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What was Dr. Seuss's education?

What made Dr. Seuss famous?

What is Dr. Seuss most famous for?

Which Dr. Seuss books will no longer be published?

Dr. Seuss, pseudonym of Theodor Seuss Geisel, (born March 2, 1904, Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S.-died September 24, 1991, La Jolla, California), American writer and illustrator of immensely popular children's books, which were noted for their nonsense words, playful rhymes, and unusual creatures.

Early career and first Dr. Seuss books

After graduating from Dartmouth College (B.A., 1925), Geisel did postgraduate studies at Lincoln College, Oxford, and at the Sorbonne. He subsequently began working for Life, Vanity Fair, and other publications as an illustrator and humorist. In addition, he found success in advertising, providing illustrations for a number of campaigns. Geisel was especially noted for his work on ads for Flit insect repellent. Some of his characters later appeared in his children's works.

After illustrating a series of humour books, Geisel decided to write a children's book, which was reportedly rejected by nearly 30 publishers. After his chance meeting with a friend who was an editor at Vanguard Press, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street was finally released in 1937. The work centres on a young boy who transforms his ordinary walk home from school into a fantastical story. Later, however, he describes only the facts of his walk to his father, who frowns on the boy's imaginative nature. Geisel used the pen name Dr. Seuss, planning to publish novels under his surname; the Dr. was a tongue-in-cheek reference to his uncompleted doctorate degree. However, his first book for adults, The Seven Lady Godivas (1939), fared poorly, and thereafter he focused on children's books, which he preferred. According to Geisel, "Adults are obsolete children, and the hell with them."

After publishing several more children's works, Geisel released Horton Hatches the Egg in 1940. With it, he introduced the features that would come to define his books: a unique brand of humour, playful use of words, and outlandish characters. It centres on an elephant who is duped into sitting on the egg of a bird who goes on vacation. Despite various hardships, Horton refuses to leave: "I meant what I said, and I said what I meant. An elephant's faithful one hundred percent!" In the end, he is rewarded when the egg hatches, and a creature with bird wings and an elephant's head emerges.

World War II and documentaries

During World War II Geisel's focus shifted to politics. In the early 1940s he was an editorial cartoonist at PM magazine in New York City. He then served (1942-46) in the U.S. Army, where he was assigned to the documentary division. In 1945 he wrote Your Job in Germany, which was directed by Frank Capra; it was later remade as the Academy Award-winning Hitler Lives (1945), though Geisel was not credited. After his service ended, he continued to make films. With his first wife, Helen Palmer Geisel, he wrote the Oscar-winning documentary feature Design for Death (1947). His animated cartoon Gerald McBoing-Boing (1950) also won an Academy Award.

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Dr. Seuss | Biography, Books, Characters, Movies, & Facts

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Dr. Seuss, pseudonym of Theodor Seuss Geisel, (born March 2, 1904, Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S.-died September 24, 1991, La Jolla, California), American writer and illustrator of immensely popular children's books, which were noted for their nonsense words, playful rhymes, and unusual creatures.

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Starting this project, I need a strong article that gives me a good volume of information in regards to the author of these famous children's books/characters Dr Seuss. Luckily, this article does just that, not only does it give me insight into the life of the man known as Theador Seuss Geisel, starting off at the bottom when his first book was rejected by 30 publishers at the time, to then soaring with his line of family friendly children's books such as Cat In The Hat, Horton Hears a Who, I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew, and so many more timeless classics that still inspire children to this day. Furthermore, this helps me learn of Seuss's influence during times of war and conlifct, such as WI, WII, and even the Cold War which he's not only lived through but also drawn posters that advertise propaganda against Nazi's, the Japanese, serving in the military, and many other heavy realistic topics made from such a cartoonie style. Taking all of this has helped me undertsand the cultural background Seuss is from, how he managed to come from humble beginnings and go on to grow up in three of the most influential times in our history, giving me an idea of where he got his inspiration from for characters like General Genghis Kahn Shmitz, and the possible inspiration for the Jungle of Nool's society and viewpoints on anything out of the ordinary and different.

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"Most authors will not disclose their source for fear that other, less successful authors will chisel in on their territory. However, I am willing to take that chance. I get all my ideas in Switzerland, near the Forka Pass" -Dr. Seuss, on where he got his ideas.

No one can question the influence of Dr. Seuss. But questioning minds have always wondered, what influenced the man himself? Today, we'd like to dive in and explore a couple of theories.

In his introduction to a collection of cartoonist Gary Larson's Far Side comics in 1993, the late comedian and actor Robin Williams noted,

"I love the Larson flair for drawing humans. Future civilizations may dig up his cartoons in archaeological expeditions. Their scientists will examine them and they'll think that twentieth century man was a lumpy troglodyte with bad eyesight, buck teeth, and cow licks."

What does this have to do with our topic today? Well, if we apply the same type of inquiry to the inimitable work of Theodor Geisel, known better as children's book author Dr. Seuss, we find that generations of children have been shown and have delighted in a vision of humans as whimsical, even surreal-but above all fun and playful-creatures. When one sees the delightfully imaginative portrayals that define works like The Cat in the Hat (1957) and The Seven Lady Godivas (1939), it's hard not to wonder just where they come from.

Though Seuss was notoriously cagey about his influences (perhaps because he was unable to identify them himself), we can glean a lot from his biography. Raised in Springfield, Massachusetts by the children of German immigrants, Seuss gained much from both his surroundings and his upbringing. While his father was the one who originally encouraged him to draw (and obligingly took him to the zoo with his sketchpad), it was his mother whom he credited "for the rhythms in which I write and the urgency with which I do it."* Rather than reading to her children at bedtime, Seuss' mother opted for a sort of rhythmic chanting, the compelling meters of which both lulled Seuss to sleep as a child and brought out his inner artistry.

I f his poetical instincts were born at home, his artistic ideas were waiting for him just outside the house. His first children's book, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street (1937), referred to an actual street in his hometown, which was, at the time, a manufacturing hub for cars, board games, and firearms. The smokestacks, fountains, and distinct architectural features of the town, reimagined into things both strange and fantastical, would help to form mise en scène of books like The Lorax (1971).

Beyond the far-reaching influence of his adolescent years, it can be difficult to speculate on what influenced the seminal writer and illustrator. Some have noted, for instance, that his use of anapestic tetrameter as his meter in Yertle the Turtle (1958) is a nod to Lord Byron, who frequently relied on it. While it's not obvious if this is the case, the fact that Seuss spent one year pursuing a Ph.D. in English at Oxford before beginning his career as a writer suggests a certain amount of plausibility.

Others see the influence of his fellow purveyor of neologisms Lewis Carroll. Seuss and Carroll share a sense of playful nonsense and both boast contributions to the modern English lexicon ("nerd" and "chortle", respectively, among others).

As a visual artist beyond children's books, Seuss spent some years in Paris producing surrealist paintings alongside Salvador Dalí and Paul Klee, and it's not hard to see such surrealist influences in his illustrations.

In contrast to the uncertainty around the underpinnings of Seuss' work, of course, his legacy as one of the most influential and beloved creators of children's literature is positively unquestionable.

Source here.

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"Most authors will not disclose their source for fear that other, less successful authors will chisel in on their territory. However, I am willing to take that chance. I get all my ideas in Switzerland, near the Forka Pass" -Dr. Seuss, on where he got his ideas.

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History of Dr. Seuss for Kids | Bedtime History

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I've always been curious as to what influenced Seuss to make the wondrously strange worlds within his books/stories, and after searching online I've found these two sources that give me the insight I needed to answer that question. After reading the article by Brian Hoey, and watching the video by Bedtime History, these sources portrayed his life as a child all the way into adulthood with how he would stay with his mother and be quite the troublemaker in college, even his first book 'Green Eggs and Ham' was created from merely a dare given by one of his co-workers that he couldn't write a book using only 50 words. The man was a poet and inspiration those who read his books, and the way he started from simple beginnings and worked his way up to a famous author is remarkable and inspirational. His overall inspiration and influence came from a mixture of how his mother would recite rhythmic chants to Seuss as a child instead of children's books, alongside an array of boardgames, manufacturing near his old home, architectural and many other marvels that inspired his first and many other books that he had written for the public, from all these aspects, he went on to create some of the greatest children's books the world has ever known. This all helps in my progress of the show because it allows me to know what helped inspire the man who created the world that my character, Horton the Elephant, lives within alongside the other jungle citizens, gaining insight as to what helped create places such as the jungle of Nool, the planet of Who, Solla Sollew, and so many other strange wonderful places that lurk within Seussical.

