Seussical the Musical

The kids with the Grinch

One of the best things about being involved with Girl Scouts is that it has given us opportunities to do family activities in our community that we might not have known about. We had a wonderful time attending the Nationwide Children's Hospital Pleasure Guild's production of "Seussical the Musical" last weekend. When I signed us up to go, I knew that Darren would still be in Europe on business, but I thought it would be a perfectly special distraction for the kiddos after a week of missing Daddy. The show coincided with Dr. Seuss' birthday week, so the kids were in full-Seuss mode!

My Things 1 & 2 with Seuss' Things 1 & 2

Our Saturdays tend to be pretty busy since Kyrie has Kindergarten all morning. After we picked her up we grabbed a very quick bite of lunch before heading downtown to the theater. The Pleasure Guild had set up a pre-show meet & greet for the Girl Scouts with cupcakes, a craft and plenty of opportunity to get photos with characters from the show. The kids loved seeing all the actors in their costumes and all the other goodies.

The Who-Girls (they were Kyrie's faves)

I did not know anything about the Pleasure Guild before this show. The Pleasure Guild was started in the 1920s by children (who collected toys & candy for patients at the children's hospital) and then taken over by adults a few years later. It provides hospice & palliative services to the children & families served by the children's hospital. They have been doing an annual show for over 50 years, and all proceeds from the show go straight to the Guild. Many of the actors in the show are involved with the Guild and have been in past shows.

Kyrie enjoys a cupcake for Dr. Seuss' birthday

That sneaky-Grinch tried to steal Degen's cupcake!

Degen thought the Grinch was hilarious!

The show itself was great! There were lots of catchy songs all about some of Dr. Seuss' best loved characters: Horton the elephant, the citizens of Who-ville, the Cat in the Hat and many more. I was very impressed with the quality of the singing and acting, especially since most were hometown actors (including a large number of children). They did a wonderful job, and I think that their commitment to the Pleasure Guild's cause brought out their enthusiasm and passion. Though, a full-length musical proved to be a bit much for Degen (who got very squirmy and then fussy before finally falling asleep on my lap), the show held Kyrie's attention for the duration and she could be heard singing parts of the songs from the show for a week afterward. I hope that we will be able to attend more of the Guild's shows in the future!