Amayzing Gertrude Lyrics - Seussical

Song Overview

Review and Highlights

“Amayzing Gertrude” sits at the turning point of Seussical. It’s the moment the shy neighbor with one lonely tail feather makes a reckless bid to be seen. The number rockets forward on a bright Broadway two-step feel, with a wink of vaudeville patter from the Cat as Doctor Dake and a crisp pop sheen from the Ahrens-Flaherty toolbox. Janine LaManna’s Gertrude moves from itch-and-twitch comic business to a brief coloratura-lite shimmer, then lands on bravado - the self-remodel in real time.

Highlights

1. Comic engine: the Cat’s mock-Deutsch aside primes the gag, then the pill-berry cascade pays it off with quick rhythmic hooks.
2. Character in motion: Gertrude’s sound widens as the tail grows - orchestration flashes get brighter while the rhythm section stays perky and precise.
3. Theme in miniature: the whole show’s be-yourself lesson tucked inside a two-minute candy shell - sweet, then cautionary.

Creation History

Music by Stephen Flaherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens. The Original Broadway Cast album was released on Decca Broadway in early 2001, produced by Phil Ramone, with conducting by David Holcenberg and featured vocals by Janine LaManna (Gertrude) and David Shiner (the Cat as Doctor Dake). Recording and mix credits on the commercial issue also include Elliot Scheiner and mastering by Mark Wilder.

Song Meaning and Annotations

Plot

Gertrude, convinced a bigger tail will finally catch Horton’s eye, begs Doctor Dake for help. The Cat, playing Dake, brushes her off, then relents. One pill becomes several. Feathers sprout, colors pop, confidence swells. Over the groove, she starts believing her own spectacle - and misses the trap she’s stepping into.

Song Meaning

This is body-mod as Broadway parable. The number sketches the psychology of comparison - envy nudged by advertising logic. The verse quips, the tempo flatters, and suddenly the choice feels harmless. That’s the trick: the music makes the fixation sound reasonable until the last line’s “biggest tail of all” tips it into hubris. The show will make her pay for it later - and grow for real.

Annotations

The interaction between Gertrude and Dr Dake is taken directly from the book... Dake is also her uncle in the book. Here, he is actually the Cat.

This line is said in German because of the stereotype that many germans are doctors.

TRANSLATED: Please, here, with the Pill-berry bush!

Gertrude begins her pill addiction

...a high D6 note. So underrated for such an underrated Seuss character!!!

Style and rhythm

The song rides a brisk show-shuffle with patter-song DNA, kitted out with woodwind flutters for the feather gags and bright brass stabs whenever confidence spikes. Underneath, Ahrens and Flaherty keep Seuss’s anapestic bounce alive in the lyric - short-short-long triplets that click with the rhyme scheme.

Emotional arc

It starts anxious and comic, flips to dazzled self-adulation, and lands on a hungry chant for one more pill. The arc matters because the next big Gertrude scene has to unwind this rush, not the joke.

Touchpoints

Directly lifted from Dr. Seuss’s “Gertrude McFuzz,” where Uncle Doctor Dake points her to the pill-berry vine. The musical tweaks the messenger - the Cat puts on the white coat - but keeps the cautionary engine intact.

Language and images

The mock-German aside isn’t just a rimshot - it pops the fourth wall, winking at medical stereotypes while sending Gertrude down the rabbit hole. Feathers as status symbols are the central metaphor. Bigger tail, smaller self.

Key Facts

• Artist: Stephen Flaherty, David Shiner, Janine LaManna
• Composer: Stephen Flaherty
• Lyricist: Lynn Ahrens
• Producer: Phil Ramone
• Release Date: February 6, 2001
• Album: Seussical (Original Broadway Cast Recording) [2001]
• Label: Decca Broadway/Universal Classics Group
• Genre: Musical theatre, pop-Broadway
• Language: English with brief German aside
• Length: ~2:10
• Track #: 13 on the OBC
• Instruments: Show pit orchestra - reeds, brass, rhythm section, keys, percussion
• Music style: up-tempo shuffle with patter interjections
• Poetic meter: lyric leans on Seuss’s anapestic tetrameter feel
• © Copyrights: © 2001 Universal Classics Group/Decca Broadway; underlying Dr. Seuss text © respective rights holders

Questions and Answers

When did Stephen Flaherty release “Amayzing Gertrude”?

It appeared on the Seussical Original Broadway Cast album released February 6, 2001.

Who wrote “Amayzing Gertrude” by Stephen Flaherty?

Music by Stephen Flaherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens.

Why does Doctor Dake speak in German here?

It’s a quick comic riff - the Cat plays Dake and tosses in mock-German, nodding to a pop stereotype of doctors while breaking the fourth wall.

Is the scene faithful to Dr. Seuss?

Yes - in the book, Uncle Doctor Dake sends Gertrude to the pill-berry vine. The show keeps the plot but has the Cat play the doctor.

Does the revised/Youth versions keep the number?

Seussical TYA compacts the mid-show material, but Gertrude’s tail-growth beat is retained in the song stack used for schools and tours.

Awards and Chart Positions

No commercial single release or notable chart entry is tied to “Amayzing Gertrude” itself. The parent production Seussical earned a Tony Award nomination for Kevin Chamberlin (Best Actor in a Musical, 2001) and scored three Drama Desk nominations, including Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical for Janine LaManna and Outstanding Music for Stephen Flaherty.

How to Sing “Amayzing Gertrude”

Range & tessitura: typical published casting places Gertrude around F3–F5, sitting mid-to-upper mezzo/soprano. Some productions opt up final tags, but the licensed materials don’t require whistle-top heroics.

Breath & pacing: the verse-patter needs easy airflow and crisp consonants; treat the “one more pill” build as a measured crescendo, not a shout. Let the vowels blossom as the feathers “grow” - it sells the gag and saves the intonation.

Color & placement: start bright-nasal for the anxious Gertrude, then open forward as confidence inflates. Keep the lilt - those Seuss triplets like a buoyant, spoken-sung edge.

Acting beats: itch - surprise - delight - greed. Mark each with a micro-shift in body and vowel shape. It reads even from the mezzanine.

Additional Info

Source lineage: the lyric moment paraphrases Dr. Seuss’s “Gertrude McFuzz” from Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories, where Uncle Doctor Dake sends her to a pill-berry vine. The musical hands the white coat to the Cat for theatrical speed and comedy.

Cast-album context: the 2001 OBC release sits in the show’s Act I run of Gertrude material, between “Amayzing Mayzie” and the Wickersham chase. A later revision for Theatreworks/USA was separately recorded and released, preserving most of the Broadway song stack in a tighter frame for touring and schools.