Seussical

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Original Broadway production
Seussical the Musical
Window card for the production
Music	Stephen Flaherty
Lyrics	Lynn Ahrens
Book	Lynn Ahrens Stephen Flaherty
Theatre	Richard Rodgers Theatre
Opened	November 30, 2000
Closed	May 20, 2001
Producer(s)	SFX Theatrical GroupBarry Weissler Fran Weissler Universal Studios
Director	Rob Marshall (uncredited)
Choreographer	Kathleen Marshall
Scenic designer	Eugene Lee
Costume designer	William Ivey Long
Lighting designer	Natasha Katz
Originally starring	David Shiner Kevin Chamberlin
IBDB profile

Seussical is a musical based on the books of Dr. Seuss that debuted on Broadway in 2000. The play's story is a rather complex amalgamation of many of Seuss' most famous books.

The overarching plot of the show mirrors that of Horton Hears a Who!, centering on Horton the elephant's endeavors to protect the people of Who-ville, who live on a tiny speck of dust. It also features characters and scenarios from many other Seuss books, including the Butter Side Uppers / Downers from The Butter Battle Book, Gertrude McFuzz from Gertrude McFuzz, and some characters that never made an appearance in any of Dr. Seuss's books. The Cat in the Hat, an outside observer, acts as narrator and devil's advocate throughout the show, briefly leaping into the action on several occasions to create conflict and keep the story moving. The original cast included David Shiner as the Cat in the Hat, Kevin Chamberlin as Horton, Janine La Manna as Gertrude, Michelle Pawk as Mayzie and Sharon Wilkins as the Sour Kangaroo. Throughout the run, there were many celebrity Cat in the Hats replacements, including Rosie O'Donnell and Cathy Rigby.

In all, the following Seuss books have some characters and/or settings are incorporated into the show:

The original production was not very successful and closed after 34 previews and 198 performances[1]. It has since experienced success in regional and children's theater companies across the country.

[edit] Story

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The story begins with a bare stage, save for an odd red-and-white striped hat. A small boy discovers it and imagines what it could belong to, finally conjuring up the Cat in the Hat. The Cat creates the Seussian world around him and the boy (Oh, the Thinks You Can Think!), and he acts as the narrator for the remainder of the musical, as well as playing some of the minor roles. At the Cat's encouragement, the boy thinks up the Jungle of Nool, where Horton the Elephant is bathing.

Horton hears a strange noise coming from a speck of dust, and decides there must be someone on it. He rescues the speck and places it on a clover (Horton Hears a Who) and decides to guard it. Lead by the at-first-villain Sour Kangaroo, the other animals in the jungle mock him mercilessly, except for Gertude McFuzz, Horton's next door neighbor, who admires his compassion and begins to fall in love with him (Biggest Blame Fool). Horton soon discovers the dust speck is in fact a planet covered with microscopic people called Whos. They introduce themselves and their community (such as their yearly Christmas pageant based on How the Grinch Stole Christmas) and explain their predicament. In addition to being unable to control where their dust speck flies, they are on the brink of war and all of their beautiful Truffula Trees (from The Lorax) have been cut down (Here on Who). Horton's resolve to guard the dust speck is strengthened.

At this point, the Cat in the Hat abruptly pushes the boy from the beginning into the story; he becomes Jojo, the son of the Mayor of Whoville. No sooner does he enter than he is roughly scolded by his parents: he has inadvertently been causing trouble at school by thinking (or rather, having Thinks), disrupting the class and horrifying the teachers. Jojo is sent to "take [a] bath and go to bed/And think some normal Thinks instead," but the Cat soon persuades him to "have a think in the tub." Jojo imagines the tub is McElligot's Pool (It's Possible), distracting himself and accidentally flooding the Mayor's living room. The Mayor and his wife wonder what they should do about their son (How To Raise a Child). After receiving a brochure from the Cat, they decide to send him to military school, under the supervision and persuasion of General Ghengis Khan Shmitz (A character in I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew), who is preparing to go to war with those who eat their bread butter side down (as in The Butter Battle Book) (The Military).

Meanwhile, Horton has been guarding the clover for "over a week", getting ridiculed by the Citizens of the Jungle. He then thinks about how no matter what others may say or do, he still has his dreams for adventure and a friend. He decides to chat with the Whos, and Jojo responds. They chat and discover they have found a friend in one another (Alone in the Universe). Jojo goes to sleep, only to be woken up by the Cat in the Hat. The Cat asks him what should happen next, and Jojo decides to focus on Getrude. Her feelings for Horton are stronger than ever, but she fears he doesn't notice her because her tail consists only of "one droopy-droop feather" (The One Feather Tail of Miss Gertrude McFuzz). At the advice of Mayzie La Bird, whose tail is enormous and dazzling, Gertrude, goes to Doctor Dake by the Lake (played by the Cat), who prescribes her pills to make her tail grow (Amayzing Mayzie/Amayzing Gertrude). Gertrude is so excited by the dramatic and immediate results of the pills that she overdoses.

