Seussical at UDPAC

Here's a photo of Kerry in the production of Seussical that opened at Upper Darby Summerstage last night. (There is a slide show with lots more images on the UDPAC website.

Certainly a lot of the praise that follows might be dismissed as proud-papa-ism, but I'm not exaggerating when I say that D'Arcy and I were both knocked out by what we saw last night. The skillful and energetic cast put the material across in a completely engaging way. Seussical is, in a way, the ideal Summerstage vehicle, in that it provides a horde of young actors a chance to strut their stuff in a colorful, imaginative and utterly confident way. Furthermore, there is a kind of connection between the show and its audience - its community - which I've experienced only rarely in the theater. The audience embraced the cast and returned their joyful energy in the form of an enthusiastic ovation. Afterwards, in the lobby, sweaty make-up-stained actors greeted their friends and families with a sense that they'd accomplished something quite remarkable. The whole experience was a great affirmation of the power of theater and music and youth, and I was (and still am) deeply moved to see my son play such a successful role in that event.