude, are different and how they are the same.

Welcome to Career Corner, where you can learnabout some of the people who make a play happen.

The Set Designer is the person who creates the world where the

play takes place. The scenery that surrounds theactors during the play is called the set. In Seussical

our designer, Laura S. Brignull, had to imagine not justhow the set would look when it was finished, but how it

could be made, what materials to use in building it, and what color it would be when

finished.

TheCostume

Designer is the person who decides what all

the characters should look like,from head to toe. The

clothing that the actor puts on to become the character is called acostume. Our costume designer

for Seussical was Erin Dougherty. She had to

imagine what all the charactersshould wear, what colors their

costumes needed to be, and whattheir hair should look like. She

even imagined how to usemake-up to enhance how

the characters looked!

Can you remember anything about the set you saw onstage? What color was it? Did you see many straightlines? How many trees were there?

Which costume was yourfavorite? Can you name threecolors that you saw in the costumes? Which characterswore feathers?

Can youguess how long it

took to build the setsand costumes forSeussical?

The following standards are addressed by the activities in this Playguide.

Theatre 1.01, 1.04, 3.01, 3.02, 4.01, 4.02, 5.03, 6.01Language Arts 2.01, 2.03, 2.04, 2.08, 2.09, 3.04, 4.02Guidance 1.05, 4.02, 5.05, 7.01

Dear Teacher:

Thank you for bringing your students to see NCTYP’s production of Seussical.Each activity in this study guide can be done separately for quick reinforcementof what your students saw. Many of the activities can be expanded and elaborated upon, making them all the more enriching for your students. For yourconvenience, we’ve posted the entire study guide on our updated website (seeaddress below).

These NCTYPlayguide activities not only create opportunities for students tolearn about the roles of the theatre artist, but provide opportunities for LanguageArts enrichment as well!

All activities reinforce the North Carolina Standard Course of Study requirements and the National Standards for Arts Education.

For even more study guide activities and information, visit us on the web athttp://nctyp.uncg.edu.

Do YOU have feedback? We’d love to hear from you!!

Please write us at:

North Carolina Theatre for Young People200 Taylor Theatre, PO Box 26170

Greensboro, NC 27402-6170336-334-4015

Or visit our website:http://nctyp.uncg.edu