Give 'em a Grinch and they'll take a mile
How The Grinch Stole Christmas at The Saenger Theater
First Night Review
Well, a rogue fire alarm a third of the way through the show almost stole the Grinch’s opportunity to steal Christmas. It looked like an over-zealous fog machine triggered a semi-evacuation before order was restored. The cast recovered their poise admirably, started the interrupted song again and the line “There’s nothing to worry about!” was greeted with cheers from an audience (lots of children and their parents, as well as adults in purposely-gaudy Christmas sweaters) keen to get back to the story.
It was a triumph of the seasonal spirit that drives the plot of (to give it its formal name), Dr Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas, The Musical. Cave-dwelling misanthrope The Grinch lives in the hills above Whoville with his canine pet/sidekick Max, an older version of who acts as narrator.
The citizens of Whoville (Whovillans? Whovians?) love Christmas and all of its trappings, and they aren’t afraid to sing about it. The Grinch detests the entire affair for reasons that are pondered over by everyone, the options narrowed down to a badly screwed-on head, tight shoes or the fact that his heart is “two sizes too small”. Now, I’m not a cryptozoologist or a cardiologist but I’m going with the latter.
The Grinch works himself up into a real froth about the holidays this year (his 53rd, meaning it’s presumably been building up for decades) and plans, to quote Miley Cyrus, to come in like a wrecking ball and ruin Christmas Day. Meanwhile, everyone in Whoville goes about their merry preparations, even as The Grinch walks among them in disguise.
James Schultz brings an arch, lovably despicable zeal to the green monster, with expressive dance moves, slapstick pratfalls and knowingly camp big musical numbers. You’re a Mean One, Mister Grinch is a tour de force in its own right, a big-band romp of insults that has the children howling.
On Christmas night, The Grinch, dressed like a mall Santa who just got fired for smoking on the job, breaks into the houses of Whoville to purloin all the presents. He is caught by a wakeful child, Cindy-Lou Who, who innocently melts his cold heart a little, but not quite enough to thwart his intentions. It’s a hell of a role for a seven year-old (Aerina Deboer), who belts out a ballad (Santa For a Day) and nails the cutesy sass required with aplomb. When I was seven, I could barely remember my one line in the school nativity play.
The Grinch retreats to his mountaintop lair with a bulging sack, only to hear the Whovillonians celebrating heartily despite their lack of material gifts. This time, his biology is fundamentally altered and a glowing red heart starts to beat. He joins the party, returning the presents (if sneakily taking credit for them), presumably changed forever. The earlier disturbance is long forgotten as fake snow falls into the audience, much to the delight of the kids, and much to the relief of any parents who thought it might be an automatic fire hydrant of some kind.
W. Scott Stewart brings a charismatic world-weariness to Old Max, with Xavier McKnight a boundless ball of comic energy as Young Max. The diverse citizens of Whoville form a colorful, joyous chorus and John Lee Beaty’s dynamic set design evokes a striking, comic-book-like feel. It’s full-out optimism and feelgood fun, especially for younger audience members. In fact, to not enjoy this, you’d have to be some kind of…I don’t know...what’s the word for someone who hates Christmas?
How The Grinch Stole Christmas: The Musical plays at The Saenger Theater until December 20th
First Night Review
Well, a rogue fire alarm a third of the way through the show almost stole the Grinch’s opportunity to steal Christmas. It looked like an over-zealous fog machine triggered a semi-evacuation before order was restored. The cast recovered their poise admirably, started the interrupted song again and the line “There’s nothing to worry about!” was greeted with cheers from an audience (lots of children and their parents, as well as adults in purposely-gaudy Christmas sweaters) keen to get back to the story.
It was a triumph of the seasonal spirit that drives the plot of (to give it its formal name), Dr Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas, The Musical. Cave-dwelling misanthrope The Grinch lives in the hills above Whoville with his canine pet/sidekick Max, an older version of who acts as narrator.
The citizens of Whoville (Whovillans? Whovians?) love Christmas and all of its trappings, and they aren’t afraid to sing about it. The Grinch detests the entire affair for reasons that are pondered over by everyone, the options narrowed down to a badly screwed-on head, tight shoes or the fact that his heart is “two sizes too small”. Now, I’m not a cryptozoologist or a cardiologist but I’m going with the latter.
The Grinch works himself up into a real froth about the holidays this year (his 53rd, meaning it’s presumably been building up for decades) and plans, to quote Miley Cyrus, to come in like a wrecking ball and ruin Christmas Day. Meanwhile, everyone in Whoville goes about their merry preparations, even as The Grinch walks among them in disguise.
James Schultz brings an arch, lovably despicable zeal to the green monster, with expressive dance moves, slapstick pratfalls and knowingly camp big musical numbers. You’re a Mean One, Mister Grinch is a tour de force in its own right, a big-band romp of insults that has the children howling.
On Christmas night, The Grinch, dressed like a mall Santa who just got fired for smoking on the job, breaks into the houses of Whoville to purloin all the presents. He is caught by a wakeful child, Cindy-Lou Who, who innocently melts his cold heart a little, but not quite enough to thwart his intentions. It’s a hell of a role for a seven year-old (Aerina Deboer), who belts out a ballad (Santa For a Day) and nails the cutesy sass required with aplomb. When I was seven, I could barely remember my one line in the school nativity play.
The Grinch retreats to his mountaintop lair with a bulging sack, only to hear the Whovillonians celebrating heartily despite their lack of material gifts. This time, his biology is fundamentally altered and a glowing red heart starts to beat. He joins the party, returning the presents (if sneakily taking credit for them), presumably changed forever. The earlier disturbance is long forgotten as fake snow falls into the audience, much to the delight of the kids, and much to the relief of any parents who thought it might be an automatic fire hydrant of some kind.
W. Scott Stewart brings a charismatic world-weariness to Old Max, with Xavier McKnight a boundless ball of comic energy as Young Max. The diverse citizens of Whoville form a colorful, joyous chorus and John Lee Beaty’s dynamic set design evokes a striking, comic-book-like feel. It’s full-out optimism and feelgood fun, especially for younger audience members. In fact, to not enjoy this, you’d have to be some kind of…I don’t know...what’s the word for someone who hates Christmas?
How The Grinch Stole Christmas: The Musical plays at The Saenger Theater until December 20th