Seuss Musical Menagerie Dances Into Collingswood

The imaginative, zany world of Dr. Seuss, where elephants protect an entire society living on a dust speck and birds pop pills to grow feathers, is coming to life in Collingswood this week.

thespians and musicians will mount their production of Seussical, a musical romp through nearly 20 of Dr. Seuss’s fantastical works.

Seussical largely draws from Horton Hears a Who, as the kind elephant Horton tries to protect Whoville from demise. Unfortunately for both Horton and the Whos, the naysayers try to get Horton to retract his belief in Whoville and hunt him down. Familiar characters, including Thing One and Thing Two, the Grinch and Yertle the Turtle, pop up along the way. Oh, and there’s a love story in there between Horton and a bird with a disappointing amount of tail feathers.

Confused? Don’t worry, Seuss’s celebrated character, the Cat in the Hat, serves as narrator and guides the audience along the way.

Collingswood raises the curtain on Seussical starting tonight, March 1, at 7 p.m. in the auditorium. Additional shows are at 7 p.m. March 2 and 3 and 1 p.m. March 3.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students. Senior citizen tickets are free for every performance. Family night is Friday, March 2, when one child’s ticket is free with the purchase of an adult ticket.

The cast for Seussical is:

HORTON THE ELEPHANT: Nick Foremny/ Jared Downing

THE CAT IN THE HAT: Julia Nigro/Julia Love

THING ONE: Shannon Bartlett

THING TWO: Patti Butler

GERTRUDE: Kati Butler

MAYZIE: Kathleen Daly

BIRD GIRLS: Hayley Schofield, Allison Giordano, Cathryn Maienza, Abby Schreiber, Brooke Williams, Jess Pernice

WICKERSHAM "BROTHERS": Steph Fultano, Alex Herzog, Jacob Dougherty, Brittany Williams, Trevor Still, Briana Nunoz

SOUR KANGAROO: Autumn Richardson/ Mariah Hopkins

THE MAYOR: Manni Rosario

MRS. MAYOR: Olivia Micale

JO-JO: Jess Williams/ Colin Woolley

THE GRINCH: Angel Klawitter

THE GENERAL: Michael Voigt/ Stephen Wilson

YERTLE THE TURTLE: Emily Colon/ Gael Arnold

WHOS: Ryan Egan, Emma Oehlers, Jodi Moser, Kim Reeser,  Liana Leao

JUNGLE: Crystal Garcia, Kimmie Stoops, Lynnera Berry, Kandice Franklin