My sister-in-law and I took the kids to see Seussical the Musical last night at the Byham Theater, courtesy of Pittsburgh Musical Theater. It was a GREAT performance for adults and kids alike! When you have young kids, you REALLY are immersed in all things Dr. Seuss—besides the books, there’s TV shows old (Grinch, anyone?) and new (The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That), movies, and Dr. Seuss’ birthday is celebrated in many schools. We even have a couple of Dr. Seuss audiobooks that I’ve been playing in the car since my son was a baby, so it would be safe to say that I KNOW my Dr. Seuss. But, I’ve never seen Seussical, which has become a favorite for high schools and professional productions. This show is a real treat for all ages!
Seussical the Musical is best described as several Dr. Seuss books wrapped into an overall Horton theme with Horton Hears a Who! and Horton Hatches the Egg as the main stories. Lots of other books are woven in or mentioned, like The Butter Battle Book, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are?, The Lorax, and The Cat in the Hat. The songs were catchy and the cast, including all of the leads, had strong singing voices. Maria Mauti, as Sour Kangaroo, in particular, belted out her songs while making fun of Horton for being different, and she was so deliciously unpleasant that my 5-year-old immediately pegged her as a villain. (There’s a great interview with Maria discussing Seussical after this review.)
Part of what’s so interesting about this show is how the production pulls off the many, many characters from the books and the oddities that make them so beloved by so many—the hair, the clothes, the . . . multi-limbed animal-things that are familiar to Dr. Seuss fans. The costumes were colorful, fun and had some unexpected touches that made them fit right in with this production.
Both Horton (played by Christian Delacroix) and his love interest, Yertle the Turtle’s Gertrude the bird (played by Eimly Lynne Miller) made very appealing leads. Miller has a wonderful voice and was so funny and sweet that I wished there was a musical made just for her.
The part of the Cat in the Hat was played by Tim Hartman, who was fantastic and funny! What a truly talented individual he is—I realized halfway through the show that he performed at an assembly for the first graders at my son’s school last week. He’s an actor, storyteller, puppeteer, voice-over artist, illustrator, and he’s also one of the editorial cartoonists for the Beaver County Times! A true renaissance man, he really had the audience eating out of the palm of his hand.
Souvenir Alert: The souvenirs sold at this show for the kids are inexpensive, and if your child’s school celebrates Dr. Seuss’ birthday every March, you may want to stock up on some items, like Dr. Seuss hats, for next year—they’re only $5!
This show is a Pittsburgh Musical Theater production, in association with Robert Morris University. Many of the cast are students or graduates of Robert Morris University, and it was so exciting for me to watch them perform on a stage in the Cultural District. Back in the 90s, I was involved in many of Robert Morris’ theater productions and worked at several of the theaters on the RMC campus. Knowing that the theater program has grown this much and has so much student involvement was gratifying.
Show information:
Remaining Show times:
April 1, 7:30 p.m.
April 2, 7:30 p.m.
April 3, 2 p.m.
Ticket information:
For Single Tickets call: 412-456-6666
Group Sales call: 412 471-6930
Ticket Prices: $12.00 - $44.75
Children and Students any age: ½ price any seat, anytime.
You can buy your tickets online here.
Directed by Colleen Petrucci and Ken Gargaro
Choreographed by Colleen Petrucci
Musical Direction by Brent Alexander
