Chasing The Whos Lyrics - Seussical

Song Overview

The mid-show chase number Chasing The Whos barrels through Seussical like a runaway jeep. Written by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens, the song keeps modern listeners hunting for the Lyrics and racking up more than 240 000 plays on the official YouTube audio. Though never a radio single, the cut helped propel the 2001 cast album to No. 191 on the Billboard 200 during its debut week, a rare feat for a show the press called a “critical flop.”

Personal Review

Imagine a cartoon news chopper hovering above a Dr. Seuss panorama—that is the pulse of Chasing The Whos. Tribal tom-toms slam, a horn section hoots like angry Sneetches, and the cast hurtles through tongue-twisters at 160 bpm. When the Cat in the Hat riffs “Live from Skycam Five,” Stephen Flaherty drops the accompaniment to banjo and hi-hat so the gag lands crisp. Three measures later the full brass rips back in, and you feel the theatre tilt forward as Horton lunges off the apron. One sentence: an audio roller-coaster powered by monkey mischief and journalistic snark.

Song Meaning and Annotations

Dramaturgic gear. Seussical slots Chasing The Whos after “Monkey Around.” Wickersham Brothers steal Horton’s clover, Sour Kangaroo eggs them on, and Vlad Vladikoff—black-bottomed eagle extraordinaire—drops the microscopic Whos into a field of identical blooms. The song is pure forward motion; plot, geography, and slapstick all collapse into a single breathless verse.

Musical DNA. Key of E-flat minor, but the bridge snaps to the relative major when Horton pleads “A person’s a person.” Ahrens’s Lyrics pile internal rhymes (sky / high / fly) to echo Seuss’s original cadences. Meanwhile, Stephen Flaherty keeps the bass on one pedal note, simulating the relentless pounding of Horton’s feet.

Narrative lens. The Cat’s Skycam commentary turns the stage chase into a mock cable-news segment, lampooning 24-hour media hype years before social media made it standard fare. Today the gag lands even harder, kids laughing at the idea of traffic updates in a jungle.

“We’ve got monkeys backed up to the three-oh-two – I’d find alternate routes if I were you.”

Flaherty spikes that line with a half-measure of slap bass, a blink-and-you-miss-it funk riff that underscores the pun on commuter angst.

Verse Highlights

Opening Leap

Percussion alone: snare on one, toms on the ‘and’ of two, mimicking Horton’s lumbering gait.

Middle Sequence – Cat’s Report

Sudden key lift and addition of wah-wah trumpet conjure 1970s news theme pastiche.

Final Cadence (“Chasing the Whos …”)

Choir splits into four staccato lines, each on a different rhythmic cell, turning chaos into crisp polyphony before slamming the fermata.

Song Credits

• Featured Vocalists: Kevin Chamberlin, Sharon Wilkins, Wickersham Trio, Bird Girls
• Producers: Decca Broadway team (original album)
• Composers: Stephen Flaherty – music; Lynn Ahrens – Lyrics
• Release Date: January 30 2001
• Genre: Broadway Chase-Scherzo
• Instruments: drum kit, slap bass, banjo, brass, reed trio, toy whistle
• Label: Decca Broadway / Universal
• Mood: Frenetic, comic urgency
• Length: 2 min 22 sec (OBCR)
• Track #: 15 on Seussical – Original Broadway Cast Recording
• Language: English
• Poetic meter: Mixed anapestic tetrameter – a Seuss hallmark
• Copyright: © 2000 MTI / Dr. Seuss Enterprises

Songs Exploring Wild Pursuit

“Run, Freedom, Run!” – Urinetown (2001) shouts its jailbreak over gospel organ. Both songs build comic tension through relentless tempo, yet Chasing The Whos swaps satire of capitalism for sheer jungle slapstick.

“King of New York” – Newsies (2012) uses tap rhythms and headline metaphors; like Flaherty, Alan Menken turns journalistic lingo into percussive melody.

“What’s Up, Duloc?” – Shrek The Musical (2008) mirrors the montage-feel, flipping from location to location in under two minutes, though its Disney pastiche leans on glockenspiel sparkle rather than chase-drum thunder.

Questions and Answers

Does Chasing The Whos appear in the shorter Seussical JR?

Yes, but MTI trims the bridge and halves the final chorus to keep school runtimes under sixty minutes.

Any notable covers or remixes?

University productions at Texas State and dozens of high-schools post live takes; Texas State’s 2022 clip tops 50 000 views.

Was the track ever released as a single?

No, Decca packaged the full cast album; individual tracks stream separately only on digital platforms.

How many times does Horton sing in the number?

Six distinct solo inserts, each punctuated by ensemble chants, reinforcing his solitary struggle.

Why the Cat in the Hat cameo?

The writers needed an omniscient narrator who could comment and steer chaos without halting action; the Cat fills that meta-role, even hijacking musical style for thirty bars of jazz-tinged patter.

Awards and Chart Positions

Seussical earned one Tony nomination—Kevin Chamberlin for Best Actor—yet snagged no wins. Despite lukewarm reviews, the cast album’s week-one sales nudged it onto the Billboard 200 at No. 191 for February 2001, an unusual accomplishment for a show that closed before the Tonys.

How to Sing?

Range. E3 to G?4 for Horton; A3 to B4 for Sour Kangaroo; ensemble hovers B2 to D5.
Breath control. Quick nasal sniffs between “Chasing – the – Whos” keep phrases buoyant.
Tempo. Original sits near 160 bpm; school bands often pare down to 148 for diction.
Tone. Horton should stay round and legato against the Wickershams’ clipped jazz-scat.
Physical cue. Directors often choreograph jogging-in-place to plant the rhythm—use plié knees to avoid locking the diaphragm.

Fan and Media Reactions

“The chase song turns the theatre aisles into a Seussian Indy 500.” – Playbill online recap

“My fifth-graders beg to rehearse Chasing The Whos; they love yelling Vlad Vladikoff at full volume.” – Elementary choir blog

“That Cat-in-the-Hat news riff feels eerily like real-time Twitter by way of swing band.” – Theatre Forum reviewer

“Over two hundred thousand streams for a novelty chase? Horton’s still stomping strong.” – YouTube commenter

“Every time the toms kick in I picture a cartoon GPS frantically recalculating.” – Personal blog, StageSoundGeek