httpss://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0Ah0tBQymM

Trying on his costume for the first time, Adam Meredith paused for a moment in the Fresno City College theater dressing room and took a long, hard look.

Meredith has played a lot of characters in his professional career, but the rascally feline star of one of Dr. Seuss’ most beloved children’s books has never made it onto his resume – until now.

As the title character in the college’s new production of “The Cat in the Hat,” opening Friday, March 3, he gets to be the ultimate “Disrupter.” Mom’s gone and it’s a cold, wet day, so what does Mr. Cat do? Swoop in and create havoc.

For the Fresno production, director Janine Christl enlisted the help of the Fresno Dance Collective’s Amy Querin to add aerial dance moves, and t’s a lot of choreographed chaos as the Cat unleashes the full naughty potential of the moment.

Christl is a longtime friend, and she brought him in as a guest artist and mentor for “The Cat in the Hat.” His father lives in Fresno, so it was a good opportunity for family time as well.

Meredith grew up with Dr. Seuss and had “Green Eggs and Ham” memorized, but he has two things to admit: As a kid he was a little scared, or at least put off, by the Cat, probably because the character is such a disrupter.

To be honest, Meredith is not much of a cat person.

Cat in the Hat