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Book lists featuring must read classic children's books from the 20th century.

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This article is all about what kind of children's books were around during the 20th century, all listed from different periods within that century of storybook characters that brought inspiration to children and adults around the globe. Knowing what these books are has helped me understand what might have been popular back those days, knowing what might have inspired Seuss and his creations, alongside with what was popular with children during this particular time period, will give me some ideas on how I can deliver/present myself on stage for a show such as Seussical, with a child friendly nature to it there's tons of opportunities to bring out a form of kid friendly energy that you'd see on TV to the stage to entertain the audience.

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When you were younger you probably read a book about a cat with a hat or about green eggs and ham. In fact, many of us have read one of these books in our lifetime and are familiar with the famous author, Dr. Seuss. Theodor Seuss Geisel also known as Dr. Seuss was the famous…

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It's no secret that the wondrous stories of Dr Seuss's characters have definitely warmed our hearts at least once in our lives, especially over in America, with Dr Seuss's books flying off the shelves they each had special messages and lessons by the ends of certain ones, for example, in 'Horton Hears a Who' it teaches the valuable life lesson that no matter what size you are, whether big or small, your life will always have purpose and meaning behind it, or with 'The Lorax' it teaches you to take care of the earth/nature and that every action causes a reaction to come after it, these lessons are what have given children such joy and hope during their youth, moulding the future and inspiring them to pursue these hopes and use the lessons learnt from these books to do great things, though I myself didn't always understand the lessons these books taught when I was younger, but seeing how it's impacted people in such an amazing way, it gives me insight as to how Dr Seuss has changed the lives of so many and the lessons his books taught to the youth of back then and today, it'll help me understand the lessons and more sombre moments of Seussical as I start to dive into the plot and its characters.

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How Dr. Seuss Changed Education in America

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The playful inventor of the Yuzz-a-ma-Tuzz faced a challenge: write a page-turner that restrained itself to a few hundred real, mostly monosyllabic words.

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Before Seuss became a famous author and writer, he used to be a man of enigneering, making contraptions such as the Infatograph that would work similarily as a camera that could show you what your future child would look like with your current partner. However due to some complications with the machine, with all the pictures/babies tending to "look like William Randolph Hearst" he eventuslly scrapped the project, and focussed more on children's books. By 1957, he was stumped on what to create, looking at two words that would rhyme and flow nicely with eachother, he was almost ready to give up, that is until he thought of "Cat", and "Hat", and after some writing the beloved children's book "The Cat in the Hat" was born, with over 250,000 copies sold by Christmas that year, flooding not only homes but schools of America as well, and alongside his other books over the years, Seuss's stories would go on to teach children how to read for generations to come, teaching them the lessons they need with lots of fun characters to emjoy along the way. All this helps in understanding what kind of influence Seuss had on people in the world, America mainly, and seeing how his work has managed to shape the minds of thousands, if not millions of people all across the USA.

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Welcome to Our Website!

Our collaboration began in the BMI Musical Theater Workshop in New York City, where we met by chance and wrote our first song together. One song led to another, songs grew into musicals, and musicals grew into a body of work- an ongoing dialogue of words and music between two people who love what they do, and love doing it together.

We're lucky and grateful for our long-standing collaboration and for the experiences, friends and community we've found along the way.

There's lots to explore here. Have fun and thanks for stopping by!

Lynn + Stephen

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Lynn Ahrens + Stephen Flaherty This renowned writing team has received theater, film and music's highest honors-the Tony Award, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Olivier Awards, as well as nominations for two Academy Awards, two Golden Globes and four Grammys.

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To understand Seussical, I'll need to look not just the original inspiration, but also the makers of the musical itself. This website is the official website of the writers and directors of Seussical the musical, famous playwrights Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, who are well known for their successes and unforgettbale muscials, compositions, shows, and anyhting to do with the world of the perofrming arts or TV cinema. These two longtime partners are very well known in their field for both their independant, and collaborative work, some familiar mentions in the world of theatre include Anastasia, Ragtime the musical, Once on this Island,Rucky the musical, and of course our currnet show, Seussical the musical, these are all creation sof this brilliant dynamic duo, and will fruther help in my progress in regards to FMP, learning more on the background of this musical and the playwrights I've created a google slides that goes into more detail of their achievement in this and other field of the perofrming arts world.

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Page to Stage Interview: Seussical the Musical

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This video is an hour long interview with the playwrights Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, and within the interview it talks about how they ended up creating Seussical the musical. After watching this interview I’ve felt that I have more of an idea on how a book musical is made, the elements that go into it and how they were inspired by Dr Seuss’s books so much to create such a show like this, having a joint fascination with Seuss’s world, and the books that created it, they put their heads together back in early 2000’s to create this wondrous show, with a difficulty of theirs being how they could bring to life such a wild and vibrant world right from off of the page. Knowing how they’ve put together this show has helped me understand how my character Horton the elephant was originally written, inspiring myself to look back on Seuss’s original stories to learn and understand Horton’s character on a much deeper level, seeing his relationships within the story and comparing them to Seussical itself in order to create my own interpretation of the friendly elephant.

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Oh, the Places You’ll Go! by Dr. Seuss | Subtitled

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In order to properly understand the story of Seussical, and to an extent my character, I'll need to go back and look at the original source of where they came from, and thus I decided to rewatch the classic animated adaptation of 'Horton Hears a Who', and read the book 'Oh, the Places You'll Go!'. These two sources retell the tales of Seuss's stories, the first being the story of a humble imaginative Elephant who was one day relaxing in the jungle of Nool, until he heard the sound of a small person calling out towards him for help, realising soon that it was a speck of dust that caused this strange yelling, and so he took the dust speck and palced it donw on a clover to keep it safe from harm, and throguh his travles he faces danger after danger form the other citizens like the Sour Kangaroo, or the Wickersham brothers, who want to get rid of the clover thinking he was crazy, however through all the hardships and persuits, he is finally able to save the Who's when they make themsleves known to eveyrone around, teaching us that a person IS a person, no matter how big or small they are. The other story focusses mainly around the various different places you'll go within the world of Seuss, from the most open of fields, to the highest of skies, to the coldest of mountains and to the busiest of towns, we are taken across various different lands throughout the world of Dr Seuss. After watching and learning both sources, it has helped me gain a grasp of what my character is like, a great thinker who's imagination likes to wander as he keeps a sense of priority and care towards his Who's, alwyas wanting to make others happy whilst keeping true to his word and not wanting to cause trouble, it's sources like these that will help in my characterizational work for Horton.

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We're not talking a Disney Fantasia-esque tale wherein books, as the brooms in that film, take on a life of their own, flapping about the stage, unbidden.

Like the aforementioned brooms, such a phenomenon would be rather frightening, don't you think?

A book musical is a type of musical theatre with specific criteria - how many songs and how they are woven into the story; when the musical elements are introduced, and so on.

Don't fret, we'll go into more detail in the meat of the topic; this is just the introduction!

Many people assume that a book musical is a stage show that includes music, whose inspiration or, indeed, the whole story is lifted from a previously published book.

In some cases, that is exactly how a musical comes to be: somebody reads a great book, visualises soaring vocals and lively dance steps and, next thing you know, Broadway's next big show is going on tour!

Or West End's next big show... UK composers have turned out more than a few internationally renown musicals, too.

Although such a scenario involves books and musicals, the shows that come about that way are not all book musicals.

In fact, let's start the discussion off by going over a few books that became musicals. Later, we'll divulge the criteria that make for a book musical.
Time to get your literary thinking caps on!
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Musicals that Started as Novels

Evidence exists that ancient societies enjoyed storytelling as much as we do, and in many different formats, from narration to theatre productions. Printed stories came much later.

Daniel Defoe gave us Moll Flanders and Robinson Crusoe in the early 18 th Century.

By the time those works were published, opera had been a form of entertainment in Italy for more than 100 years and was working its way across Europe.

The French writer Molière was instrumental in the evolution of musical theatre. He envisioned his more farcical tales as stage shows and, teaming up with musician Jean-Baptiste Lully, produced a string of musical comedies.

