![\"\"](\"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/Cat.jpg\")
<\/a>Doyle Ott as The Cat in the Hat. Photo: Woody Weingarten.<\/p><\/div>\n
I\u2019m 129-percent convinced that Hannah, my six-year-old granddaughter, is a bright delight.<\/p>\n
She loves to watch YouTube with me \u2014 caterpillars\u2019 transforming into butterflies, volcanoes spewing lava, scientific marvels galore.<\/p>\n
But she can instantly revert to a bounce-in-her-seat, giggle-out-loud little girl fascinated with Disney princesses.<\/p>\n
Or \u201cThe Cat in the Hat,\u201d an interactive show we just caught at the Marin Theatre Company,\u00a0squeezed in a squeal-and-fun-filled Saturday between Strawberry\u2019s In-N-Out Burger and the Presidio\u2019s Family Day Kite Festival.<\/p>\n
The 45-minute play was the first of a first \u2014 that is, the first of five shows aimed at kids, four of them produced by the Bay Area Children\u2019s Theatre, in the MTC\u2019s initial theater series for youthful audiences.<\/p>\n
The show convinced me anew that I\u2019m not the least bit objective: I was as impressed with\u00a0it as my granddaughter \u2014 for slightly different reasons.<\/p>\n
I know she thoroughly enjoyed the exaggerated antics from ever-so-familiar characters originally penned by Theodor Geisel (she knows him as Dr. Seuss), particularly the unmanageable juggling of The Cat and the flummoxed scurrying of the blue-haired Thing 1 and Thing 2.<\/p>\n
At the same time, the show blew me away because it emphasized exceptionally age-appropriate, relatable action for youngsters; featured perky primary colors in both costumes and set; retained the monosyllabic sing-song rhymes expected from a Seuss story; and showcased six cast members who clowned and sang and danced with a degree of professionalism I hadn\u2019t expected.<\/p>\n
Especially Doyle Ott, who gleefully portrayed The Cat, a guy with both circuses and the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival in his r\u00e9sum\u00e9.<\/p>\n
I reveled, too, in the perfectly timed, cartoon-like sound effects added by Beryl Baker \u2014 not to mention the brief recorded excerpts of classical music (\u201cThe William Tell Overture\u201d and \u201cSabre Dance,\u201d for example).<\/p>\n
The production \u2014 and director Erin Merritt \u2014 happily stuck to Seuss\u2019 text and his unwritten theme: When mom\u2019s away, the kids (and The Cat) will play<\/p>\n
Silly choreography by Laura Ricci added to everyone\u2019s pleasure \u2014 as did The Cat playing golf with a black umbrella, riding a pink-wheeled unicycle, and strumming a tennis racket like a guitar and pseudo-creating lively Flamenco rhythms.<\/p>\n
The biggest laugh, as might be expected with an age group of people all under four-feet tall, came from an outrageously loud burp.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Cat in the Hat\u201d has been so well liked since being created in 1954 that the book\u2019s been translated into a dozen languages. It has more than 11 million copies in print.<\/p>\n
The staged version can only build on that popularity.<\/p>\n
If the remainder of the Theater for Young Audiences season can come anywhere near the gusto of The Cat, I can guarantee matinee happiness.<\/p>\n
Check out \u201cA Year with Frog & Toad,\u201d starting Jan. 11; \u00a0\u201cMercy Watson to the Rescue,\u201d beginning March 8, and \u201cLadybug Girl and Bumblbee Boy\u201d in May. Or MTC\u2019s own production, \u201cRapunzel,\u201d a Nov. 2-10 show that focuses on \u201ctaking risks and overcoming fear rather than being the subject of a witch\u2019s petty grudges and a prince\u2019s daring deeds.\u201d<\/p>\n
Theater for Young Audiences tickets at the Marin Theatre Company, 397 Miller Ave., Mill Valley, cost $15 for children under 14; $20 for adults; $17 for seniors 65 and above. Information: (415) 388-5208 or marintheatre.org.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019m not the least bit objective. I\u2019m 129-percent convinced that Hannah, my six-year-old granddaughter, is a bright delight. She loves to watch YouTube with me \u2014 caterpillars\u2019 transforming into…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-7103","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-woody-weingarten"},"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":true,"span_bottom":"