Local students to perform 'Seussical Junior'
Jul. 21—Students participating in the Grand Haven Area Public Schools' Summer Theater Camp will perform "Seussical Junior" this weekend.
The camp's 53 students have spent two weeks learning and fine-tuning their performance, with the help of several mentors.
The camp has traditionally been open to students who have graduated kindergarten through those going into eighth grade. That was changed this year to allow rising ninth-graders to participate since they didn't have a chance to be involved when last year's camp was canceled due to COVID-19.
Director Rita McLary credited the mentors with helping get the young thespians ready for the shows, which will take place at Grand Haven High School on Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 10 a.m. Tickets are $5.
"The mentors are incredible," McLary said. "They're high school kids or back from college, and many of them come every year. They work so hard. I couldn't do it without them.
"They each have a group broken up by age or by characters, and they teach all the things that are first taught in a larger setting," she added. "... They get into groups, memorize it, get the gestures and the characters down pat."
"Seussical Junior" features many well-know Dr. Seuss characters, including the Cat in the Hat, the Grinch and Horton.
"The theme is the triumph of friendship," McLary said. "Everyone sticks by Horton when he's ridiculed and made fun of."