Those shows had a great influence on the short season of English opera and they illustrate our point: back then and today, the inspiration for a hit musical could come from anywhere.

For instance, the Tony Award-winning Rent draws directly on Puccini's La Bohème for inspiration; it even parallels some of the older opera's storylines.

It's natural for playwrights to draw on past literary work, perhaps updating the story to reflect modern times.

Among popular musicals that started as books are:

My Fair Lady, from George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion

The King and I, from Margaret Landon's Anna and the King of Siam

The Sound of Music from The Story of the Trapp Family Singers by Maria Augusta von Trapp

Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

Mary Poppins by P.L.Travers

Evita, from the book Evita: The Woman with the Whip by Mary Main

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux

Andrew Lloyd Webber, a prolific composer of musical scores for stage and screen often draws inspiration from literature. Besides The Phantom, he has brought Cats to life (based on a book by T.S. Elliot) and Jesus Christ Superstar, based on the Gospels.

All of these stories were firmly established as books before they were made into shows; other types of books can also serve as inspiration for a Broadway musical. Think Hamilton, inspired by a biography of that American president.

In summary: many books have been turned into musicals, but not every musical is a book musical... which begs the question: how many different types of musicals are there?

What Is a Book Musical, Exactly?

So far, we've established that and we're still intrigued by the idea that musicals have books.

By that, we don't mean that of musicals are written and, from those productions, a book is compiled even though that is sometimes the case.

As an example: Mamma Mia, How Can I Resist You?, by Judy Cramer, tells the story of how ABBA's songs came to be one of the most successful musicals to ever hit the stage.

A book musical is different than that, even.

Book musicals have three distinct components and certain characteristics to define them.

We'll start by exploring them and we challenge you to mentally review the musicals you've seen to determine if they are book musicals or a different type of musical.

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Characteristics

Most musicals start out with the same three components: music, lyrics and a script.

However, a book musical follows an orderly progression from beginning to end... unlike concept musicals, which presents its story in fragments relevant to the theme or moral of the story.

The script details the performers' lines and stage directions; it may also include song lyrics. Scripts may contain notes about character development and perhaps a bit of backstory so that the performers can get some ideas about how best to play their role.

As opposed to other types of musicals, the songs in a book musical are integral to the story.

They may be sung to heighten the dramatic intensity of the situation, to a romantic partner as a way to convey deep emotion or as a duet - One Hand, One Heart in West Side Story comes to mind as a great example of such.

Song lyrics help to advance the story rather than give a break from it.

Such songs contrast with those from musicals like Cher Show, an American musical that details the life and songs of that remarkable performer. Needless to say, the score for that show incorporates her many hit songs rather than new songs written specifically for the show.

Now, let's look closer at each of the facets all book musicals have in common.

The Libretto

In Italian, 'libretto' means 'little book'.

Usually, when the script includes the show's song lyrics, it is referred to as a libretto. Many theatrical branches use librettos: operas and operettas; cantatas and oratorio. Librettos even feature in religious practices such as requiems.

Productions tend to run more smoothly from a libretto because they include stage directions. And, because the songs are integral to the story - indeed, they form a part of the story, it helps the performers get a sense of continuity when lyrics are included within the dialogue.

In a book musical, most (if not all) the characters are all introduced and the plot is laid out in the first act.

The first act usually runs longer than the second and, generally, the complication or conflict - the crux of the story, will be revealed just before intermission.

Also, learn to distinguish the characteristics of musical revues ...

The Music

Music and lyrics together are called the score.

A score may include music played softly during characters' conversational interludes as well as background music for action scenes, if any. It may even include orchestrations to be played during the intermission.

It is quite common for one person to write the music and another the lyrics; Gilbert and Sullivan were just such a writing team. The former wrote the libretti while the latter composed the music.

Across the pond, Rodgers and Hammerstein were an equally prolific creative team; Richard Rodgers composed the music and Oscar Hammerstein wrote lines and lyrics.

While collaborations are common in musical theater, some composers write their shows' music and lyrics alone. An excellent, modern-day example of such is Lin-Manuel Miranda, author/composer of Hamilton.

In a book musical, most of the songs are sung in the first act and reprised in the second, sometimes with different lyrics.

These second-act tunes may be sung at a different tempo, by a chorus rather than the character who sang it first; they may even have different lyrics while the music remains the same. Occasionally, a new song and dance may be added.

Do you know of a rock musical that had music written especially for the show?

The Lyrics

Give 'em the ole razzle-dazzle... Billy Flynn, Chicago

In some musicals, songs are meant as an aside to the audience, giving us a peek into the characters' thoughts or motivations. By contrast, song lyrics in book musicals have a direct import on the story itself.

Edelweiss, poignantly sung by the von Trapp family just before leaving Austria forever is the perfect case in point.

Their audience includes Nazi officials, the very regime Captain von Trapp reviles, which he effectively demonstrates when he joins his son in singing about the pure, white flower that will forever symbolise his beloved Austria.

So effective was this ballad that many fans of The Sound of Music believed it was Austria's national anthem - or, at least a traditional folk song when, in fact, it was written by American lyricist Oscar Hammerstein, who had no ties to Austria.

Find out how film musicals brought this type of entertainment to the masses...

The Most Popular Book Musicals

Does all of this leave you scratching your head, wondering which Broadway musicals - or any show put on in any theatre in New York or London are actually book musicals?

You might argue that every musical is a book musical; don't they all have to have a script?

To an extent, you are correct but, today, a new musical tends to eschew books altogether; sometimes, actors' lines are sung or rapped rather than recited. In that sense, musical theatre is edging ever closer to opera.

That is why classic titles are generally considered true book musicals. Among the best musical fare to play on Broadway are:

Guys and Dolls: book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows; score by Frank Loesser

Oklahoma!: book by Oscar Hammerstein; score by Richard Rodgers

Fiddler on the Roof: book by Joseph Stein, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, music by Jerry Bock

West Side Story: book by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

Showboat: book by Oscar Hammerstein, music by Jerome Kern

Another point to keep in mind: many Broadway shows can be classified in several different ways. For instance, a jukebox musical such as Mamma Mia may also be considered a musical comedy.

The musical Beauty and the Beast, adapted from the Disney movie, could be considered a book musical although its genesis was the musical film.

The question is: do you need to know whether the Broadway production you want to buy tickets for is a book musical or a concept musical?

Probably not, but understanding how such productions are classified helps you to understand musical theatre as a whole: past, present and future.

Go ahead and enjoy all of the revivals and new performances you want!

See where you can take drama classes near me.

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We're not talking a Disney Fantasia-esque tale wherein books, as the brooms in that film, take on a life of their own, flapping about the stage, unbidden. Like the aforementioned brooms, such a phenomenon would be rather frightening, don't you think?

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The document attacthed is an article about what Book Musicals are, how they are made, and primes examples of previous successes such as Andrew Lloyd-Webbers 'Jesus Christ Superstar' based on the Gospels of Christianity. What a Book musical is exactly, is what the name makes it out ot be, it is simply a musical that is derived, or based on, a well known book that is expanded into the format of musical theatre, this has been done a number of times with a number of famous books, tales such as 'West Side Story', 'Guys and Dolls', 'James and the Giant Peach', and many other famous books that we all know and love. Knowing what goes into a storybook musical and what it is, will help me progress as a performer for the show, being able to learn how to stick true to the original source, whilst adding my own flare to the character, will help in an effective and overall lovely performance, furthermore I find that in knowing how to develop a musical in this style, will give me the skills to learn what might and won't work for my character during rehearsals, whether it be in regards to movements, speech, or singing, I'll be able to deliberate with my director and find the best way to present myself on stage.

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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - The Musical

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About Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - The Musical

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Based on the novel by Roald Dahl & the Warner Bros. film, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - The Musical features memorable songs from the iconic 1970s film.

