''Dr. Seuss' The Grinch Musical'' is an American

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

musical

television special A television special (often TV special, or rarely television spectacular) is a standalone television show which may also temporarily interrupt episodic programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Some specials provide a full range of ent ...

that aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

on December 9, 2020. It is a performance of an adaptation of the 2006 musical ''

Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical ''Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical'', or simply ''How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical'', is a seasonal musical adaptation of the 1957 Dr. Seuss book ''How the Grinch Stole Christmas!''. Productions Minneapolis Childr ...

'', which is based on the 1957 book ''

How the Grinch Stole Christmas! ''How the Grinch Stole Christmas!'' is a Christmas children's story by Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel written in rhymed verse with illustrations by the author. It follows the Grinch, a grouchy, solitary creature who tries to cancel Christmas by st ...

'' by

Dr. Seuss Theodor Seuss Geisel (;"Seuss"
'' London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. The special stars

Matthew Morrison Matthew James Morrison (born October 30, 1978) is an American actor, dancer and singer-songwriter, best known for his role as Will Schuester on the Fox television show '' Glee'' (2009–2015). He has starred in multiple Broadway and Off-Broadw ...

as the

titular character The title character in a narrative work is one who is named or referred to in the title of the work. In a performed work such as a play or film, the performer who plays the title character is said to have the title role of the piece. The title of ...

Denis O'Hare Denis Patrick Seamus O'Hare (born January 17, 1962) is an American actor, singer, and author noted for his award-winning performances in the plays '' Take Me Out'' and ''Sweet Charity'', as well as portraying vampire king Russell Edgington on HB ...

and

BooBoo Stewart Nils Allen "Booboo" Stewart Jr. (born January 21, 1994) is an American actor. He is known for playing Seth Clearwater in '' The Twilight Saga'', Warpath in '' X-Men: Days of Future Past'', Jay in the Disney television film franchise '' Descend ...

as Max the dog, and Amelia Minto as Cindy-Lou Who.

Premise

The

Grinch The Grinch is a fictional character created by Dr. Seuss. He is best known as the main character of the 1957 children's book '' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!'' He has been portrayed and voiced by many different actors, including Boris Karloff ...

's dog Max narrates how his old master (

) once schemed to ruin the festive holiday for the citizens of

Whoville Whoville, sometimes written as Who-ville, is a fictional town created by author Theodor Seuss Geisel, under the name Dr. Seuss. Whoville appeared in the 1954 book '' Horton Hears a Who!'' and the 1957 book '' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!;'' ...

Cast and characters

The Grinch The Grinch is a fictional character created by Dr. Seuss. He is best known as the main character of the 1957 children's book ''How the Grinch Stole Christmas!'' He has been portrayed and voiced by many different actors, including Boris Karloff, ...

* Amelia Minto as Cindy-Lou Who *

as Old Max **

Booboo Stewart Nils Allen "Booboo" Stewart Jr. (born January 21, 1994) is an American actor. He is known for playing Seth Clearwater in '' The Twilight Saga'', Warpath in '' X-Men: Days of Future Past'', Jay in the Disney television film franchise '' Descend ...

as Young Max *

Claire Machin Claire Machin is a British actress, best known for her work in musical theatre. Career At the age of 16, Machin trained at Sylvia Young Theatre School, taking part in an adult drama course. Through the 1990s and early 2000s she appeared in the ...

as Grandma Who * Amy Ellen Richardson as Mrs. Who *

Ako Mitchell Ako Mitchell is a British-American actor and filmmaker. Ako directed and co-wrote the short film "I'm in the corner with the bluebells" part of the international shorts competition at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival. Ako recently p ...

as Mr. Who *

Gary Wilmot Harold Owen "Gary" Wilmot, MBE (born 8 May 1954) is a British singer, actor, comedian, presenter, writer and director who rose to fame as a contestant on ''New Faces''. As a television presenter, he is best known as the host of '' You and Me'' ...

as Grandpa Who * Alfie Murray as Boo Who

Musical numbers

* "Who Likes Christmas?" – Citizens of Whoville * "This Time of Year" – Old Max and Young Max * "I Hate Christmas Eve" – The Grinch * "Whatchama Who" – The Grinch * "Welcome, Christmas" – Citizens of Whoville * "I Hate Christmas Eve (Reprise)" – The Grinch * "It's the Thought That Counts" – Citizens of Whoville * "One of a Kind" – The Grinch * "Now's the Time" – Mr. Who, Mrs. Who, Grandma Who, Grandpa Who * "

You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" is a Christmas song that was originally written and composed for the 1966 animated special '' Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!''. History The lyrics were written by Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel, the music ...

" – Old Max, Young Max, and The Grinch * "Santa for a Day" – Cindy-Lou Who and The Grinch * "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch (Reprise)" – Old Max * "

Where Are You, Christmas? "Christmas, Why Can't I Find You?" is a song written by Mariah Carey, James Horner and Will Jennings for the movie '' How the Grinch Stole Christmas'' in 2000. In the film, it is first sung by Taylor Momsen, who played Cindy Lou Who. Mariah Carey ...

