Seussical Review-- Kalamazoo, Michigan

The kids you should bring 'cause 'Seussical' sings

Friday, May 2, 2003

BY ELIZABETH CLARK SPECIAL TO THE GAZETTE

Truth be told, a Cat in a Hat

On paper, in 2-D, is terribly flat.

So composers composed such crazy high jinks And had such marvelous, mischievous thinks

As to take Whos and McGurkuses off of a page

And put them right up on the musical stage.

The madness hit Miller the first time on Thursday And each kid thought it was his day or her day

When gymnast Olympian Cathy Rigby did don

The silliest, Seussical hat ever put on.

The settings were magical.

My favorite highlight: The starry skies looked like one great big Lite Brite.

Right off of the pages jumped Jungle of Nool,

It was bigger than big and cooler than cool.

Right from the get-go, the big crowd was dared:

Prepare to get spooked, to be "scareder than scared."

For in that fun forest dwelled Wickersham monkeys,

A nay-saying Kangaroo and all of her flunkies.

When an elephant named Horton heard "who" in a fluff

They kicked him out of the jungle, out on his duff.

That's when the stories began mixing and matching,

But smart storytelling kept folks from head-scratching.

A kid said: "I haven't heard this, something has changed."

Good "thinks" friend. It's true: 'Twas all rearranged.

There were Grinches and Yertles and Genghis Kahn Schmitz

Like stars on thars or cats on hats: It all just fits.

And when JoJo and Rigby sprung into the sky

Imaginations went wild and started to fly.

Then the fantastical circus zoomed into town

With two-headed men and men upside-down.

And an elephant on an egg without any Whos

Was the latest attraction the circus did choose.

Our pal was in peril, and his Whos and his egg.

To JoJo, the smallest Who, Horton did beg.

Make them hear you, he said, and Jo mustered a Poof,

And then the finale raised everyone's roof.

The only kerfoffle was Horton's humanly dress, In Abercrombie and Gap that guy was a mess.

The rest of the lot sparkled with feathers and glitzes

Like a 3-D book come to life with its Whoses and its Schmitzes.

There was humor for adults. And for kids: silly string.

All in all, a Who-sical, do-sical do of a thing.

The crowd sprung to its feet in blissful ovation. I can't rhyme any more.

"To Who with it." I'm taking vacation.