Behind The Scenes: SEUSSICAL Returns For Christmas!

Including the Dr Seuss stories Green Eggs and Ham, Horton Hears a Who! and The Cat in the Hat, this family-friendly musical by Tony and Drama Desk Award winning team Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens and co-conceived by Monty Python's Eric Idle returns for a second year at the Arts Theatre. A cast of 12 tell the story of Horton the Elephant and the tiny world of Who, interwoven with other madcap Seuss characters who pop up to help and hinder Horton and the Who he heard.

Elliot Fitzpatrick is the man donning the Hat this year. "It's amazing to be part of this musical which is completely wacky and out there, but also has a really nice heart to it as well," he says. "It's a great fun show, and we're really excited to get into the swing of it."

It's the version of the show most clearly targeted at young audiences, and Fitzpatrick reckons it's definitive. "It really speaks to families - younger children as well as teenagers. It's got the clearest message about acceptance and no form of prejudice, and that's a really important thing that the original production didn't have."

Director Kirk Jameson says this version is also more child-friendly in its running time.

"It's been shaved down to just over an hour, and it's all done in one act," he explains.

"I think children are quite smart. I'm keen to not dumb it down and take the easy route for the show. I'm not really approaching it as a children's show - I'm trying to be sophisticated about it. It's a challenge for us as a company and a challenge for the people who are watching it. The way it's written is very childlike, but the staging, I'm all for doing it in a non-easy or non-obvious way - it's much more stylised, and I'm hoping that'll keep the interest of our younger audience members alive."

If you think that sounds like the kind of show you and your family would like to see, you can win a family ticket (four people) to press night on Monday 2nd December at 6pm, all you need to do is tweet your favourite Dr Seuss quote to @Seussical_LDN and include the hashtag #bwwcomp. The competition closes at 12 noon on Friday 29th November - so get tweeting!

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