Students will put on the show Thursday through Saturday at the St. Edmond Catholic High School auditorium, with the first two performances beginning at 7 p.m. The third is a matinee starting at 3 p.m.

“Seussical” is a family-friendly Broadway musical that brings together stories from books like “Horton Hears a Who!”, “Horton Hatches the Egg” and “Gertrude McFuzz.”

“This musical was selected mostly for its cast of characters,” said Melissa Hindt, the high school vocal music teacher at St. Edmond and musical director. “It is an ensemble work that offers a lot of kids to shine.”

“The message is one of belief (from the musical). Belief in one another, belief in things you can’t see and, mostly belief, that no matter what, we are created out of love,” she added.

One of the more well-known characters of the Seuss books, “The Cat in the Hat,” serves as the narrator and will be played by St. Edmond senior Jonah Carlson.

“I’m really excited,” Carlson said. “I think we’ve all been working extremely hard to put together an incredible show and it is definitely going to be worth coming to see.”

Among the challenges in bringing together a story like this is navigating the many other activities that are currently going on at St. Edmond.

“I think one of the biggest challenges is trying to keep everyone engaged from start to finish,” Carlson said. “With such a small school, everyone tends to be involved in multiple activities, so it can be hard to keep people’s attention on putting the musical together – especially as we get closer to the show.”

Along with Carlson, Jack Webster plays Horton, Greenlee Crimmins is JoJo, Cora Anderson is Mrs. Mayor, Hayden Nau plays Mr. Mayor, Abby Tofilon is Gertrude McFuzz and Mayzie LaBird is played by Avenlee Hayek.

Crimmins, who plays Jojo the Who, echoed the comments of Carlson in regards to members of the cast being heavily involved around the school.

“One of the biggest challenges to putting on a musical in a small school is time,” she said. “Musical practice is 12 to 15 hours a week. In a small school there are many students who are involved in multiple activities. For example, there are times I have softball, cheer and musical at the same time. Students have to be really committed to balance all the activities and school work while putting in the time to make the show happen.

“But I am super excited for this show and I think we have a great group of talented individuals who are ready to put on a great show.”

The show follows Horton the Elephant as he protects the Whos and an abandoned egg while teaching lessons on loyalty, imagination and that no matter how small, a person is a person.

“One challenge is that the most dialogue that happens in between songs is no longer than 30 seconds,” Hindt said. “The story is brought out through song, and since it is in rhyme, it is very difficult to adlib if words are forgotten.”

“But on the flip side, it is easier to memorize when words are put to music, especially in musical rhyme,” she said.

Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty co-wrote the original, with Ahrens providing the lyrics and Flaherty the music. It had a Broadway run in 2000 and made its first tour around the United States in 2002.

London has had performances, along with a tour of South Africa.

The musical incorporates Dr. Seuss stories such as “Green Eggs and Ham,” “The Lorax,” “The Cat in the Hat,” and “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!”

“Seussical” has been nominated for a Tony Award, two Drama Desk Awards and a Drama League Award.

“This is my second musical here at St. Edmond, but the fifth musical I have directed,” Hindt said. “I delight in the work it takes to bring it together. It is very exciting using my creativity and vision to bring the story to life. I am grateful for being able to do it.”

Kylee Hayek is the assistant director, Abbye Borene is the orchestra director and Amy Johnson the costume designer.