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Giving an example and expanding on the previous note, one my prime examples for a Book Musical well executed is definitley 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' written and directed by David Greig. It is known that Book Musicals are hard to pull off if not done right, and that is why I'm using this one in particular as an example, the story of a humble young boy named Charlie Bucket, who lives in an old run down house with his mum, dad, two grandpa's and grandma's, who don't exactly have enough money to do many things or buy much for the family, but that doesn't get Charlie down, he always tries to stay positive through every day whether rain or shine. So when the mysterious Willy Wonka announces a competition for a tour of his famous chocolate factory, with five kids, including Charlie, are lucky enough to win a golden ticket to enter and possibly win the competition. This story has always been a timeless classic for me to read and watch on TV, with the lessons it teaches like not to be too greedy, always be polite, always stay humble and never selfish, be happy with what you have, and never ceases to amaze me as how it has become a beloved musical on both West End and Broadway. By looking at this musical, it helps serve as an example for me to follow for the standard I need to work at, the kind of energy I need to bring onto the stage and how I present myself as Horton the Elephant, by using this musical, alongisde my other recourses of research, I'll be able to work on how I build my variation of Horton the Elephant, and how I can present him on stage through both rehearsals and on the show day.

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Gertrude's main objective is to win Horton's attention and affection. She is determined to do whatever it takes to make that happen.

Gertrude is a wallflower who is more comfortable observing others than being the center of attention. This is a difficult personality trait for her when she wants to be noticed by the elephant whose kind heart she has come to love. Gertrude doesn't quite fit in with the other jungle animals, feels unsure of herself socially, and the physical flaws she perceives in herself give support to her insecurities.

Feeling unworthy and too unattractive to capture Horton's affection, Gertrude is swayed by Mayzie's tips on self-beautification and the promise of grandiose results. Gertrude embellishes her tail in an attempt to fit the norm. When her change goes unnoticed by Horton, and then becomes a calamitous hindrance, Gertrude realizes the benefits of function over fashion and finds her power when she abandons the need to conform. She refocuses on what is most important to her, and her approach to winning Horton's love matures. Knowing the depth of his commitments, Gertrude dedicates herself to helping him in his pursuits. She is ferociously diligent, endures many perils and sacrifices, but is ultimately triumphant. In the end, the enormity of her efforts and accomplishments captures Horton's admiration and affection, and Gertrude finally sees her own value and beauty reflected through Horton's love.

Vocal range: soprano

Physical attributes and movement abilities: Gertrude's quirky personality is rooted in her unusual physicality. She feels mismatched with her very large feet, scrawny tail, and out-of-tune squawk. She is a bird of great spirit, but little grace. Socially and physically awkward, she is a little off-beat, but delightfully so.

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Gertrude's main objective is to win Horton's attention and affection. She is determined to do whatever it takes to make that happen. Gertrude is a wallflower who is more comfortable observing others than being the center of attention.

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Gertrude McFuzz is known as the one feathered bird, mainly noted from her one feathered tail, and serves as the anxious neighbour of Horton the Elephant, who also has a crush on the humble creature, she goes to Mayzie for help to get her tail bigger and attmepts throughout the entire show to get Horton to notice her just once, but unfortunatley he is to focussed on his clover to even hear Gertrude when she's talking to him. Throughout the show she is mainly the supportive neighbour and one of the only friends Horton has in the Jungle of Nool, thier relationship develops from friends/neighbours at the beginning of the show, to then possibly a couple by the end when the egg has hatched and they both agree to take care of it, this information helps in understanding what Horton's relationship with Gertrude is and how it has developed throughout the show, learning this will help me in how I see Gertrude as my character and how I react or act when aroudn them, whether its delight in seieng a friend, releif for her help when I sit on the egg, or even amazement when I hear of what she did just to get me to notice her such as following me "across the hills and deserts" just to talk to me, making me realise just how amazing she is.

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JoJo wants to be valued and loved for himself. He lives in a society that doesn't seem to notice or care about any of the things he holds dear to his heart. He feels unseen and unappreciated by his family and community and begins to doubt his own worth. He longs for a friend with whom to share his thoughts, a soul mate who can understand his experience.

JoJo stands out in a world that values conformity. When he expresses the wondrous thoughts in his head, instead of inspiring awe and emulation, he is met with disdain and disapproval. JoJo's travails increase when he is sent to the military for training. His parents and the General hope that his extravagant individual expression will be suppressed by military regimentation and that he will become an obedient soldier who follows orders unquestioningly - a non-thinking cog in an efficient machine. But his marvelous fantasies can not be contained nor can he stop thinking or questioning. His felicitous connection and subsequent friendship with Horton helps boost his self-esteem, and as he witnesses the mindless conformity of the cadets and General Schmitz's nonsensical pursuit of the Butter Side Downers, he comes to believe more deeply in himself. His courage to speak his own mind, in the face of oppression, and to follow his intuition, in the midst of danger, finally leads to a triumphant recognition of his heroic visionary strengths.

Vocal range: soprano/alto

Physical attributes and movement abilities: JoJo is physically expressive, but lives more in his head than his body. He is seen in contrast to the cadets who have had rigorous physical training and are naturally athletic.

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JoJo wants to be valued and loved for himself. He lives in a society that doesn't seem to notice or care about any of the things he holds dear to his heart. He feels unseen and unappreciated by his family and community and begins to doubt his own worth.

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The character Jojo is the imaginative persona of the boy at the beginning of this story who's created this vast, magical world that inhabits all the wild and excentric characters we meet along this story, Jojo is the son of the Mayor of Who, he is someone who always likes to let his imagination run wild and free, thinking all sorts of strange and unusal things, however that kind of thinking is not seen as a good thing to the Who's, Mr and Mrs Mayor end up telling their son to stop thinking this way. He is very close to Horton when they first meet, becoming great friends with the elephant as they relate to one another with all the different "thinks" that they have together, enjoying each others company as they finally find someone to have around, they weren't alone anymore, towards the end of the story however, it's with these wonderful thinks that make the Who's heard before they're boiled alive on the clover, allowing everyone to recognise Jojo for the great thinker that he is. This information helps me invision what kind of friend Jojo is to Horton, finding out about what they both have in common with one another and think on the conversations they'd have about the many different thinks they both share, bringing in lots of new inspiration for how I portray the emotion in the song 'Alone in the Universe', specifically towards the end.

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T he Sour Kangaroo is the diva queen of the jungle. She is a tyrannical marsupial with attitude! She has style and flair, but she is also hard-hearted and sour. She has worked her way to the top and commands power and respect, but her rise to power did not come easily and she knows how hard life can be. Having been around the block a few times, she does not suffer fools gladly. She believes nonsense leaves people out in the cold, without food or home, and survival is the key instinct to coping in the jungle. To her, reality is not open to interpretation, and Horton's claims are seemingly impossible, and therefore disturbing. As she sees it, Horton's fantasies attempt to alter the reality she depends on and undermine her security and sanity. His crazy assertions endanger the normalcy of the Jungle of Nool and she, wanting to protect the jungle from harm, believes he needs to be stopped, if needed, by a Kangaroo Court. She is a mother who does not tolerate silliness. Roo is raised to be tough and fierce, not a dreamer. The Sour Kangaroo holds onto her power by rewarding those who cater to her opinions and punishing those who do not. She is General Genghis Khan Schmitz's parallel in the jungle world. Both are driven, rigid thinkers.

Sour Kangaroo does have a change of heart. When she realizes she is wrong, she is quick to acknowledge it and correct her mistakes. Her maternal instincts come to bear when pledging to care for the Whos.

Vocal range: soprano/alto

Physical attributes and movement abilities: The Sour Kangaroo has a commanding physical presence. She is strongly rooted to the earth. Her strong haunches give her a deep sense of power and control. She expresses herself through her fierce, soulful vocalizing and her passionate, deliberate movements.

Roo is a baby Sour Kangaroo. Determinedly imitating his/her mother, Roo has guts and gumption and a similar defiant attitude. Roo is a hopper with a smooth bounce who appears through a costume pouch in the Sour Kangaroo's dress.

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T he Sour Kangaroo is the diva queen of the jungle. She is a tyrannical marsupial with attitude! She has style and flair, but she is also hard-hearted and sour. She has worked her way to the top and commands power and respect, but her rise to power did not come easily and she knows how hard life can be.

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For Sour Kangaroo, I've not only looked into what kind of a person is, but also the kind of authority/power she has within the Jungle of Nool. The article describes her not as a villain per say, and more of an overprotective mother that wants to keep the children and citizens out of harm from crazy things like talk of a talking dust speck, fearing that it could corrupt the minds of their youth, however the measures she uses to keep that danger at bay are certainly questionable. She definitely seems like the self appointed leader within Nool's community due to her rallying up the jungle citizens and getting them to help her take Horton down, talking about how crazy Horton has become from talking to this dust speck, emphasising that he could end up corrupting the children of Nool, this makes all the citizens villainise the helpful elephant and is even taken to court by the people. Knowing this, it tells me what kind of society the Jungle of Nool has, a land that is scared of thinkers like Horton with his wild thoughts and imagination running wild, making it difficult for people like him to live in peace. This will help me get a better understanding of how the people of Nool view Horton when he starts talking about the clover, making it easier to explore some of the reasons why he be as alone as he is before finding the Who's.

