Broadway's "Seussical The Musical" Comes To San Marcos

It's easy to see why the show is so loved.  It's fun, first of all, entirely sung through, as songs in a medley of styles from Latin to pop, swing to gospel, and R&B to funk tell the story. It brings to life all of Dr. Seuss's best characters, from Horton the
Elephant to Cat in the Hat to Thing One and Thing Two. It's colorful, with brilliant yellow Who's and flashy, feathered Bird Girls.  And it carries powerful messages of the value of helping a friend, keeping a promise, and encouraging imagination.  In "Seussical the Musical", Horton the Elephant commits to two covenants - to protect a tiny village of Who's on a dust speck from an angry mob of jungle creatures, and to hatch a lazy bird's incubating egg. But amazingly, when  "Seussical the Musical" opened on Broadway seven years ago, it was assailed by theater critics eager to denounce it, much as the jungle
animals of "Seussical" attempt to "boil in oil" Horton the Elephant's dust speck village of Whos. The show closed in six months.

Tony Award winning writers Lynn Flaherty and Stephen Ahrens kept their covenant.  They reworked the show. Like Miss Gertrude McFuzz in "Seussical" and her one-feathered tail, "they curled it, they dyed it, they gave it a puff" and suddenly they had a musical "that was something to see." Licensing agent Musical Theater International secured the rights to the show,
the national touring company "Theatre Works" picked it up, and "Seussical" found its audience of families and teens. It has been charming audiences and selling out shows ever since, and is the third most popular musical available from Musical Theater International.

CYT's huge cast of 75 talented 8 -to-18-year-olds includes Michael Sanchez, age 16 of San Diego as the piano-playing Cat in the Hat; Emmanuel Young, nearly 15, of Escondido as Horton the Elephant; 17-year-old Kaitlyn Terrill of Rancho Bernardo as Gertrude McFuzz; and 17-year-old Mia Bella Josimovic (pronounced "Yosimovich") as Mayzie la Bird, in her first CYT show after 26 musicals with other theaters.  Tyler Ulrich, age 12, plays Jo jo, and his parents Mr. and Mrs.
Mayor are played by Jonathan White, age 15, and Jolene Grubbs, age 17. (Jolene just finished filming a featured extra role in a "Hannah Montana" TV episode this summer). Other featured roles belong to 14-year-old Carlsbad resident Paige Santangelo as the Sour Kangaroo and 12-year-old Savannah Montgomery, also of Carlsbad, as her young Kangaroo.  There are several featured ensembles, including a three-part harmony trio of  "Bird Girls" ("Dreamgirls" Seussical style)  - Emily Potashnick age 12 of Escondido, Heather Banks age 13 of Rancho Penasquitos and Sandy Shyu age 14 of 4 S Ranch; and the mischievous comedy team of Wickersham Brothers, played by Chase Fischer, 12 of Poway, Toffer Williams, 15, and Ian Schroeder, 16, both of San Diego.

Show times are Friday and Saturday nights October 26, 27, November 2 and 3 at 7 pm, Sunday matinees October 28 and November 4 at 2:30 pm and Saturday October 27 at 2 pm. Tickets are for reserved seats in the intimate and state-of-the-art 400-seat Mission Hills High Theater and range in price from $8 to $12.  Call 800-696-1929 or visit www.cyt.org to purchase tickets or for more information.

CYT (Christian Youth Theater) is a non-profit 501 (c) 3 educational corporation and the largest youth theater in the nation.  Founded in 1981 by Dr. Paul Russell, it has grown to nine locations in the county that produce 21 fully-staged musicals every year, with over two dozen more branches nationwide. 

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