All aboard the Seussentennial

Everybody wants to celebrate Dr. Seuss.

The Seussentennial Imagination Tour, commemorating the 100th anniversary of Dr. Seuss creator Ted Geisel’s birth, arrives in the Los Angeles area this weekend.

Five local performances by the New York-based Irondale Ensemble Project -- at the Children’s Museum at La Habra, Pasadena Public Library and California Science Center -- are sold out. And it’s no wonder, says Jim Niesen, Irondale’s artistic director. It’s clear to him that Geisel’s characters touch children and adults of all backgrounds.

“The response has been amazingly the same,” Niesen says, whether his group was performing in Manhattan to children from wealthy families or in Fort Campbell, Ky., to children of veterans of the war in Iraq.

Well, except one, Niesen points out. After the Fort Campbell show, children, led by a boy about 5 years old, made their way onto the stage. “They seemed to need to sit on the actors’ laps,” he says.

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* Friday, 10 a.m.: Children’s Museum at La Habra, 301 S. Euclid St., La Habra. (562) 905 9693. Sold out; waiting list is extensive.

* Saturday, noon and 3 p.m.: California Science Center, Exposition Park. (213) 744-2019. Free; parking $6. Standby seating, as available, will begin 30 minutes prior.

* Sunday, 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.: Pasadena Public Library, 285 E. Walnut St. (626) 744-4066. Free; no passes remain.