"Oh, the thinks you can think"
BY MARY LANCASTER INDEPENDENT WRITER

Photo MICHAEL GALVIN Sarah Poor (left) rehearses with Shae Albertson for opening this Tuesday.

There is nothing quite as magical and boundless as a child's imagination. When "Seussical the Musical" opens at Bennett Hall on July 8, a small boy named Jo-Jo finds a funny hat and tries to conjure up an image of what animal would wear such a thing. His imagination produces "The Cat in the Hat," introducing Jo-Jo to the Seussical world and the story of "Horton Hears A Who" unfolds.

"Seussical," presented by the Theatre Workshop of Nantucket's resident summer company, is directed by Joseph Gilmore with Caitlin Wiater as musical director. Many parents and children have enjoyed the wild stories by Dr. Seuss over decades, but for those unfamiliar with "Horton," it is a tale of an animal that hears essentially invisible Whos speaking to him from a speck of dust.

Horton, who feels he is friendless, places the speck on a clover flower to protect his new pals, but when monkeys make off with the sweet clover, Horton goes on a search to find it. The one hour, 15-minute performance contains 35 songs, including the overture and exit music, and has a cast of 27 Nantucket children aged five to 18.

"It's all local children and teens," said Gilmore, who awarded them their parts on June 4. Since then, they have been learning the songs and choreography and blocking their stage positions.

The music for the original Broadway show was written by Stephen Flaherty with lyrics by Lynn Aherns. Songs include "Oh, the Thinks you can Think," "Horton Hears a Who," "Alone in the Universe," "Notice Me, Horton" and "How Lucky You Are."

"My big thing is, I always tell the kids it's all about smiling and having fun," Gilmore said of his directing style for child actors.

"Seussical" opens July 8 and will run every Tuesday through Saturday until July 26. The performances are at Bennett Hall on Centre Street at 5 p.m. Advance tickets are recommended. The Bennett Hall box office opens two hours prior to curtain time, but tickets may also be purchased on line at www.theatreworkshop.com. The box office number is 228-4305. I