Horton is ambushed by a group of ne'er-do-well monkeys called the Wickersham Brothers (Monkey Around) who steal the clover and run off with it. Horton gives chase, until the monkeys give the clover to a black-bottomed eagle named Vlad Vladikoff. Horton continues to chase the clover, until Vlad drops it into a large patch of identical clovers, 'one hundred miles wide' (Chasing the Whos). The Cat in the Hat abruptly freezes the action and delivers an ironically cheery tune to the audience (How Lucky You Are). Horton begins to look for the clover, hoping that the Whos are still alive, when Gertrude, who has followed Horton all this distance, catches up with him. Her tail is now gorgeous, if impractically large. She tries to catch his attention, but he is too busy looking for the Whos to notice her (Notice Me, Horton). She retreats to take more pills while he continues searching. After searching 2,999,999 clovers, Horton loses hope, and he sees Mayzie La Bird high in a nest. Apparently, she was in Fort Worth, when she met a Night Owl named Tweet McFirth. After 'three weeks of bliss', Tweet left her with an egg. Mayzie then persuades Horton to give up on the search for the Whos and sit on her egg while she goes off for a vacation. Horton reluctantly agrees, and Mayzie flies off (How Lucky You Are (Mayzie's Reprise)). Horton waits on the egg for months, until finally he is captured by hunters. Gertrude makes an attempt to go after Horton, but the size and weight of her new tail prevents her from flying. The Cat in the Hat, backed by the full company, sings Horton Sits On The Egg to finish off Act I.

At the top of Act II, Horton is transported to New York City and auctioned off to a man from the circus (If I Ran the Circus) (Egg, Nest, and Tree). After going on the road and 'sitting on the egg for 51 weeks, sitting here while people have paid to take peeks', Horton meets up with Mayzie again, and tries to give the egg back to her. She selfishly insists that he keep it as a rather dubious gift, wishes him a sarcastic good luck when it hatches, and leaves. Horton, betrayed and alone, sorrowfully remembers how no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't save the Whos or poor Jojo. Realizing that the egg also is alone without its mother, and he is the only one who can help it. With a brave determination, declares that he'll do better than try, and protect the little egg with everything he has (Alone in the Universe (Reprise)). Then he sings the egg a lullaby about a magical world called Solla Sollew. At the same time, Jojo, the Mayor, and the Mayor's Wife, lost in the clover field, reflect on recent events, wishing they could all be in Solla Sollew as well (Solla Sollew).

The Battle of Butter finally commences. Jojo rebels against General Shmitz and abandons the army. He hands in his sword and hat and unwittingly runs out onto a minefield, vanishing in an explosion. The General assumes that Jojo died in the explosion, and heads back to Whoville to deliver the sad news to his family. The Cat reveals to the audience that Jojo did, in fact, survive, but Jojo quickly discovers that he's lost, and doesn't know where to turn. After being confronted by the Cat and the Hunches (Hunches in Bunches), Jojo finds his way home by the power of his Thinks (Havin' a Hunch).

Meanwhile, Gertrude sneaks into the circus where Horton is kept at night and frees him. She explains the troubles she went through to reach him, including getting all but one of her tail feathers plucked out to allow her to fly, and finally confesses her love for him (All For You). What's more, she found Horton's clover, as well! Horton is delighted to find the Whos alive and well, but the happy ending has not arrived yet: the evil Sour Kangaroo suddenly appears and with the Wickersham Brothers, kidnaps Horton. Horton is dragged back to the Jungle of Nool and put on trial for "talking to a speck, disturbing the peace, and loitering...on an egg." The Cat plays the bailiff, and Judge Yertle the Turtle presides over the case. Gertrude and Horton make a stand at the case, but the verdict is obvious from the beginning: Horton is remanded to the "Nool Asylum for the Criminally Insane," and the clover is to be boiled in a kettle of beezlenut oil. Horton, aghast, encourages the Whos to make as much noise as they can, to prove they exist. Their efforts initially seem futile, until Jojo comes up with a new word, "YOPP," his shouting of which reverberates throughout the world and finally makes the Whos heard (The People Versus Horton the Elephant). The court acquits Horton, and the Sour Kangaroo ends her wicked ways and decides to do her part in protecting the clover. On Who, Jojo is celebrated for his achievement, to be honored as Thinker Non-Stop.

Suddenly, the egg hatches: to the everyone's surprise, a tiny flying Elephant-Bird comes out. Horton panics, realizing he can't handle flying progeny, and asks Gertrude what he should do. She responds, "I have wings, yes I can fly...you teach him earth, and I will teach him sky." They agree to raise the child together. The Cat in the Hat appears one final time to sum things up (Oh, the Thinks You Can Think! (Reprise)). The scene dissolves, leaving only Jojo, now just a boy again, and the strange hat from the top of show. He walks up to the hat, and pulls it over his head. Blackout.

