by Jamin Craig | Feb 14, 2015 | News Slider
Colorful lighting and the whimsical set brought Lipscomb theater’s Seussical to life this weekend in Collins Alumni Auditorium. The production design team created an instantly recognizable world on stage while keeping technical elements from interfering with the performance of the cast. Andy Bleiler, set designer and technical director, said that he really wanted the set to stay faithful to the source material, so he based the set off of Dr. Seuss’ “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” “The colors that we chose were really based on the ‘Oh, the Places You’ll Go!’ book,” Bleiler said. “If you look at the cover of that book and you look at the set, you’ll see they’re really, really close.” Bleiler intentionally chose muted colors so that the set would not clash with other visual elements of the show. “One of the intentions was to have the set be sort of a lighter version [of the ‘Oh, the Places You’ll Go’ colors], and that way the colors of the costumes, which are in a similar palette, could pop off of that,” Bleiler said. The set is built in two levels. The stage floor is the first level, and the second is a large stairway that goes across the back of the stage, forming a large arch. That stairway is covered with many colorful, arched doorways to add the classic Dr. Seuss touch. The stairway takes up a small amount of the stage, allowing the cast to have more room for acting and dancing. David Hardy, assistant professor of theater and lighting designer, had the challenge of lighting the already colorful stage. “Ironically, the intent was to keep it...
by Jamin Craig | Jan 15, 2015 | News Slider
Lipscomb’s theatre department is quickly crafting its next main-stage show, bringing the whimsical world of Dr. Seuss to the Collins stage with Seussical. The story, guided by the Cat in the Hat, takes much of its plot from Dr. Seuss’s Horton Hears a Who. Deep in the jungle of Nool, an elephant named Horton stumbles across the city of Whoville located on a speck of dust. Most of the animals in the jungle think he is crazy, and many conflicts unfold as Horton and the Whos try to convince the Jungle of Nool that Whoville really exists. The story is about friendship, acceptance and sticking to your word during hard circumstances. Kari Smith, an adjunct theatre and dance professor, is directing and choreographing the show. She explained that this production has much less rehearsal time than an average show for Lipscomb. “It’s five and a half weeks” Smith said. “For professional actors, that’s plenty, but we’re talking about students who have to go to school all day, get their homework done, have time to breathe and then go to rehearsal. It’s going to be quick, but I have a great cast. They’re all super committed and so great to work with.” The cast and crew might be made up of students only, but they are excited for the challenge. Elijah Wallace, a junior theatre major from Montgomery, Alabama, will be playing the role of Horton the elephant. In middle school, Wallace played the Cat in the Hat in a previous production of Seussical, but he says he has always wanted to play Horton. “I resonate a lot with what Horton believes and...
