Award-winning Steven Stead, co-director, with Greg King, of Durban’s KickstArt theatre company, is involved with what he labels as one of his most enormously challenging projects to date.
It is the colourful musical Seussical, this year’s Rainbow Young Performers’ production which, featuring a cast of 26 local children selected from nearly 280 who auditioned for Stead, runs from July 1 to 17 at Durban’s Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre.
The challenge with Seussical is that it is not only a music-heavy show with little dialogue, requiring cast members to be adept at acting, singing and dancing, but that it also has a demanding score.
“The kids themselves are absolutely wonderful. I was expecting the worst, based on several school teachers in my life: inattentiveness, lack of punctuality, lack of focus, lack of respect. But they have been fantastic,” says Stead in between rehearsals.
His young cast, he continues, work very hard and are very driven, always striving to improve.
“Maybe I am lucky that I have only 26 people who really want to be there. However, I am not used to broken rehearsal times; only working on weekends is a crazy way to stage a complicated musical.”
Time is really against him and his team, and they all feel under huge pressure, Stead admits.
“Ordinarily, KickstArt rehearses for three to four weeks on big shows, and even plays, working six days a week. This gives continuity and just enough time to block and then detail productions.
“In London, new operas and musicals rehearse for six weeks. With this project, although we are rehearsing for two months, we are only working every Friday afternoon and at weekends. This gives us about 18 full days to get the show from page to stage.
“With busy youths who are doing masses of other things during the week, this is really quite an extraordinary challenge. And I am taking strain, I won’t lie.”
Bear in mind when next you watch a show that every 30 seconds of dance is an hour of choreography, and if the actors are singing harmonies, another hour for every 30 seconds.
Seussical, says Stead, has fab music and enormous heart and wit.
“Because of the very demanding score, I was looking for great singers with interesting, quirky personalities, rather than ‘actors’ or ‘dancers’. Although, because it’s an American Broadway show, you really have to be a ‘triple threat’ (singer/dancer/actor) to pull it off.”
For Greg King, the production will mark the second time he has designed for Seussical, having created the sets for a simpler version staged two years ago by Durban Girls’ College. “The school had no flybars, and the Sneddon obviously does, and so we can fly a whole lot of cloths which was not possible at DGC. The colour and whacky Seussian shapes are, of course, similar to the ones Greg designed before, as they are inspired by illustrations in Dr Seuss books.”
Featuring Charon Williams-Ros as musical director and Daisy Spencer as choreographer, the new production of Seussical marks the first time KickstArt has worked with an all-youth cast.
“Rainbow called for applications for directing the project and we applied, having seen several of the previous Young Performers’ musicals and really enjoyed them, and feeling that we could add something to the product.”
Stead has never directed a school production before, but has directed operas in London for music schools such as Guildhall, Birkbeck, Royal College of Music and Trinity College.
“They were also young students, but older, aged between 16 and 21. I have worked with large groups of children in our productions of The Wizard of Oz, Jungle Book and Peter Pan, but it has always been within the context of a professional production featuring children.
“This certainly is the biggest challenge I have met. I can’t at any moment sit back and let the actors just do their thing, chipping in when I feel the need. Here I am directing every gesture, every choice, every second. I get home shattered! But strangely satisfied.”
What surprises can audiences expect in Seussical?
“It is a joyous celebration of imagination that will delight people of all ages. Kids will respond to the colour and characters, while adults will be amused by the clever pastiche work and be moved by the simple, innocent big heart of the characters.”
The production has a series of classic Seuss stories woven into one show, so the plot is a bit crazy, but that is in keeping with the idiosyncrasies of Dr Seuss.
“It’s a tough show for the kids because it is very vocally demanding, and there aren’t very many of them in the show, which means they are all exposed, all the time, and they can’t drop the ball.”
Stead and King will no sooner be over Seussical when they launch themselves into their next musical – the eagerly awaited Cabaret, rehearsals for which start on July 11.
“I am so looking forward to it. The set is designed, model made, band put together, and costumes are being made already, so we are in a really good position, and the cast are super excited about it.”
Cabaret will have a cast of 16, plus an eight-member band.
“The biggest challenge here is paying salaries to such a big company, especially the band, as we usually use recorded music, but Cabaret demands a live, brassy, on-stage band that couldn’t possibly be tracked. Let’s just hope that the show sells out!”
KickstArt is spending about R500 000 on the show, which is less than was spent on the company’s recent hits, Robin Hood and Peter Pan, but more than what was shelled out for The Wizard of Oz and Little Shop of Horrors.
“The rights cost us R42 000, and the salary bill is R250 000. My mom always says its vulgar to talk about money, and I agree, but I really do feel our audiences need to be aware of the kind of costs shows incur, and see what their R100 or R120 per ticket is contributing towards.”
Cabaret, starring Lisa Bobbert in the role of singer Sally Bowles, who performs in the Kit Kat Club in pre-war Berlin, is scheduled to run from August 6 to 28 at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre.