" – Cindy-Lou Who * "Who Likes Christmas? (Reprise)" – Citizens of Whoville * "One of a Kind (Reprise)" – Young Max, The Grinch, Cindy-Lou Who * "This Time of Year (Reprise)" – Old Max * "Welcome, Christmas (Reprise)" – Citizens of Whoville * "Santa for a Day (Reprise)" – Ensemble * "Who Likes Christmas? (Reprise)" – Ensemble

Production

Development

In November 2020, ''

TODAY.com ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It wa ...

'' reported that another musical special would be released by

. The last special, ''

Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert ''Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert'' is an American musical television special that was broadcast live on NBC on April 1, 2018 (Easter Sunday) and rebroadcast (from tape) on Easter Sunday 2020, April 12, 2020. Executively produced by Craig ...

'' aired live in 2018 and no live special was released in 2019. Before that, NBC had also released ''

The Sound of Music Live! ''The Sound of Music Live!'' is an American television special that was originally broadcast by NBC on December 5, 2013. Produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, the special was an adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein's 1959 Broadway musical ''T ...

'', ''

Peter Pan Live! ''Peter Pan Live!'' is an American television special that was broadcast by NBC on December 4, 2014. The special featured a live production of the 1954 musical adaptation of ''Peter Pan'', televised from Grumman Studios in Bethpage, New York, sta ...

'', ''

The Wiz Live! ''The Wiz Live!'' is an American television special that aired live on NBC on December 3, 2015. Produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, it is a performance of a new adaptation of the 1975 Broadway musical ''The Wiz'', a soul/ R&B reinterpretation ...

'', and ''

Hairspray Live! ''Hairspray Live!'' is an American television special that aired live on the American television network NBC on December 7, 2016. Produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, and hosted by Darren Criss, it is a performance of a new adaptation of the ...

''. Unlike the previous specials, this one would not be live, but rather pre-recorded over 2 days. Morrison said that the special was originally intended to be live, but due to COVID protocols, it was too impossible to do it live. The program was directed for the stage by Max Webster and directed for the screen by Julia Knowles. The screenplay was adapted by

Simon Nye Simon Nye (born 29 July 1958) is an English screenwriter, best known for television comedy. He wrote the hit sitcom ''Men Behaving Badly'', and all of the four ITV Pantos. He co-wrote the 2006 film ''Flushed Away'', created an adaptation of Ric ...

. The program featured music by

Timothy Mason Timothy Wright Mason (2 March 1940 – 5 March 1990) was an English Marxist historian of Nazi Germany. He was one of the founders of the ''History Workshop Journal'' and specialised in the social history of the Third Reich. He argued for the " ...

and Mel Marvin. It also featured two songs written by

Albert Hague Albert Hague (born Albert Marcuse, October 13, 1920 – November 12, 2001) was a German–born American songwriter and actor. Early life Hague was born to a Jewish family in Berlin, Germany. His father, Harry Marcuse, was a psychiatrist a ...

and

Dr. Seuss Theodor Seuss Geisel (;"Seuss"
'' ''How The Grinch Stole Christmas!'' The special was produced by Morrison, who played the lead role, and executive produced by Lee Connolly, Simon Friend,

Joshua Rosenblum Joshua Rosenblum (born May 10, 1963) is an American composer, conductor, pianist, arranger, and music journalist. He has composed extensively for the concert hall as well as for musical theatre, and currently teaches Composing for Musical Theate ...

, and James Sanna. The project was overseen by Doug Vaughan, executive vice president of special programs at

NBC Entertainment NBCUniversal Television and Streaming is the television and streaming arm of NBCUniversal, and the direct descendant and successor of the former division NBCUniversal Television Group, which existed from 2003 to 2019. History NBC Broadcasting In ...

Release

The special aired on the night of December 9, 2020, at 8 p.m. EST on

Reception

The special received poor reviews. Caroline Siede of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' gave it a "C", mainly criticizing Morrison's performance as the Grinch, as well as the source material, saying the score "makes ''

Seussical ''Seussical'' is a musical comedy by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, based on the many children's stories of Dr. Seuss, with most of its plot being based on ''Horton Hears a Who!'', '' Gertrude McFuzz'', and ''Horton Hatches the Egg'' while in ...

'' look like a masterpiece in comparison". Brian Lowry of

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

stated that "the show felt bloated and flat" with all of the commercial breaks. Kelly Lawler of ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...

'' gave the presentation only one star out of a possible four, calling it the worst of all the previous adaptations of the story. The special received a 0.6 rating among the 18–49 demographic and 2.5 million viewers, and was beaten by ''

The Masked Singer ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' Holiday Sing-A-Long special.

References

External links

* * {{NBC Live! Adaptations of works by Dr. Seuss Musicals based on novels 2020 musicals NBC television specials Musical television specials The Grinch (franchise) Films shot in London