Kara Blogs: The Whimsical World of Seuss - An Interview with Chelsea Wellott

BACT Blogger Kara got the chance to interview actor Chelsea Wellott recently and learned what goes into creating the whimsical world of Seuss -- particularly when it includes playing multiple musical instruments!

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I have watched many BACT plays but this has to be one of my top favorites. The plays main storyline was a mix between Horton Hears a Who and Horton Hatches an Egg. My favorite part of the play was when Horton’s dotted egg hatched! There were many characters in the play but the character I liked the most was smart, inventive JoJo. JoJo is a little Who that has big ideas which some in Whoville don’t agree with. I like him because he has a big imagination and so do I.

Actor Chelsea Wellott as Mrs. Mayor. Photo by Jay Yamada.

After watching the show, I got to interview JoJo’s mom, the Mayor of Whoville’s wife. The person who plays JoJo’s mom is Chelsea Wellott. Chelsea Wellott is making her third debut in BACT plays. She was in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Bad Kitty (I saw both of those too!). This is her first time playing an instrument in a show. She plays the guitar and the Ukulele. Amazingly, she only learned the Ukulele a week before trying out for the show. 

Besides playing an instrument, her favorite thing about her part was using a character voice. As an actor, she has always enjoyed using different voices. The hardest part for her was memorizing all the music and then learning to sing and act on stage while playing the music. Her favorite scene to act in was with her husband, the Mayor and her son, JoJo. Part of the scene was about her and Mr. Mayor talking to JoJo about his grades because they were low, so they were telling him he should stop imagining things. I liked that scene because the characters emotions came out well. This made it a good scene. 

Her favorite scene to watch is the song Alone in the Universe masterfully sung by JoJo and Horton. Her favorite Dr. Seuss book is Oh the Thinks You Can Think and mine is Oh the Places You’ll Go! Her advice for future actors is, “Don’t be afraid to look silly because everyone gets nervous,” and “Have fun and know that your fellow actors are there to support you.” I enjoyed interviewing Chelsea Wellott because she played the Ukulele and I would like to do that too! Finally, one of the morals of this play is, don’t be afraid to be creative and let your imagination run wild like Seuss.

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Seussical TYA continues its run thru December 11 in San Ramon & San Francisco. Get your tickets today!

Julietta Blogs: The Many Stories of Seussical!

The colorful cast of Seussical TYA!

BACT Blogger Julietta shares her thoughts on the many stories that go into Seussical TYA

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Just recently I got to go to the Seussical play. The Seussical is about Dr Seuss books. I was excited when I found that I was blogging for the Seussical because I really like Dr Seuss books. I really liked the fact that there were many Dr Seuss books in the play instead of just one. In the play, there was live music, which was really cool to see the actors playing musical instruments as well as playing their character. It was super fun going to the play, and I can't wait to see another BACT play!

For my blog assignment, it was a little different then usual. I had to try and name as many Dr Seuss books as I could that were featured in the play. There was so many books in the play that I hope I caught all of them. 

So these are the ones I could catch: 

The Cat in the Hat

Horton hears a Who

McElligotts pool

Gertrude Mcfuzz

Did I ever tell you how lucky you are?

Green eggs and Ham

And Horton hatches the egg

I thought it was cool how they made all these books go together in a play, while Horton hears a who was the main story that all the other stories went off of.

My favorite book in the play was probably Gertrude Mcfuzz, but it was really hard choosing a favorite because I really liked all of the play. I liked this book best because of the costumes and because it was really funny.

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Seussical runs in downtown Berkeley at Freight & Salvage through November 6 before heading to San Ramon & San Francisco. Get your tickets today!