“Because after all, a person’s a person no matter how small.” This is one of the most iconic quotes from Dr Seuss’s volumes, some of the first words for early readers, and an adage for anyone who grew up with the Seuss books. It’s also one of the anthems of this show. Horton sings it for the first time when he hears a tiny voice on a speck of dust, his elephant ears hearing what others missed. He repeats it throughout the show, steadfast in his commitment to rescuing the Who’s and protecting their tiny world. Gertrude joins him in his commitment as she “notices his kind and his powerful heart,” and sings it along with him.
Reflecting on this show and this experience with this cast, I keep revisiting that line and thinking back on a piece of wisdom a pastor shared at the memorial for a dear friend’s dad. He acknowledged that on that day, we all probably felt helpless, but he shared advice that’s become a North Star for me when I don’t know what to do: “show up.” He reminded us we had already done the most important thing: we showed up. Even when it felt hard, uncomfortable, or uncertain, we made our way there for the people we cared about.
I have thought of that advice so many times since we started rehearsals in October. It’s a theme throughout the story, the force behind Horton and his determination to save the Whos, to protect Mayzie’s egg, and to remind his new friend Jojo he is not “alone in the universe.” It’s the motivation for Jojo to use his massive imagination, his superpower the world tries to stifle, to rescue his family and his beloved Whoville. It’s the courage Gertrude musters to brave the “fog, choking, smog, soggy slope, stinking bog, and a vicious dog” to rescue Horton after spending seven weeks searching for his clover. Over and over, we see the heroes of Seussical “showing up,” not because it’s glamorous, or easy, or shines the spotlight on them, but because in showing up for others, they quietly and humbly remind us all: “a person’s a person no matter how small.”
I sat in rehearsal the other night with these themes running through my head and looked around at our incredible cast of 75 kids between the ages of seven and eighteen, and the grown-ups surrounding them. Of course, this show “clicked” almost instantly in rehearsals; of course, it felt like a little bit of extraordinary magic every time we gathered. This group of people are masters of “showing up.”
As a student of Keith’s since 2001, I know exactly where the roots of this were sprouted. Keith lives and breathes by his mantra he shares with us all: touch a life a day. Having witnessed him in so many parts of his world, I have seen this in action in all shapes and sizes, and have remarked at how selflessly, generously, and willingly he does it. There isn’t that moment of hesitation that it might be awkward or “too much” or “too little.” He spends his days looking for those opportunities, and when his heart says it’s right, he finds that life and gives that nod that we all need - to be noticed, seen, loved, and remembered. Having raised hundreds of children, including three directors of this show, it’s no wonder that the second home he built, Open Fields, lives on because of the people who showed up.
Open Fields first brought this show to our stage in 2015 - the same year a very special family first walked through our doors. Finn Zatylny made his Open Fields debut in the 2015 production of Seussical, and in a full-circle moment, Harper will take her final Open Fields bow 11 years later. It’s no surprise that in thinking about the Zatylny family’s chapter of Open Fields, I’m reflecting on what it means to “show up.” In 2015, Ilene Zatylny, mom of Jake, Finn, and Harper, found Keith and me and asked what she could get us for dinner, as she had noticed there was no way either of us had eaten in the stretch of a marathon set build and tech rehearsal. We knew her as Finn’s mom, but that day we met the Ilene, we have to come to know, love, and appreciate beyond words. She embodies the spirit of always thinking of others, stepping into their shoes, and then quietly and masterfully figuring out how to make their load a little lighter or their day a little brighter. She has passed that legacy onto her three children and to say their whole family, including dad Marko, has become a pillar of Open Fields is an understatement. They have loved Open Fields with their whole hearts and shown up for each of us countless times; Open Fields is a better place with the Zatylnys in our orbit.
