The Lorax | |
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Music | Charlie Fink |
Lyrics | Charlie Fink |
Book | David Greig |
Basis | The Lorax by Dr. Seuss |
Productions | 2015 London |
The Lorax is a stage adaptation of the children's novel of the same name by Dr. Seuss, with the Television Special And The 2012 Film Adaptation adapted by David Greig and featuring songs by Charlie Fink.
The play made its world premiere on 4 December 2015 at The Old Vic in London.
A stage adaptation of Dr. Seuss' The Lorax was scheduled for Christmas in 2015 as part of Matthew Warchus' first season as artistic director at The Old Vic. It was adapted by David Greig and directed by Max Webster. [1]
The production began on 4 December and finished on 16 January 2016. The production's creative team also consisted of Noah and the Whale frontman Charlie Fink writing music and lyrics, Drew McOnie as choreographer, Rob Howell as designer, John Clark as lighting designer, Tom Gibbons as sound designer, Phil Bateman as musical director/arranger and Nick Barnes and Finn Caldwell as puppetry designers. The cast included Simon Lipkin as the title role of 'The Lorax' (assisted by Laura Cubitt and Ben Thompson as puppeteers) and Simon Paisley Day as 'The Once-ler'. [2]
The production returned to The Old Vic for three weeks only from 15 October to 7 November 2017. [3]
The production was transferred to the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto, Canada for a Christmas run from December 9 to January 21, 2018. [4]
Following the Toronto run, the show was produced in partnership with The Old Vic and Children's Theatre Company in Minneapolis where it was performed from April 17 to June 10, 2018, [5] before transferring to the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego from July 3 to August 12. [6]
From 14 to 17 April 2021 an "inventively transformed ... semi-staged pint-size version" was streamed live from the Old Vic stage, during the UK's COVID-19 lockdown.
On a gray street at the end of town, there is a house where the Once-ler lives. Nearby there’s a broken statue of the Lorax with the word 'unless' engraved into it ("Life is Tough"). A kid wants to find out more about the Lorax. After being paid, the Once-ler who is now very old tells her a story, starting with his own childhood…
His family used to run a mill, but the Once-ler used to daydream about things he could invent instead. His family are poor and have to rent out the Once-ler's room to a lodger, so he decides to go and find his fortune elsewhere. While travelling, the Once-ler dreams that he'll become rich as long as he has just one good idea ("I Could Be a Great Man").
He arrives in Paradise Valley and is delighted by all the new things he sees there. He sets to work, but when he cuts down a truffula tree the Lorax appears. The Lorax speaks for the trees and is angry one has been cut down. The Once-ler explains it was to make a "thneed", which the Lorax thinks is useless ("It's a Thneed"). He shows the Once-ler the beauty of the valley, and how he doesn't need to create anything new, everything he needs to live is in abundance in the valley ("Everything You Need’s Right Here").
The Lorax leaves on his summer break after planting a new truffula tree seed. The Once-ler begins to see how silly his thneed idea is, until a businessman buys one. He throws himself into creating a new thneed business, and invites his family to join him and set up a thneed knitting factory. They are all very excited about becoming rich ("When We Get Rich").
The Lorax returns to find half the forest has been chopped down and confronts the Once-ler, arguing that the wildlife needs the trees to live as well. They agree that only trees in the area called "Once-ler Nook" will be cut down. Soon after, the factory runs out of trees. At first, the Once-ler says they must stop making thneeds, but his family and the people of the town pressure him into starting work again and cut down other trees in the valley ("Great Man").
They say he also made a promise to them that they'd be rich, and persuade the Once-ler that if he continues he'll become a powerful man. As a compromise, the Once-ler creates a nature reserve. The Lorax hates the idea and is upset about the pollution which is killing the animals, he just wants the forest to return to how it was before. Instead of stopping, the Once-ler creates a super axe hacker which cuts down trees even faster ("Super Axe Hacker").
Two factory workers are opening the factory, meanwhile the Lorax sneaks inside with the animals of the forest. They start a protest to save the trees, and a TV news crew turns up to report it. The Once-ler tries to impress Samelore the reporter with his machinery, but the Lorax exposes all the pollution the factory is creating and how it's affecting the wildlife ("We Are One").
The Once-ler starts to apologize to the viewers at home. Just as he agrees to shut the factory, he announces the new version of the thneed which makes it even more popular ("Thneed 2.0"). The Lorax sits alone on a stump and watches all the animals leave the area. The Once-ler treks up to visit him, to ask if they can still be friends. The Lorax says he's leaving because the forest has gone. He leaves the Once-ler with one word that he doesn't understand – "unless". At that moment, the last truffula tree is cut down.
