The Center for Puppetry Arts is putting a certain trouble-making feline on its stage. Their production of “Dr. Seuss’ Cat in the Hat” opened this week.
For the show, Music Theatre International (MTI) granted the center permission to use images from the books, but it was up to them to create the puppets and sets on their own.
“Jason [Hines] really meticulously studied all the books with the Cat in them and all the characters,” director Jon Ludwig tells City Lights host Lois Reitzes, “and was able to forensically figure out what they would look like in three dimensions.”
“The kids react so strongly when the cat appears,” puppeteer Dolph Amick said, “this character they’ve seen a million times. But to see him moving in front of them and picking things up and throwing them through the air, it blows their minds!”
“Cat in the Hat” is onstage now at the Center for Puppetry Arts and runs through May 13. Their sensory-friendly performance is on April 8 at 1 p.m.