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The Wickersham Brothers live to impress the world with their strength and prowess. They want to be seen as virile, dominant, alpha males. They are impulsive bad boys who like to monkey around, creating havoc for fun. They pride themselves on their agility, speed, and cunning, and feed off of each other, seeking out vulnerable prey to subordinate. In order to feel a sense of superiority, they intimidate, bully and harass those they consider to be weaker. However, their bravado has its roots in insecurity, not evil. The Wickershams' macho posturing increases when around the beautiful Bird Girls. They are henchmen for the powerful Sour Kangaroo, acting as her aggressive arms of law. But they are not sociopaths - just attention-seeking daredevils who live for thrills and status as the bad biker boys of the jungle.

The Wickershams feel their power in making Horton cower. They enjoy feeling his fear and dislike him for his insecurity and tenderness - attributes they are uncomfortable with. They value speed, he is slow; they love agility, he can't move well. They see his contemplation as slowness/stupidity and his talking to the speck as insanity, which frightens and disturbs their world.

Vocal range: mixed ranges

Physical attributes and movement abilities: The Wickershams are athletic, primo movers. They swagger, leap, roll, squat, turn on a dime and possibly swing in on vines.

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The Wickersham Brothers live to impress the world with their strength and prowess. They want to be seen as virile, dominant, alpha males. They are impulsive bad boys who like to monkey around, creating havoc for fun. They pride themselves on their agility, speed, and cunning, and feed off of each other, seeking out vulnerable prey to subordinate.

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Even though the relationship with Horton and the Wickersham brothers is clear from the start, I decided to look at them to discover who they are and how Horton feels around them when they appear on stage. The Wickersham brothers are three wild, energetic, and all around mischievous monkey’s who like nothing more than to cause some trouble within the Jungle of Nool, playing around with one another and spending their days running wild like the carefree animals that they are, within the story, they worked as Sour Kangaroo’s lackeys to deal with Horton when he finds the speck/clover, terrorising him to no end by insulting or mocking the poor elephant, and even stealing his clover just to hand it off to Vlad Vladicoff to be thrown a cliff and into a “great patch of clovers 100 miles wide”, these examples go to show that they truly have no boundaries when it comes to making trouble, especially with it relating to terrorising Horton throughout the show. By learning of their antics and overall character, it will help me understand the anxiety and or fear that Horton has towards these three monkey's, learning how to try and avoid either them entirely or getting on their bad side, because whenever Horton sees them around he knows trouble is soon to follow in their wake, this will allow for me to experiment with these frightful/anxious emotions and how I can push them forward to the audience.

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I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

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Dr. Seuss tackles the struggles of everyday life's-difficult people, bullies, bad weather, political unrest, even crowds-in the rhyming picture book I...

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These documents elaborate on the magical paradise land known as Solla Sollew, and what exactly it is within the world of Seuss. It is described/thought of as a safe haven that all the people within the world wish to someday reach, a place filled with all that they desire and never have to worry about anything ever again, everyone has their own concept of Solla Sollew, whether it's a simple forest filled with beautiful trees, or a nice open field that has a lake for ducks and pond animals to enjoy, whatever it might be, everyone has their own interpretation of this wondrous place. Within the show, there are some mentions of Solla Sollew in numbers such as 'Thinks', 'Alone in the Universe', and of course the song revolved around this place 'Solla Sollew' which is something Horton dreams of going to someday, he is a big enough dreamer that he has been close many times to getting to this magical land, however whenever he does it seems to disappear, but that doesn't stop him from trying, he is determined to someday find this dream land and live out the rest of his days there. Using this information, it will help me create my own vision of how Solla Sollew would look for Horton, giving me not only inspiration for those happier thoughts within the show, but also something to imagine and dream about during the number 'Solla Sollew', furthermore it will help me connect with Horton better as creating this place will give way to some imaginative thinking of my own, creating an idea of what kind of "thinks" Horton has throughout the day.

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Heaven - Meanings in Different Religions | Mythology.net

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Depending on the religion, heaven is the place where God, angels, gods and deities reside. It is our immortal soul’s final resting place, according to many religions. It is generally considered to be located above the Earth, stretching from the sky up to realms outside of the physical world.

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For me to further understand the concept of Solla Sollew within the world of Seussical, I've decided to look at the concept of heaven, or the promised land, for different religions and cultures of the world, delving into what makes people dream of going to/finding a place like this one day. Whilst reading this, I've learnt that heaven, in most religions/beliefs, is a place where God, angels, and the people who have passed on in life reside for the rest of eternity, it is described to be "a reward for a virtuous life" where you can find peace and salvation in the lord's land of paradise, others believe that heaven is a place that you are able to seek out and find, a certain "promised land" that might be awaiting for you to one day find and enjoy without  care in the world, a place where you can rest easy for the rest of your life. Knowing all this helps in how I can view Solla Sollew, since it is a place of mystery I can view it as either a place for the living or dead, is it a hidden place that I'll someday find? Or will it be a reward for living a good life? All of these questions are what I can ask myself in order to create the perfect paradise place for Horton, and use that dream land to manifest the joyful thoughts within his mind.

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Create a new document and edit with others at the same time -- from your computer, phone or tablet. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Docs to edit Word files. Free from Google.

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I have attatched here a google document of how I personally would see Solla Sollew, folliwng a certain concept that I believe my character Horton would think to be an absolute living paradise of relaxation and tranquility, somewhere where he can spread his "wings" and fly to this magical place, and remain there for the rest of his days to relax and have fun with all his thinks all day and night long.

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Week 4

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Have You Ever Wondered How Elephants Walk?

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This video is of how an elephant walks/moves across the land, describing the sway it has and how it leads with it's front legs and then continues through the back legs for support, travelling with it's feet stomping onto the floor in a moderate to slow pace, however it can be quick when frantic and has a much heavier stride when it runs from danger. Learning how elephants move across the space in this fashion will help create inspiration for my movement as Horton, utilising an elephants slow and heavy motions and incorperating a type of swing and weight to mine, similar to what Stephen Alias showed me I can incorperate the weight down the centre of my crotch, with a slight bend to my knee, and add in a swaying motion to simulate the trunk and keeping that balance ahead of me, most likely I would lead with both my chest for presentation, and my nose for the actual movements itself, I'll be using this video as inspiration to help experiment with Horton's movement for Seussical.

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Martin Luther King, Jr., (born Jan. 15, 1929, Atlanta, Ga., U.S.-died April 4, 1968, Memphis, Tenn.), U.S. civil rights leader.

The son and grandson of Baptist preachers, King became an adherent of nonviolence while in college. Ordained a Baptist minister himself in 1954, he became pastor of a church in Montgomery, Ala.; the following year he received a doctorate from Boston University. He was selected to head the Montgomery Improvement Association, whose boycott efforts eventually ended the city's policies of racial segregation on public transportation.

In 1957 King formed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and began lecturing nationwide, urging active nonviolence to achieve civil rights for Black Americans. In 1960 he returned to Atlanta to become copastor with his father of Ebenezer Baptist Church. He was arrested and jailed for protesting segregation at a lunch counter; the case drew national attention, and presidential candidate John F. Kennedy interceded to obtain his release.

In 1963 King helped organize the March on Washington, an assembly of more than 200,000 people at which he made his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. The march influenced the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and King was awarded the 1964 Nobel Prize for Peace.

In 1965 he was criticized from within the civil rights movement for yielding to state troopers at a march in Selma, Ala., and for failing in the effort to change Chicago's housing segregation policies. Thereafter he broadened his advocacy, addressing the plight of the poor of all races and opposing the Vietnam War. In 1968 he went to Memphis, Tenn., to support a strike by sanitation workers; there on April 4, he was assassinated by James Earl Ray.

A U.S. national holiday is celebrated in King's honour on the third Monday in January.

