of Whoville (“Here On Who”). He assures them of his belief that “a person’s a person no matter how small.” The Cat in the Hat, who is continuously present, throws the Boy into the story as JoJo, son to Mr. and Mrs. Mayor of Whoville. They are both very unhappy with JoJo because too many of his ‘thinks’ have gotten him into trouble at school. They send him to bed, but the Cat in the Hat has another idea (“Oh, The Thinks You Can Think” [Reprise]). JoJo’s mind begins imagining again and instead of the bathtub, he’s swimming in McElligot’s pool full of fantastical fish (It’s Possible”)! The fun is interrupted when Mr. and Mrs. Mayor scold JoJo for flooding the house with bathwater. With JoJo finally in bed, his parents lament the change in him since his ‘thinks’ began (“How To Raise A Child”). The Cat in the Hat gives them an idea to help solve JoJo’s problem and the next morning they introduce their son to General Genghis Kahn Schmitz (“The Military”). After a long and very tough first day at military school, JoJo sits alone in his bunk while simultaneously, Horton sits alone guarding the clover (“Alone In The Universe”). Eventually Horton and JoJo hear each other and become friends when they realize their imaginations are so much alike. In another part of the jungle, Gertrude has just written her four hundred and thirty-seventh love song about Horton (“The One Feather Tail Of Miss Gertrude McFuzz”). She believes Horton doesn’t notice her because of her pathetically small and uninteresting tail. Mayzie appears and offers advice by telling her story (“Amayzing Mayzie”), which leads Gertrude to Doctor Dake and his pills for ‘amayzing’ feathers. After taking several pills, Gertrude is very happy as her tail begins to grow (“Amayzing Gertrude”), but the Cat in the Hat warns that trouble is brewing. The Wickersham Brothers are up to no good (“Monkeying Around”) and they decide to grab the clover with Whoville on it. A chase begins (“Chasing The Whos”) involving Horton, the Wickershams, Sour Kangaroo and the Bad Girls. The Wickershams eventually hand off the clover to Vlad Vladikoff, the eagle, and he taunts and teases, flying and swooping until he drops it. As the clover plummets toward the ground, the Cat in the Hat freezes the action (“How Lucky You Are”), then unfreezes the action and the Whos drop directly onto an enormous field of clover. Though the situation looks bleak, Horton begins looking for the Whos. Gertrude has followed the chase and arrives with her new tail, determined to tell Horton how she truly feels (“Notice Me, Horton”). Horton does not notice and just continues looking for the Whos in the clover. Gertrude leaves rejected and sad. We soon see Mayzie looking bored, sitting up on a nest (“How Lucky You Are” [Reprise]) and she convinces Horton to sit on the nest for her while she takes a brief vacation (“Horton Sits On The Egg”). Seasons pass and Horton is still stuck sitting on the egg, the Whos are still lost in the clover and Gertrude still cannot get Horton to notice her and her very long tail! (“Horton’s Dilemma/The Hunters”). Hunters suddenly arrive to capture Horton and the egg and because of Gertrude’s now long and heavy tail, she cannot fly to help Horton. Chaos begins until the Cat freezes the tableau and Horton, Gertrude, the Cat and all the Whos send the audience out to intermission (“How Lucky You Are” [Second Reprise]). As the orchestra tunes up again, we realize that the conductor is the Cat in the Hat. The music becomes increasingly wild and out of control—pages fly, the baton goes crazy, the Cat does his/her tricks—until the Cat finally regains control to actually begin Act Two (“Seussical Entr’Acte”). The Boy runs on to question the Cat about the future of Horton, the egg and JoJo—but the Cat just sends the Boy back into the story (as JoJo) without any indication as to what will happen next. Horton is still surrounded by hunters as he sits on Mayzie’s egg up in the tree. Though the tiny town of Whoville was damaged in the “fall”, the military school continues to march. JoJo marches, wondering what the point of marching is when their world is in ruins. Back in the jungle, Gertrude is extremely worried about Horton, but can hardly walk without help because her tail is so long and heavy. All the jungle characters watch as Horton, still on the tree nest, is carried away by the hunters (“Egg, Nest and Tree”). After a long, arduous journey, Horton arrives in New York where he is auctioned off to the circus. The Cat enters as Mr. McGurkus who proceeds to introduce us to his fantastical circus with Horton as his main attraction (“The Circus McGurkus”). As the circus rambles throughout the country, Horton worries about JoJo and Whoville and wonders when Mayzie will return to her egg; he needs her back now (“The Circus On Tour/How Lucky You Are” [Reprise]). The circus arrives in Palm Beach, where we find Mayzie under a palm tree bemoaning the monotony of vacationing (“Mayzie In Palm Beach”). She decides she needs a change of scenery and heads to the circus, where she runs into Horton who begs her to take back her egg.
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