Trivia / Seussical

• Box Office Bomb: The Broadway production sadly suffered an estimated $11 million in financial losses, resulting in the show closing after 198 performances total.
• Creator Breakdown: A lighter case than most, but a case nonetheless: during the musical's early stages, ensemble member Eddie Korbich was invited to play the Once-ler in the planned Lorax number, which originally clocked in at ten minutes. Eventually, Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty had to strip down the song, bit by bit, until they were forced to cut it entirely, erasing Korbich's role and demoting him to a non-speaking extra. While Ahrens and Flaherty gave Korbich the opportunity to leave the show, he opted to stay a few more weeks (he had been attached to the project since the very beginning and didn't want to leave until the album recording). Korbich took the situation entirely on himself, believing that if he "was only better, it would not have happened", and he continues to consider it the worst moment of his career.
• Cut Song:
  • The original Broadway version and CD have a song called "A Day For The Cat in the Hat," in which the Cat tries to entertain Jojo while his parents are attending a conference with his teacher. The song was cut for the touring production, which also featured a rewritten script that made the Cat JoJo's guide throughout the whole play.
  • In the pre-Broadway tryout, there was a song about The Lorax late in the second act.
• Hostility on the Set: Kevin Chamberlin (Broadway's original Horton) admitted in an interview that when Aaron Carter came in to play Jojo, he was "a bit of a mess". There was an especially troubling incident where he would spit on his cheering fans from the roof of the theater.
• Stunt Casting: The Broadway production hit quite the financial snag during its run, so a few celebrity guests were brought in to boost ticket sales. Rosie O'Donnell was cast as the Cat in the Hat (taking over for the original Cat David Shiner) for a four week run, while Cathy Rigby played the character all the way to closing night. 2000's teen sensation Aaron Carter was also brought in to play Jojo.
• What Could Have Been: The workshop version of "Oh the Thinks You Can Think" included a line for the Grinch ("Think of a Christmas that somebody steals!"). In the final version, it's replaced with Mayzie's verse ("Think of a bird who flies off on a spree!")

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