Welcome to the Winnipeg Youth Chorus' Seuss-letter! Included in our Spring Break Seuss-letter: ...New rehearsal photos! …Seussical: Author, Composer and Playwright ...More behind the scenes photos …Seussical Tickets are selling fast! New Rehearsal Photos: ‘Meet the Cast’ returns next week with Part 2 of the Whos/Hunches… These are creative minds behind Seussical: Author, Playwright & Composer… DR SEUSS Theodor Seuss Geisel was born March 2, 1904 in Springfield, Massachusetts. After graduating College Geisel did postgraduate studies at Oxford and the Sorbonne. He began working for Life &Vanity Fair as an illustrator and humorist. His first children’s book was rejected by 30 publishers, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street was finally released in 1937. It is the story of a young boy who transforms his ordinary walk home from school into a fantastical story. Geisel released Horton Hatches the Egg in 1940. Horton the Elephant is duped into sitting on the egg of a bird who goes on vacation. Despite various hardships, Horton refuses to leave. In the end, he is rewarded when the egg hatches, and a creature with bird wings and an elephant’s head emerges. In 1947 Geisel published McElligot’s Pool, about a boy who imagines a fantastical marine world while fishing. In Horton Hears a Who! (1954), the loyal pachyderm returns to protect a tiny speck of a planet known as Whoville. It features a discussion about minority rights and the value of all individuals. In 1957 Geisel published The Cat in the Hat, introducing us to a talking cat. More than 600 million copies of Dr. Seuss books have been sold worldwide. LYNN AHRENS & STEPHEN FLAHERTY Lynn Ahrens did not begin her career in the theatre. Her first job after graduating from University was at the advertising agency that was responsible for creating Schoolhouse Rock!, the series of animated educational shorts that appeared on ABC in the late 1970s. She was also responsible for the lyrics to jingles for products such as Bounty paper towels and Klondike ice cream bars. Stephen Flaherty worked at composing from an early age. He grew up in Pittsburgh where he was able to have some early musicals staged in high school. From there he attended College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati. Flaherty met Ahrens at a BMI Musical Theatre Workshop in New York... and the rest is history. For over thirty years they have been heard on stage, in movies, and on television, both in collaboration with others and together. They formed their professional partnership in 1983. Their work is not easy to identify. Their source materials vary greatly from show to show and the musical style is never the same. With Seussical the Musical they took a collection of disjointed stories and made them come together using the Cat in the Hat as a central emcee character. They decided that the musical would follow the adventures of Horton the Elephant and the original stories Horton Hears a Who! and Horton Hatches the Egg would become the framework for the musical. More behind the scene photos… Good luck finding Horton’s clover in this field! Mr. & Mrs. Mayor were busy…so Garth tested out the rocking chairs Our shows will have a brief intermission where you can feed your rumbling tummy with Seuss Snacks: Truffula Cakes: $1.00 One Fish, Two Fish…: $1.00 Moose & Goose Juice: $1.00 Bottled Water: $1.00 The Winnipeg Youth Chorus presents Seussical the Musical May 15-18, 2019 at the Asper Centre for Theatre and Film University of Winnipeg. A musical perfect for the whole family, Seussical takes us into the world of Dr. Seuss, where we revisit beloved characters including The Cat in the Hat, Horton the Elephant, Gertrude McFuzz, Mayzie la Bird and many more! .