The Porch: 'Seussical The Musical' Features A Cast Of 40, Ages 6 To 17

A local theater director has worked in summer children's theater for 31 years. His latest production is "Seussical the Musical" which celebrates friendship and creativity. The production opens July 25th at Tulsa Community College and features a cast of about 40 children ages 6 to 17.

Director Mike Frank joined News on 6 to talk about the upcoming show along with three cast members for a special performance live from the Arca Continental Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages Porch.

Tell us what the musical is about.

The musical follows Horton the Elephant (Alex Hininger), Gertrude McFuzz (Tatum Stiles), and the Cat in the Hat (Jenna Soltis) as they work together to restore peace and unity to the Jungle of Nool after chaos erupts when Horton hears a WHO civilization on a speck of dust, but no one believes him.

Why Seussical the Musical?

We are doing the full two-act version of "Seussical the Musical" because of the themes of friendship, loyalty, love, identity, individuality, and creativity.

How have rehearsals been? 

We rehearse 1 to 5 Monday through Friday so pretty busy. We have choreography, we have music rehearsal, blocking rehearsal, and acting rehearsal. We're working, with kids in different areas of the theater. One's doing music, one's doing choreography, and one's doing acting, so we've been very busy. It's a very long four hours of rehearsal, but I think by next week we'll be ready to go.

What are the ages of the cast members?

We've been doing this program in Tulsa for 12-13 years, and it's ages 6 to 17, and we have about 40 students in it. They're all from different regions in Tulsa, different middle schools in Tulsa, Broken Arrow and Glenpool, all different regions. They're from all over the place.

Tatum Stiles as Gertrude McFuzz, Alex Hininger as Horton the Elephant and Jenna Soltis as the Cat in the Hat performed "All For You" from "Seussical The Musical" live on the Arca Continental Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages Porch.

Stiles, Hininger, Soltis and their fellow performers take the stage next weekend. Showtimes are July 25th-26th at 8 p.m. and Sunday July 28th at 2 p.m..

For tickets to the show call (918) 595-7777 or visit www.pacetickets.tulsacc.edu/events.