We started working on Suessical back in August of 2020 in the middle of a world wide pandemic when most of us were barely emerging from hard core quarantining. We were all full of worry and precautions which meant temp checks, hand sanitizer and face shields but it was refreshing and brought light, music and friends back into our lives. That’s when Riley immediately started watching every version possible on YouTube a million times! I love that girls commitment!
Both girls were initially put into cast A of two casts. Keagan was thrilled to be cast as Jojo which is one of the leads. Riley was the cutest Who ever and later made into the most darling elephant bird. I was the Stage Manager and happy to be a part of the show. We worked hard together with such a great group of kids every Tuesday and when you do that you get close. In November we were a day and a half into crazy tech week when Covid broke out amongst another DPAC cast and we had to shut down and postpone it all. We were all pretty heart broken to be initially pushed back 2 weeks but then as more (including us) got sick we pushed back even more.
Once January rolled around we were able to actually put on a show we had worked so hard on! To make it even better, it was the first time our little family had done a show in this new DPAC theater that we helped create. We had another crazy tech week even doing one rehearsal by lantern light because the power was out. We won’t ever forget that one! But once the show went on, it was pretty much everything we had hoped for! It really was a fantastic show full of bright sets, costumes, music and characters! Keagan had two amazing duets that she did SO well on and that I really loved! And Riley hatching out of the egg Horton had been sitting on at the end of the show and joining her little family brought lots more people then just me to tears!
The girls were supported by Kellie, Justin and Addie who we were lucky enough to have in town! Mrs Roxanne, Riley’s choir teacher Mrs Amandola and Dave and Kelly Peterson also come to support them and see the show! Covid has brought some good things and one of those was the opportunity to buy zoom tickets for the show! Sa and Todd, the girls dad and Auntie Cat all watched over zoom and there was even a big watch party with Uncle Brandon, Ty, Grandma Debbie, Auntie Kim, Auntie Mona and Jacquie that happened in Hawaii! Uncle Brandon even sent the girls the most beautiful sunflowers! Man do we wish Nana could have been there instead of still in the hospital recovering but the girls still felt so loved and supported thru all of this! And that’s in addition to the strong bonds they created among their cast! So how could this not be something to buoy us all up in such unprecedented times?
After 4 fun and amazing shows with Cast A, Mrs Shea invited Keags and Rys to perform the following weekend with Cast B since they were going to be at the tech week rehearsals with me anyway. Riley was thrilled to be a Who again and didn’t put up a fight like I thought she would that it was no longer her turn to be the elephant bird. And Keagan was Thing 1 and helped a ton while having some serious fun backstage as well!
Suessical the Musical will forever hold so many cherished memories for the Kikuchi girls! Especially ones of the things learned, the relationships built and those that were strengthened! It was an incredible show and we are just as excited for the next one! High School Musical let’s go!!!
