REVIEW: Cat in the Hat at LBCC

It was an afternoon of madness, destruction, shenanigans, and excitement. All because of a black cat in a red and white hat, of course.

The first week of Dr. Suess' Cat in the Hat wrapped up in LBCC's Russell Tripp Performance Center. Students from Dan Stone's theater class spent the first half of winter term preparing to entertain thousands of Oregon's elementary schoolers with their 45-minute rendition of the iconic story about the mad cat and his mischievous friends.

Opening day was Tuesday, Feb. 2, followed by another performance on Thursday. Both days had a packed house of children from the surrounding areas. In the upcoming weeks, Stone expects about 5,000 kids in total to attend.

The good news is, they should enjoy themselves.

At 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 4, an anxious crowd squirmed in their seats awaiting to see the book they had all read come to life on the stage before them. The production left none of the parts out that one would expect to see. The cast and crew found creative solutions in making the picker-upper machine, making The Cat balance on a ball holding his many items, and, of course, there was Thing 1 and Thing 2.

Watching the play with hundreds of youngsters was an experience in itself. The moment the lights went down for the show to begin, the theater became dark, and a cacophony of shrieks filled the room. In the next few minutes the stagehands removed props by a wire pulley system to the ceiling and the kids ooh'd and ah'd in amazement as the props disappeared above the curtains.

The ambiance was fun and playful. Sound effects were comical, with corky audible accents for all the commotion that followed The Cat on stage. His meow was a roar, which the kids found amusing. He had a humorous guitar solo, on a tennis racket, of course, as Sally and Conrad bounced around him. He followed it up with a flute solo on an umbrella.

Thing 1 and Thing 2, with their blue fro'd hair and red jumpsuits, succeeded in bringing the crazy to the house party. After they managed to coax the kids into pouring milk on the ground, knocking pictures off the wall, and putting lampshades on each other's heads, the Things retreated back to the box from which they came to the tune of TAPS. The adults in the crowd chuckled at the song choice.

As the show came to a close, and all the houseguests had dispersed, Sally and Conrad wondered if they should tell their mom about the frenzy in which they partook. They walked to the edge of the stage and asked the young crowd, "Should we tell her the things that went on today?" The crowd responded by shouting "Yes!" and "No!" as row by row eagerly joined in on the debate.

The production appeared flawless, and the student-actors seemed prepared. They were confident in their roles, had expressive body language, and their theater-style overacting was entertaining. They successfully created many moments followed up by snickers and smiles. It was a good time. And as The Cat would say, "It's fun to have fun, but you have to know how!"