The curtain call is accompanied by a final number set to a verse of Green Eggs and Ham.

[edit] Theatre for Young Audiences Version

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Music Theatre International, who owns the licensing rights to Seussical, also produces a one-act version of the show for younger children. This version includes the following significant changes:

In most musical productions, Thing 1 and Thing 2 are added as "sidekicks" to the cat and have a fairly large part.
The entire military subplot has been removed. As a result, the character of General Genghis Khan Schmitz, several scenes, and two complete numbers ("The Military", "Havin' A Hunch") are gone without a trace.
Since "How to Raise A Child" no longer segues into "The Military", it has been inserted into the scene preceding "It's Possible", rather than immediately following that number.
The song "How Lucky You Are" and many of its reprises are gone (although Mayzie's two reprises of the song remain).
Several Seuss-inspired sequences that had little bearing on the actual plot, like the Grinch's Christmas pageant and the Circus McGurkus parade, have been cut.
Several of the longer numbers ("Here On Who", "Solla Sollew", "All For You") are significantly cut down.

Original Broadway Cast:

David Shiner-- The Cat in the Hat

Kevin Chamberlin -- Horton the Elephant

Janine LaManna -- Gertrude McFuzz

Anthony Blair Hall -- JoJo

Stuart Zagnit -- Mayor of Whoville

Alice Playten -- Mrs. Mayor

Michele Pawk -- Mayzie Bird

Erick Devine -- General Ghengis Khan Schmitz

Sharon Wilkins -- The Sour Kangaroo

David Engel, Eric Jordan Young, Tom Plotkin-- The Wickersham Brothers

William Ryall-- The Grinch

Natascia A. Diaz, Sara Gettlefinger, Catrice Joseph-- Bird Girls

Devin Richards-- Judge Yertle the Turtle

Ann Harada-- Marshal of the Court

Darren Lee-- Vlad Vladikoff

Bryan Batt-- Standby for the Cat

Additonal ensemble: Mary Ann Lamb, Joyce Chittick, Jennifer Cody, Justin Greer, Jerome Vivona, Casey Nicholaw, Shaun Amyot, Jenny Hill, Michelle Kittrel, David Lowenstein. Eddie Korbich, Monique Midgette

                Wilton Children Theater and some Broadway

        The Cat in the Hat         Will Jankowksi(a.e.r.b.)
         Horton the Elephant            Jack Jankowski
         Gertrude McFuzz                Amanda
         Mayzie La Bird                 Taylor Elmesry
         Jojo                            Sarah   
         General Schmitz                Jack Bender
         Mr. Mayor                      Charlie Jankowski
         Mrs. Mayor                     Paulina Schaeffer
         The Sour Kangaroo              Juliana
         JoJo at certain performances   Andrew Keenan-Bolger
         Marshall                       Ann Harada
         Vlad Vladikoff                 Peter McDowel 
         JoJo's Teacher                 Monique Midgette
         JoJo's Principal               Casey Nicholaw
         Judge Yertle                   Devin Richards
         Grinch                         William Ryall
         Cat's Helper                   Emilie Ricco
         Cat's Helper                   Jackie Cooke 
         Cat's Helper                   Haley Niclosis
         Cat's Helper                   Ashley Baskom
         Cat's Helper                   Paige Wallce
         Bird Girl                      Amanda Diamond
         Bird Girl                      Lily Spitz
         Bird Girl                      Becky Williams
        Bird Girl                      Sylvia Cunningham 
         Wickersham Brother             Alex Bendix
         Wickersham Brother             Alex Ward
         Wickersham Brother             Steven 
         Mayor of Whoville              Charlie Jankowski

           Understudies/Swings              
         Swing                          Shaun Amyot
         Swing                          Jenny Hill
         Swing                          Michelle Kittrell
        Swing                           David Lowenstein
         Standby for The Cat in the Hat         Bryan Batt
         The Cat in the Hat             Will Jankowksi
         Horton the Elephant            Jack Jankowski
         Mayzie La Bird                 Taylor Elmesry
         Gertrude McFuzz/Bird Girls/Cat's Helpers/Teacher               Jenny Hill
         Sour Kangaroo                  Juliana
         Kid  Kangaroo                  Conor jr.
         Mayor                          Charlie Jankowski
        Mrs. Mayor                      Paulina Schaeffer
         General Schmitz                Tanner
         Bird Girls/Cat's Helpers       Michelle Kittrell
         Vlad Vladikoff/Wickersham Brothers/Cat's Helpers               Shaun Amyot
         Wickersham Brothers/Cat's Helpers/Grinch/Judge Yertle           David Lowenstein