Franklin Performing Arts Company Presents SEUSSICAL!

The Franklin Performing Arts Company (FPAC) will present Seussical, a musical perfect for the whole family, March 9, 10, 15, 16, and 17 at THE BLACK BOX. Tony winners, Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty (Lucky Stiff, My Favorite Year, Once on This Island, Ragtime), have lovingly brought to life Dr. Seuss favorites including Horton the Elephant, The Cat in the Hat, Gertrude McFuzz, Mayzie, and a little boy with a big imagination - Jojo. The colorful characters transport the audience from the Jungle of Nool, to the Circus McGurkus, to the invisible world of the Whos.

FPAC's Seussical stars Nick Paone reprising his role of the Cat in the Hat, having led FPAC's 2003 production. A former Equity actor, Paone's performing credits include Cabaret, Little Shop of Horrors, Oklahoma, Red Roses, Brighton Beach Memoirs, and Romeo and Juliet. He has written and directed numerous shows, produced an evening of one-act plays in NYC, and traveled extensively performing with TheaterWorks. Paone's numerous FPAC credits include The Music Man (Harold Hill), Fiddler on the Roof (Tevye), The Addams Family (Gomez), Peter Pan (Captain Hook), Les Miserables (Jean Valjean), Humbug! (Scrooge), Disney's Newsies (Pulitzer), and Little Shop of Horrors (Orin). He is the creative mind behind FPAC's original productions Humbug!, Zero: A Musical Fable, Carol's Christmas, Snow White and the Seven Elves, Alice in a Winter Wonderland, and A Glass Slipper Christmas.

Seussical tells the story of Horton, an elephant who discovers a speck of dust that contains the Whos, including Jojo, a Who child sent off to military school for thinking too many "thinks." Not only must Horton protect the Whos from a world of naysayers and dangers, but he must guard an abandoned egg, left in his care by the irresponsible Mayzie La Bird. Although Horton faces ridicule, danger, kidnapping, and a trial, the intrepid Gertrude McFuzz never loses faith in him. In the end, the powers of friendship, loyalty, family, and community emerge triumphant.

Tickets for Seussical are available at www.fpaconline.com or by calling the box office at 508-528-3370. THE BLACK BOX is located at 15 W. Central St. in downtown Franklin. You can follow the Franklin Performing Arts Company on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.