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Martin Luther King, Jr., and the civil rights movement

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Martin Luther King, Jr., (born Jan. 15, 1929, Atlanta, Ga., U.S.-died April 4, 1968, Memphis, Tenn.), U.S. civil rights leader. The son and grandson of Baptist preachers, King became an adherent of nonviolence while in college. Ordained a Baptist minister himself in 1954, he became pastor of a church in Montgomery, Ala.; the following year he received a doctorate from Boston University.

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For character inspiration, I wanted to look for a real life figure who has gone through a similar situation to Horton the Elephant, someone who was a big dreamer and was ridiculed or mistreated by others who thought he was crazy for the way he thought, after searching the internet I then thought of one of the greatest visionaries of human history, Martin Luther King Jr. This man was the head man and founder of the civil rights movement back in the 1960’s, being most famous for speaking up about rights for black people and his peaceful protests in the streets of the US, Martin L.King Jr was most famous for his “I have a dream” speech, preaching about his dream of a country that gives equal rights for all as he stood tall against the oppressors of back then, becoming an inspiration to over 200,000 people and making an example that even when you’re pushed around, you can always get back up and stand your ground for what you believe in. I chose him for inspiration because in certain ways he is similar to Horton, mainly in how they both fight for what they believe in, how Horton does whatever it takes to keep the Who’s safe being similar to how Martin Luther King Jr does whatever it takes to keep his people safe, both of them being great thinkers with dreams and hopes of a bright new land where worries and cares can practically fly away with the wind, looking at this man will help me understand the responsibility Horton has when he is tasked with saving Who, the weight he has on his shoulders as he traverses through perilous dangers caused by the other Jungle Citizens to stop him, never once giving up as he keeps pushing through, and keeps finding a way to keep the Who’s safe and sound on top of their dust speck.

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It's not hard to discern that journey in songs of persuasion like "The Surrey With The Fringe" from Oklahoma!, "Some People" from Gypsy, "I'd Be Surprisingly Good For You" from Evita, or in narrative songs like "Opening Doors" from Merrily We Roll Along. But many theater songs are contemplative songs in which dramatic time "stops" so we can savor a moment. Pieces like "Easy To Be Hard" from Hair and "What Did I Have That I Don't Have?" from On A Clear Day give the character a chance to analyze what's happened, ask questions, and consider possible future actions; they give the dramatist an opportunity to deepen the listener's understanding and empathetic experience of the dramatic event.

These songs don't journey through actual time and space; rather, they explore an inner landscape of memory, fantasy, and desire. Sometimes that exploration can lead to discovery and change, but just as often, the character ends the song exactly where they began. Still, the listener always goes on a journey when a song is sung, so it's my contention that both persuasive and contemplative songs can benefit from being examined through the lens of the "journey."

One of the most useful aspects of the journey metaphor is that it calls attention to the way a journey is constructed: a series of individual segments or events (the so-called "legs" of a journey) separated by navigational maneuvers (the "turns") when a change of direction is required. Each segment of the journey must be completed before you can begin the next one. And, regardless of whether the terrain you travel is familiar or unknown, there's always the possibility of an unexpected occurrence that may require you to adjust your route.

Nowadays, all travel is made simpler by the use of GPS, which offers us a segmented route, broken down into "turn-by-turn" directions.This idea of turn-by-turn directions can be adapted for teaching the journey of a musical theatre song. For this discussion, I'll use "I'll Be Known," from the 2013 musical Leading Lady, which I wrote with playwright P. Seth Bauer.The song is an example of an "I want" song: a chance for the protagonist to sing of the deeply felt desires that will motivate their actions in the scenes that follow.

It appears in lead sheet form above, and a piano/vocal version is available for download at www.savisingingactor.com/book-extras.

You'll notice that there are a number of small triangle markings throughout the music.The triangle is the symbol for the Greek letter delta, which is used in the world of physics and math to denote change. A triangle is also a musical instrument whose sound is a distinctive "ding." For this reason, I refer to the moments of change in a song as "dings," and when I coach students, I often use the sound of a bell or chime as an actual, audible "ding" to indicate moments for change. When analyzing a song, you'll need some common signposts that indicate a "ding" or moment or change.

In the lyrics, punctuation marks (periods, question marks, commas) frequently warrant a ding, as do conjunctions (words like but, or, unless, although).The beginnings or ends of vocal phrases and long, sustained notes should also be considered as possible indications of a "turn" in the song.

Each new phrase - each "leg" of the journey, as it were - presents a unique opportunity for specific expression or communication.The delta can be used to mark where every phrase begins. It is helpful to write out the lyrics, with one line per ding, like this:

∆ Growing up poor wasn't no picnic,

∆ Not when the cupboard was bare.

∆ Hand-me-down clothes,

∆ Soup thin as water,

∆ But plenty of hardship to spare.

∆ One in a litter of shanty brats,

∆ Scratchin' and yowlin' like alley cats.

∆ Ten of us crammed in a Southwark at.

∆ Well, I'll be damned if I'll live like that!

∆ I want more,

...and so on.

Next, at each "ding," make a specific choice about subtext, action, or paraphrase for that lyric that differentiates it from the previous lyric:

PHRASE & LYRIC

#1 Growing up poor wasn't no picnic,

#2 Not when the cupboard was bare.

#3 Hand-me-down clothes,

#4 Soup thin as water,

#5 But plenty of hardship to spare.

#6 One in a litter of shanty brats,

#7 Scratchin' and yowlin' like alley cats.

#8 Ten of us crammed in a Southwark at.

#9 Well, I'll be damned if I'll live like that!

...and so on.

SUBTEXT, ACTION, OR PARAPHRASE

#1 Shock the listener with the harsh reality about your past

#2 Give a corroborating example

#3 Give a more specific example

#4 Give a different kind of example

#5 Make a bitter joke (melody in higher register adds intensity)

#6 Describe yourself using insulting language you heard as a child

#7 Elaborate, use colorful details

#8 Provide a contrasting detail

#9 Sharp turn: Enough of the past! You're done with that!

... and so on.

Just as there are a handful of common maneuvers that a driver makes during an actual journey, the "maneuvers" that one makes in the transitional moments of a song fall into some basic categories, including:

* "And" - an elaboration or intensification of the previous phrase, like phrases 3 and 4

* "But" - a new phrase that significantly contrasts with its predecessor, like phrase 5

* "New" - like a beat change, or a shift. In this case, phrase 6 changes the subject from hardship to family relationships, and phrase 9 closes the door on the past and introduces the new subject of the future.

* "Aha" - a discovery, revelation or insight, like phrase 9

* "Back" - a "callback" to the specific words of an earlier lyric (could be the title or "hook" of the song)

* "I Mean" - like "And" but with the goal of being more precise

* Change of Mode - occurs when a song shifts grammatically from declarative mode (making statements) to interrogative (asking questions) or imperative mode (giving orders).

* Parenthesis/Detour ("New" + "Back") - a parenthetical expression, or a kind of detour, where the argument appears to take a new direction, only to return back to the previous direction a moment later.

Recognizing these common patterns helps clarify the relationship between consecutive phrases and identify appropriate behavior that will clearly communicate the transitions that take place during the song.

The final lines of the song "I'll Be Known" are a dramatic re-statement of the title phrase: "Perhaps I won't be famous/But dammit, I'll be known!" A big build-up in the accompaniment and a climactic high note announce to the listener that they've arrived at the final moment, the culmination of the soul-searching journey of the song. Endings are always a big deal in a musical theater song, but for an ending to have its desired impact, the performer needs to have led the listener carefully through each "leg" of the journey.

Turn-by-turn directions for the journey of the song reduce stress for the performer even as they increase clarity and variety for the listener. If the listener gets lost, the journey of the song will be ultimately unsatisfying. Navigating that journey, one "turn" at a time, is a key skill for the singing actor to master.Thoughtful analysis and careful crafting of behavior are strategies that any singing actor can use to make a song a powerful dramatic performance.
This article is adapted from The SAVI Singing Actor by Charles Gilbert. Learn more at savisingingactor.com.

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It's not hard to discern that journey in songs of persuasion like "The Surrey With The Fringe" from Oklahoma!, "Some People" from Gypsy, "I'd Be Surprisingly Good For You" from Evita, or in narrative songs like "Opening Doors" from Merrily We Roll Along.