The Once-ler's family pack up their things and leave along with the rest of the town ("When We Get Rich" (reprise)). The Once-ler is left on his own, the story ends. The kid who has been listening to the story says that it can't be the end – she wants to know what "unless" means. The old Once-ler has been thinking about it for years, but doesn't understand and can't think of a way to bring the Lorax back when there's no forest. The kid has an idea, they need to plant a new truffula tree. The Once-ler says it won't work without a Lorax, but the kid persuades him to let her try. She plants the seed, waters it and waits, and finally it begins to grow ("Take It Wherever You Go"). The Once-ler is thrilled, and the kid asks if the Lorax will come back now. They finally realise that a Lorax is just someone, anyone, who looks after trees. His last word meant that nothing will get better unless someone like the kid cares enough to protect them and keep planting ("Take It Wherever You Go" (reprise)).
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The production received rave reviews and was nominated for Best Entertainment and Family at the 2016 Laurence Olivier Awards. [8] [9] [10]
Theodor Seuss Geisel was an American children's author and cartoonist. He is known for his work writing and illustrating more than 60 books under the pen name Dr. Seuss. His work includes many of the most popular children's books of all time, selling over 600 million copies and being translated into more than 20 languages by the time of his death.
Seussical, sometimes Seussical the Musical, is a musical comedy by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, based on the many children's stories of Dr. Seuss, with most of its plot being based on Horton Hears a Who!, Gertrude McFuzz, and Horton Hatches the Egg while incorporating many other stories. The musical's name is a portmanteau of "Seuss" and the word "musical". Following its Broadway debut in 2000, the show was widely panned by critics, and closed in 2001 with huge financial losses. It has spawned two US national tours and a West End production, and has become a frequent production for schools and regional theaters.
The Old Vic is a 1,000-seat, not-for-profit producing theatre in Waterloo, London, England. It was established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, and renamed in 1833 the Royal Victoria Theatre. In 1871 it was rebuilt and reopened as the Royal Victoria Palace. It was taken over by Emma Cons in 1880 and formally named the Royal Victoria Hall, although by that time it was already known as the "Old Vic". In 1898, a niece of Cons, Lilian Baylis, assumed management and began a series of Shakespeare productions in 1914. The building was damaged in 1940 during air raids and it became a Grade II* listed building in 1951 after it reopened.
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The Royal Alexandra Theatre, commonly known as the Royal Alex, is an historic performing arts theatre in Toronto, Ontario. The theatre is located at 260 King Street West, in the downtown Toronto Entertainment District. Owned and operated by Mirvish Productions, the theatre has approximately 1,244 seats across three levels. Built in 1907, the Royal Alexandra Theatre is the oldest continuously operating legitimate theatre in North America.
The Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden is a sculpture garden at the Quadrangle in Springfield, Massachusetts, which honors Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, who was born in Springfield in 1904. The monument was designed by Lark Grey Dimond-Cates, the author's stepdaughter, and created by sculptor and artist Ron Henson.
The Grinch is a character created by children's author and cartoonist Dr. Seuss. He is best known as the main character of the 1957 children's book How the Grinch Stole Christmas! He has been portrayed and voiced by many actors, including Boris Karloff, Hans Conried, Bob Holt, Walter Matthau, Anthony Asbury, Jim Carrey, Rik Mayall, Benedict Cumberbatch, Matthew Morrison, David Howard Thornton, and James Austin Johnson.
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Robert John Holthaus, better known as Bob Holt, was an American actor, best known for his voice work.
The Lorax is a children's book written by Dr. Seuss and published in 1971. It chronicles the plight of the environment and the Lorax, the main character, who "speaks for the trees" and confronts the Once-ler, a business magnate who causes environmental destruction.
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Charlie Fink is an English songwriter, producer and filmmaker best known for fronting Noah and the Whale and for his work as a composer for theatre. He has been described as "one of Britain’s most daring and inventive songwriters" by the Sunday Times and "a theatre composer of the first rank" by the Evening Standard.
Mirvish Productions, commonly known as Mirvish, is a Canadian theatrical production company, based in Toronto. Founded in 1986 by David Mirvish with his father, Ed Mirvish, it is the largest commercial theatre company in Canada. Mirvish Productions own and operate four theatres in the downtown Toronto area: the Royal Alexandra Theatre, Princess of Wales Theatre, Ed Mirvish Theatre, and the CAA Theatre.
The Lorax is a musical Dr. Seuss animated short produced by DePatie–Freleng Enterprises which first aired as a television special on CBS in the United States on February 14, 1972, and in Canada on CBC Television on October 22, 1972. The special was written by Theodor Geisel, based on his 1971 book of the same name.
The Lorax is a 2012 American animated musical fantasy comedy film produced by Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment, and distributed by Universal. The film is the second screen adaptation of Dr. Seuss' 1971 children's book of the same name following the 1972 animated television special. Directed by Chris Renaud, co-directed by Kyle Balda, produced by Chris Meledandri and Janet Healy and written by the writing team of Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio, it stars the voices of Danny DeVito, Ed Helms, Zac Efron, Taylor Swift, Rob Riggle, Jenny Slate and Betty White.
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