the show that never dies

Whenever I think of my husband as an actor, I usually visualize him in one show: Seussical the Musical.

Every year the university puts on about 6-7 shows. Usually, one of these shows is a children oriented show. In the fall of 2010 they put on Seussical the Musical: Theatre for Young Audiences.

My husband was one of the lead roles - the Cat in the Hat. Anyone who knows my husband knows that he was born to play this part. The Cat in the Hat fits him like a glove. He's a kid at heart and loves to mess around. All he had to do was be himself....with a little over exaggeration....and he was the Cat in the Hat.

Seussical the Musical: Theatre for Young Audiences is just that....it's for younger audiences. It's shorter than the original Broadway version...minus a few songs and characters...to appeal more towards children. As such, the university made sure to advertise to the families of our city. They had ads on the radio, passed out fliers, and posted signs all over. My husband, along with a few other cast members, went to a few different elementary schools to perform a song or two. My husband also went to 2 different book stores to read Dr. Seuss books to children. And before one of the Saturday performances, the university held a carnival with games, prizes, and a magician.

Now normally the university's shows only last for 7 night performances. However, with the anticipation of crowds and children, they added a matinee on a Saturday. But once the show opened, it sold out almost every single night....so they added another matinee to the next Saturday....making 9 shows total. I saw the show 4 of the 9 times....and it's one of my favorite shows ever!

My husband was fantastic! He got great compliments....one from Mr. Michael Ballam saying that my husband was the best Cat in the Hat he had ever seen. All the children loved him. Some would say he stole the show....which he did, but that's also just the nature of his character. The other characters were just as incredible....everyone from Horton, to Mayzie, to the Whos, to the Sour Kangaroo. The show was a huge success!

But that wasn't the end of it. After the show ended, the cast had another elementary school to visit. And the following January, the college had a Grand Gala where the Dean asked Seussical to perform a number. Performances stopped there but Seussical will never die. It will always be a favorite of ours.

*If you want to see for yourself just how incredible this show was (or watch it again for those of you who went), my husband has posted a recording of a performance on YouTube. Type in "seussical the musical usu" and it's the ones it all caps - "SEUSSCIAL" part 1, part 2, part 3, etc. Enjoy!