
By Will Bryant
Staff Writer
Walking into Deb Lederer’s art classroom at Carrboro Elementary School, you’d think you had found a portal to another world.
On one side of the room stand half a dozen gigantic refrigerator boxes, painted on all sides with vibrant scenes of a make-believe world. On a table next to the scenery is a mountain of green glittery hats, which looks small in comparison to the enormous face of the cartoon elephant that leans against the concrete wall. Giant fluorescent paper mache fish are scattered all over the paint-splattered floor and a large, smiling cat, sporting a red-striped hat, stands quietly in the corner, grinning from whisker to whisker.
Welcome to backstage at Carrboro Elementary’s performance of Seussical Junior, a musical based on the classic books of Dr. Seuss, to be staged Thursday at 1:15 and 6:30 p.m. and Friday at 1:15 p.m. in the school’s auditorium.
The cast of 150 students, comprised mostly of fourth- and fifth-graders, is taking responsibility for all of the production’s singing, dancing, puppeteering, sound, lighting and backstage responsibilities.
“I’m excited and a bit nervous at the same time,†said 10-year-old cast member Alec Caruana. “I mean, everyone is going to be watching you.â€
Caruana says the production has been in the works for nearly six months and that the cast is more than prepared.
“It should be a blast if everything goes perfectly fine,†Caruana said.
Those attending the show can expect to rediscover the classic Dr. Seuss tales that have been read aloud to children for generations.
Green Eggs and Ham, Horton Hears a Who and, of course, The Cat in the Hat are among the titles featured in the show.
Acting as both set designer and director, Lederer says the show has really brought the school together.
“I think we’ve learned collaboration is a huge key and that you need to be a team player, work together, listen to each other and know that you have something to offer,†Lederer said. “Every single person has some bit of creativity.â€
The production comes at a time when state school boards are beginning to question the need for fine arts programs in public schools.
“In today’s budget cuts, we hear all the time what we don’t have time for and what we don’t have money for,†said Lederer. Seussical is all about getting kids interested in the arts and giving them an outlet for their creativity, she said.
“Some of these kids, if they didn’t have this experience, might not go on to audition for shows in middle school, high school or college,†Lederer said. “Now we’ve got some kids that have the theater bug in them.â€