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To understand the journey my character makes throughout the story, I have to dissect what he thinks and feels throughout certain numbers within the show, this is what’s called a song journey, going through a song line by line and marking down what you do/how you feel and why you do a certain action or feel a certain way. Song journey’s are what help the actor connect more with a character, as they “don’t journey through actual time and space; rather, they explore an inner landscape of memory, fantasy, and desire” as said within this article, elaborating on how it’s more about exploring the emotions your character feels throughout the song, the thoughts they have when singing each line. Knowing this information will help me explore Horton’s song journey’s through key numbers within Seussical, songs such as ‘Alone in the Universe’, ‘Solla Sollew’, ‘Horton Hears a Who’ and many others that allow for me to play around with the emotions Horton has, alongside the thoughts roaming around his imaginative mind in that particular moment. This will especially help with creating the emotional connection I have towards the clover and the happier emotions that come towards it, allowing me to push those emotions forward to the audience more effectively, creating the transition of thoughts and feelings when from when he is exhausted and alone, to then finding Jojo which fills the humble elephant with unmeasurable joy. This article will assist during the process of creating my song journey’s throughout aspects of the show.

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This source is of my song journey through the opening number ‘All The Thinks You Can Think’ , listing down all my thoughts, emotions, actions, and reactions to each line of the number. I’ve done this to help me understand what I do throughout this number and why I do it, this was difficult and more important since during this number I’m up in my tree stationary, because of this I decided to focus mostly on my reactions and feelings towards other people on stage, whether it’s the joy of seeing Gertrude and Mayzie, or the anxiety of watching Sour Kangaroo and the Wickershams, mixing up my emotions from curiosity by watching/meeting the boy, transitioning to fear and nerves on the line “Think of nobody here, and the feeling of fear, and and the darkness of night”, to finally wonder and excitement towards the end as I fantasise about the wonderful world of Dr Seuss.

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Babar’s travels : Brunhoff, Jean de, 1899-1937 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

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It’s come to my attention through this project, that there are other children’s story book elephant characters in the world, one of them being the heartwarming story of Babar the elephant. Babar the little Elephant, written by Jean de Burnhoff, is a story of bravery, adventure, and of perilous journey through new elements, when a small elephant Babar leaves home after the unfortunate death of his mother, he ends up in an unknown city where he is taken in by an Old Lady who finds him education and teaches him of how the world works, eventually Babar’s cousins find him and take him back home, only to find that their king has died due to eating a bad mushroom, after deliberation from a council of elephants they soon approach Babar saying he has “lived among men and learned much” and thus crowned him the new king of his home, he soon got married and then had two children of his own he taught valuable life lessons to. By looking into the life of Babar the little Elephant it gives me a chance to gain some inspiration for my characterisation of Horton, seeing both their journey’s and how they are similar and different from each other, seeing as how they are both elephants for one thing, but they are also two souls that have travelled great lengths to find a place they can call paradise/home, I can use that for Horton in moments where he thinks about/mentions Solla Sollew and have that thought to not only push those emotions of wonderment, but to also physicalise Horton more effectively, furthermore, Babar had found someone to take him in when no one else would, he had found someone who would talk to him, feed him, even teach him, filling Bagar’s heart with joy and delight knowing he wasn’t alone anymore, similar to how Horton finds Jojo, that feeling of joy and excitement that he wasn’t alone anymore is what I desire to push through with Horton, and that is what this character is going to help me accomplish.

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The 'Allegory Of The Cave' is a theory put forward by Plato, concerning human perception. Plato claimed that knowledge gained through the senses is no more than opinion and that, in order to have real knowledge, we must gain it through philosophical reasoning.
'The Allegory of the Cave' by Plato
In the Allegory of the Cave, Plato distinguishes between people who mistake sensory knowledge for the truth and people who really do see the truth. It goes like this:
The Cave

Imagine a cave, in which there are three prisoners. The prisoners are tied to some rocks, their arms and legs are bound and their head is tied so that they cannot look at anything but the stonewall in front of them.

These prisoners have been here since birth and have never seen outside of the cave.

Behind the prisoners is a fire, and between them is a raised walkway.

People outside the cave walk along this walkway carrying things on their head including; animals, plants, wood and stone.

The Shadows

So, imagine that you are one of the prisoners. You cannot look at anything behind or to the side of you - you must look at the wall in front of you.

When people walk along the walkway, you can see shadows of the objects they are carrying cast on to the wall.

If you had never seen the real objects ever before, you would believe that the shadows of objects were 'real.

The Game

Plato suggests that the prisoners would begin a 'game' of guessing which shadow would appear next.

If one of the prisoners were to correctly guess, the others would praise him as clever and say that he were a master of nature.

The Escape

One of the prisoners then escapes from their bindings and leaves the cave.

He is shocked at the world he discovers outside the cave and does not believe it can be real.

As he becomes used to his new surroundings, he realizes that his former view of reality was wrong.

He begins to understand his new world, and sees that the Sun is the source of life and goes on an intellectual journey where he discovers beauty and meaning

He see's that his former life, and the guessing game they played is useless.

The Return

The prisoner returns to the cave, to inform the other prisoners of his findings.

They do not believe him and threaten to kill him if he tries to set them free.

' The Allegory of The Cave' by Plato - The Meaning

The Cave
In Plato's theory, the cave represents people who believe that knowledge comes from what we see and hear in the world - empirical evidence. The cave shows that believers of empirical knowledge are trapped in a 'cave' of misunderstanding.
The Shadows
The Shadows represent the perceptions of those who believe empirical evidence ensures knowledge. If you believe that what you see should be taken as truth, then you are merely seeing a shadow of the truth. In Plato's opinion you are a 'pleb' if you believe this (their insult for those who are not Philosophers)!
The Game
The Game represents how people believe that one person can be a 'master' when they have knowledge of the empirical world. Plato is demonstrating that this master does not actually know any truth, and suggesting that it is ridiculous to admire someone like this.
The Escape

The escaped prisoner represents the Philosopher, who seeks knowledge outside of the cave and outside of the senses.

The Sun represents philosophical truth and knowledge

His intellectual journey represents a philosophers journey when finding truth and wisdom

The Return
The other prisoners reaction to the escapee returning represents that people are scared of knowing philosophical truths and do not trust philosophers.

The Allegory of the cave by Plato should not be taken at face value. In essays and exams, whoever is marking it expects you to have a deeper understanding of the meaning of the theory. You can then use these to think about criticisms and then to form your own opinion.

It is always recommended that you read the original text by Plato to reach the top grades. If you would like to purchase 'The Republic' by Plato, click here!

You might also like to read about Plato's Theory of Forms.

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Allegory of the Cave by Plato - Summary and Meaning

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The 'Allegory Of The Cave' is a theory put forward by Plato, concerning human perception. Plato claimed that knowledge gained through the senses is no more than opinion and that, in order to have real knowledge, we must gain it through philosophical reasoning.

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To have a deeper understanding of the story of Seussical, I’ve decided to look into the story of Plato’s Cave, a story of three prisoners who were born within a cave, chained to a wall by their arms and legs, who have never seen the outside world before. Everyday these three men would see shadows of people carrying items such as fruit, baskets, and various other items that cast a shadow over the wall these three men are chained to, so they each play a game to take a guess at what shadow would pass next and what they’d be carrying, the winner of this game would be praised by the other two men and deemed a master of nature, one day however, one of the men managed to break free from their chains and went off to see the outside world for what it is, once they did, they were amazed at how much different the world was compared to how they i visiones it before, so the man went back to free the other two men and show them this new world, however the other two men threatened him with death if he freed them whilst calling him crazy for even thinking about this outside world he describes. All of these aspects represent an aspect of belief, it states in the article that “the cave represents people who believe that knowledge comes from what we see and hear in the world – empirical evidence. The cave shows that believers of empirical knowledge are trapped in a ‘cave’ of misunderstanding“ to me this correlates to the Jungle citizens and how they don’t believe the Who’s are real only because they cannot see or hear them, and are therefor trapped in their own ‘cave’ where they don’t try to understand this knowledge, “The Shadows represent the perceptions of those who believe empirical evidence ensures knowledge. If you believe that what you see should be taken as truth, then you are merely seeing a shadow of the truth” what I think of when reading this is when they see the clover itself, merely seeing it as an aspect of the truth yet still only believing that Horton is nothing but a crazy elephant talking to dust specks, “The Game represents how people believe that one person can be a ‘master’ when they have knowledge of the empirical world. Plato is demonstrating that this master does not actually know any truth, and suggesting that it is ridiculous to admire someone like this” this reminds me of Sour Kangaroo’s authority over the Jungle Citizens, using her status to convince everyone that the dust speck is evil and that Horton is crazy, even though she knows little to nothing of the situation, “The escaped prisoner represents the Philosopher, who seeks knowledge outside of the cave and outside of the senses” here it helps describe how Horton is one of the few people in Nool who wish to seek out knowledge despite appearances or sounds alone, using his keen senses to hear the Who’s and dig deeper than most people would want to, not allowing himself to be limited by only his eyes and ears alone, he uses his vast imagination to explore the unknown/unexplored, and finally “The other prisoners reaction to the escapee returning represents that people are scared of knowing philosophical truths and do not trust philosophers.” This text represents how the Jungle Citizens don’t believe Horton’s words pf the Who’s, thinking he’s crazy from either believing Sour Kangaroo, or from being afraid of believing in the truth and that there are actually tiny people on top of the dust speck. All of this information helps me understand the story on a deeper level, taking what I know about the story already and creating a more realistic grasp of the society within their community, understanding how people view Horton from an outside standpoint and seeing how, or thinking of why, they might not believe his claims of there being someone on the dust speck/clover when he first makes these claims.

