I saw the Broadway Cast with Rosie O Donnell and again with Cathy Rigby.
I also saw the National Tour with Cathy Rigby and the non-equity tour as well.
The show is BEAUTIFUL. Flawed on Broadway, but they cut a song, trimmed the storyline, and restaged it for the Tour. The tour was MUCH better - and if THAT was what was on Broadway, I wouldn't be surprised if the show were still running today.
They cut "A Day For The Cat In The Hat" and I believe trimmed other songs. The score itself (as opposed to the songs) was touched up, too. I noticed this because they used more bells and chimes. Much more mystical and fun.
The Cast Recording is the Broadway cast with David Shiner. Its VERY fun and good and will give you the songs, but they were much better on tour. In addition, they didn't give the full overture for the CD - they cut it down some. And it does not include the smaller reprises (which are fun in the show, but standing alone on a CD wouldn't do anything).
In the tour, Cathy Rigby (of Peter Pan fame) flew as The Cat. But they didn't add it JUST because she is Cathy - it made sense. She (and Jojo (Drake English, former Michael Darling in Peter Pan)) flew in "It's Possible" which is sung in a bathtub that overflows with water and becomes an ocean. The flying made sense and added to the number greatly. You can see a video of the flying at:
http://www.paultheflyguy.com
The non-equity national tour was different. They cut the flying, the Cat was played by a male again, and again it was restaged. I believe it worked better than Broadway, but the sets and costumes were cheap.
I would love to see a revival of SEUSSICAL in the future. In fact, I believe this would be a great show to do a DVD of. Its being done in community and school theatres across the Nation. It's such a good show that is highly underrated. The Broadway run gave it a bad name.
"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle