'Suessical the Musical' — everything works perfectly

SEUSSICAL THE MUSICAL, Egyptian Theatre Company, 328 Main, Park City, through Dec. 31 (435-649-9371). Running time: 1 hour, 45 minutes (one intermission).

PARK CITY — It's a given. Along the Wasatch Front, no one does musicals like Jim Christian. When he's not busy running the musical-theater studies program at Weber State University, the one extracurricular thing he loves to do is direct and choreograph.

And those special Jim Christian touches — snappy choreography, lickety-split pacing and well-honed talent — are showcased perfectly on the relatively small Mary G. Steiner Egyptian Theatre stage.

I caught a Saturday matinee, which had an audience of both parents and children, the latter of whom were entranced by seeing some of their favorite Seuss stories come to life with music and lyrics by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens.

"Seussical" is a compilation of several stories and beloved characters, all caught up in an adventure geared to keep kids on the edges of their seats.

At the center of the action is the Cat in the Hat, played to the hilt by local Equity artist Aaron DeJesus; the kind-to-a-fault Horton the Elephant, played perfectly by Kenneth Wayne; and JoJo, a lad who's penchant for thinking keeps getting him in hot water on the troubled, dust-speck-size planet of Whoville, played with youthful exuberance by David Glenn.

The other leading players are just as well cast — Ali Bennett as the featherless Gertrude McFuzz, Victoria Elena Nones as the amazingly outgoing Mayzie LaBird, Brittany Taylor Klintworth as the cantankerous Sour Kangaroo, Glen Carpenter and Elizabeth Hansen as the Mayor and Mrs. Mayor of Whoville (JoJo's befuddled parents), Adam Taula, Ryan Paskins and Jon Brady Copier as the prankster-playing Wickerhsham Brothers and Walter! (yes, that's his official stage name) as General Genghis Kahn Schmitz, who runs Whoville's military school.

With 38 songs (22 in the first act and 16 in the second) including reprises, there's not a lot of time for dialogue. But the songs and clever lyrics — all featuring strong Dr. Seuss ties — drive the show merrily along.

As the Cat in the Hat, DeJesus pops in and out of the action in multiple disguises, including ringmaster of the Circus McGurkis and Judge Yertle the Turtle.

And, through it all, there are some wonderful "teaching moments" for the small-fry — that using your imagination is a good thing, tolerance ("a person's a person no matter how small") and that when you're given a job to do — like Horton nesting on Mayzie's egg — you do it faithfully, 100 percent.

Joshua David Madsen's set design, with the proscenium flanked by two floor-to-ceiling red-and-white stripped Cat-in-the-Hat hats, is both whimsical and functional. Other big pluses are Pamela Offret's Seuss-inspired costumes, David Rees' lighting and Narlene Mathie's taped orchestrations.

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E-mail: ivan@desnews.com