Seussical - Theatre Young Audiences

Seussical - Theatre Young Audiences is a family musical built from the stories of Dr. Seuss. 92NY presents it in its series for young audiences, and it plays on weekends only, in a short run of mostly afternoon performances.

The music is by Stephen Flaherty and the lyrics are by Lynn Ahrens, who also share the book. Eric Idle is credited with them as a co-conceiver. Horton the Elephant and the Cat in the Hat lead a crowd of other Seuss characters, and the plot leans mainly on the Horton stories and Gertrude McFuzz.

This staging is a revival, and Music Theatre International handles the licensing. The musical first reached Broadway in 2000.

The Cat in the Hat acts as host and guide, pulling the audience into a tangle of Seuss tales. The main thread follows Horton, who lives in the Jungle of Nool and hears a faint voice that seems to come from a dust speck. He vows to keep its owners safe. The other jungle animals think he is foolish, and the protective Sour Kangaroo is among the doubters.

The speck turns out to hold Who-ville, home of JoJo, a boy whose big imagination keeps getting him into trouble. Nearby, Gertrude McFuzz, a shy bird with a single tail feather, hopes Horton will notice her, while the self-absorbed Mayzie LaBird has an egg she would rather not look after.

Andrea Martin was the Cat in a 2000 workshop in Toronto. The Boston tryout, in September 2000, was at the Colonial Theatre. The Broadway opening followed on November 30, 2000, at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, and the run ended May 20, 2001, at 198 performances.

The script was revised for the first US national tour, which ran from September 2002 to June 2003, and that revision is the basis of the version Music Theatre International licenses. TheatreWorks USA staged a 90-minute version at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, opening in July 2007, and a London run began at the Arts Theatre on December 4, 2012. A Theatre for Young Audiences edition from 2004 cut the cast to 12 actors and centers on Horton.