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Acting through song: Thoughts and tips from MT experts ⏱ 3 mins - BAST - Be A Singing Teacher

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What's the most neglected skill in voice training? Voice teacher and founder of Singing Revealed, Philippe Hall, believes it's acting through song. Philippe discusses acting through song in the Singing Teachers Talk podcast.

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During my work with Linzi, it's inspired me to look more in depth at how to act/express emotion through song, exploring with the words within the piece to see where I could possibly add emphasis into the most important, or most impactful, words, and how I can display the emotions clearly to audience alongside the song itself. This source gives me the basic variables of how to do this very task, listing down the three components of researching the character and the world they come from, studying the music for its "clues"/subtext in order to understand the tone of the song, and finally the actual textures of the piece itself, dissecting it line by line and layer by layer to see the kind of number it turns out to be, an example would be with 'Alone in the Universe', at first it seems like a sad song that turns happy towards the end, but in reality, it's a song of Horton's feeling and thoughts that even though he is alone in the universe, he still has the hope that he will find someone someday, and that this clover has given him the chance to have that someone, someone who he can talk to without being judged, someone he can share his "thinks" with, and when he meets Jojo for the first time, that burst of wonder and excitement seeps out and fills the air with that same feeling, expressing those emotions through chosen spoken bits of dialogue as those happier feelings and thoughts are expressed heavily through the eyes and face, telling the story to the audience, and giving a heart warming performance as I put myself in the shoes of the friendly elephant.

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You'll Be Back - Jonathan Groff - Hamilton Musical

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What Comes Next? - Hamilton (Original Cast 2016 - Live) [HD]

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In a musical, there is sometimes a golden rule that can be quite difficult to pull off, but can be effectively, and positively, received by an audience if done right, that golden rule being "less is more" in a performance. To expand on this, what I mean is the ability to stay stationary on stage, and allow the face, voice, eyes, and slight/little body movements of either the arms or legs to portray the emotions and story of the character, a prime example of this is the sources I've attached here, those being Jonathan Groff's performance of King George III in the well known Broadway musical Hamilton. The reason I've chosen these as my inspiration, is because he displays such raw feelings of aggression and tyranny without having to move a muscle, allowing for the intensity in his eyes to show as he throws his voice through different levels throughout both of these performances, we as an audience can tell how he feels just by listening to how emphasises the most important words of both his numbers, for 'You'll Be Back' we can tell that he is confident that he will come out victorious in the war with America, whilst still retaining that sense of aggression from them falling out of line in the first place, pushing the slight madness that the real King George III had back in the 18th and 19th century, however in 'What Comes Next' those feelings become that of resentment and bitterness from losing to the Americans, staying regal, high and mighty as he speaks of how "it's much harder when its all your call" mocking them in the sense that he thinks the Americans can't survive without his leadership, but still plays the confident monarch with the ending line "when your people say they hate you, don't come crawling back to me', which overall solidifies just what he is getting across. All in all, I'll be able to use his performance as the beloved mad king as inspiration for how I can amplify my performance as Horton, by focusing more on how I display my emotions and words to the audience, along with which words are more impactful than others, I can enhance my portrayal of the lovable elephant and create a better display of the story I'm trying to tell.

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Dame Judi Dench sings "Send in the Clowns" - BBC Proms 2010

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Another source I have that has inspired me is Dame Judi Dench's live performance of 'Send in the Clowns' for the 2010 BBC Proms, this performance like John Groff's focuses on the golden rule of "less is more", with this song it's a lot slower and sombre on the voice, allowing Judi Dench to take her time with the piece and how to express the words within it, unlike with John's piece Judi's has more clarity and opportunity to explore that transition between thoughts and feelings, keeping at the same pace whilst allowing for similar thoughts/ideas to run through and out of her head like a rushing waterfall of thoughts. I'm unfamiliar with where this song is from, however just from watching her performance I've already gained a better grasp of what it could mean, a song that reflects on the ironies or mistakes of a persons life, and using them to describe as if there are clowns sent in to add on to these misfortunes and make her look the fool, but there aren't any around, aside from her own self, with just the most subtle of movements she makes impacts the song more and more as she takes them, whether it's the turn of her head or a simple shifting of her eyebrows to fit the beats of the music, topping it all off with her emphasis on certain words, speaking some of them in a more soft yet saddening tone, fitting the mood of the song and allowing the audience to sympathise with the character on a deeper level. By using this example for mainly the number 'Solla Sollew' I can explore how I can truly take my time with the piece, expressing certain words that emphasise the story or how Horton is feeling in this current moment, using this number, and the music accompaniment, to make that shift of emotions with just the smallest of changes, whether it's a new thought or even a change in the music itself I can utilise all that I hear and see to help experiment with the delivery, thoughts, and transition of feelings throughout the song.

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Willkommen/Don't Tell Mama | BBC Graham Norton Show (feat. Callum Scott Howells and Madeline Brewer)

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During one of our rehearsal sessions with Linzi we were rehearsing 'Egg, Nest, and Tree', however in the middle of rehearsals she thought we were lacking slightly in expression, precision, and energy, so to inspire us, she showed the class a clip of a song number from the musical 'Cabaret' from the Graham Norton Show. This clip was of the number called 'Willkommen/Don't Tell Mama' which I wasn't too sure of what it was about, since I was more focused on how these actors/performers managed to express themselves, and their characters, with their precise energetic movements and over the top melodrama style facial expressions. From what I understand about Cabaret it is a show set in Germany 1939, specifically set in an adult nightclub, which has lots of highly energetic dance numbers throughout the show itself, with a show like this the actors must make sure that they are in time with one another and make their movements big, expressive, and precise, like Seussical, Cabaret has lots of moments where the performers will need to push those big over the top expressions for even the audience all the way in the back can see, and after watching this clip of the show, it's no surprise as to why Linzi showed it to us, with this clip I can use it to work on keeping the energy of my performance to its max, making sure to not be afraid to dip my toes into the melodrama style of presentation, I'm more accustomed to it after all since last year's FMP performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream in which I played Oberon and Theseus, furthermore, by taking inspiration from this particular musical, I can be more prepared to experiment with more exotic and over the top presentation styles that fit the theme of Seussical without being too crazy or messy.

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Emotion is a fundamental aspect of musical experience.

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Recently I've been having some difficulty on how to push the happier emotions/reactions out to the audience during rehearsals, namely with the number 'Alone in the Universe' as I keep missing out on the joy and wonder of finally having someone to talk to, getting lost in the lullaby like melody that keeps my mood down throughout the song, which is why I've decided to look at a guide that will help me express these more positive emotions out to the audience. By utilising this step by step method, I'll be able to place myself in the shoes of my character more effectively, thinking more on how I would feel in a situation like this and applying that to my performance, not letting myself just focus on the more sombre beginning and instead thinking on the build up from it, seeing how my feelings within the song and at what point they rise to their peak and released out to the audience in a wave of life and wonder that I'm not alone anymore, and then ever so subtly, bringing the energy down as the music calms back down, yet maintaining that sense of wonder and glee from finding my first friend. Using this source will ultimately help in how I push the emotions of my character throughout the show, assisting in the final product of my character for the first morning show in two weeks time.