ERIN O’NEILL The Marietta Times Ryan Chavez Richmond, left, as the Cat in the Hat, performs a scene with Brandi Langford-Sherrill and Ria Villaver Collins as Thing One and Thing Two, as well as student performers Ethan Huffman and Macey Strahler from Salem-Liberty Elementary School. The performers are from The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati.

LOWELL–Students from Lowell, Beverly-Center and Salem-Liberty elementaries were treated to a visit from The Cat in the Hat Tuesday afternoon as part of an outreach program through Artsbridge.

“We work to bring arts education to the schools and we are so excited to have all the Fort Frye schools here today,” Kathy Reeder, with Artsbridge, told the nearly 200 kindergarten through second grade students. “This is The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati and they are putting on one of my favorites. How many of you like The Cat in the Hat?”

The gymnasium erupted in applause, much the way it always does for the performers who have toured this educational show since August 2017.

According to Brandi Langford-Sherrill, a Cincinnati native who has been a member of TCT since 2010 and portrayed Thing One, the reaction from the students is what keeps them on the road most of the year.

“The kids are a major part of what we get out this. It’s a very grueling job, driving state to state, setting up, tearing down…but a lot of these children don’t have access to a major theater and don’t get to see a lot of professional plays,” she said. “We get to introduce the many different elements of the theater to them.”

After the roughly 45 minute show, students were allowed to ask questions which included “how do you change so fast?” and “how did (the Cat) balance all those things on his head?” The performers were happy to reveal many tricks of the trade (Hint: They use Velcro).

The other three performers, Ryan Chavez Richmond as the Cat in the Hat, Ria Villaver Collins as Thing Two, and Rhys Boatwright as Fish, were joined on stage by two first-graders from Salem-Elementary who played Boy and Sally.

“It was really fun; I wasn’t scared at all,” said Macey Strahler, 7, who was chosen for Sally.

Her co-star, Ethan Huffman, 7, had a touch of the stage fright but said it “wasn’t too bad.”

“And it was kind of like a rollercoaster,” he said of the parts of the show when The Cat in the Hat rolled the pair around stage in special chairs.

In addition to The Cat in the Hat, TCT also tours historical shows about such figures as Maya Angelou, Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King, Jr.

“We do have kids come up to us and tell us they want to do what we do and we try to tell them, it’s not just acting. If you like to draw, you could be a set designer. If you like to shop, you could be a costume designer. We just introduce those different elements and career opportunities,” Langford-Sherrill said.

The interactive program right after recess and lunch was a welcome change during the school day for many of the children who enjoyed clapping, dancing and cheering.

“I liked the part when the Cat stood on the ball and put all the things on his head because I really thought they were going to fall,” said Tanner Archer, 6, a Salem-Liberty kindergartener.

The Cat himself was also a very popular part of the day.

“I loved when the Cat came out from behind the curtain,” said Desirai Combs, 7 a first-grader at Beverly-Center. “I read his books and I was very excited for today.”

At a glance

Artsbridge performances

¯ Today: Doddridge County Schools, West Union; Ritchie County Schools, Ellenboro.

¯ Thursday: Wood County Schools, Blennerhassett Elementary, Parkersburg.

¯ Funding for Artsbridge arts education programs is provided in part by The West Virginia Commission on the Arts, Ohio Arts Council and National Endowment for the Arts, The Ross Foundation, Fenton Foundation, Inc., The Bernard McDonough Foundation, Highmark, Peoples Bank, and by contributors to the Artsbridge Fund.

About The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati

¯ thechildrenstheatre.com