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

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

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 en ...

that aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

on December 9, 2020. It is a performance of an adaptation of the 2006 musical '' Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical'', which is based on the 1957 book ''

How the Grinch Stole Christmas! ''How the Grinch Stole Christmas!'' is a children's Christmas book by Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel written in rhymed verse with illustrations by the author. It follows the Grinch, a green cranky, solitary creature who attempts to thwart the pu ...

'' by

Dr. Seuss Theodor Seuss Geisel ( ;"Seuss"
'' London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. The special stars

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

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 piëce. The title o ...

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

and

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

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

Premise

The

Grinch The Grinch is a character created by children's author and cartoonist Dr. Seuss. He is best known as the titular main protagonist of the 1957 children's book ''How the Grinch Stole Christmas!'' He has been portrayed and voiced by many actors, i ...

'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!'' wit ...

Cast and characters

as The Grinch * Amelia Minto as Cindy-Lou Who *

as Old Max **

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 an 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 played " ...

as Mr. Who * Gary Wilmot 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 musi ...

" – 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? "Where Are You Christmas?" 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 under the title, "Chri ...

" – 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'' 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 Cra ...

'' 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. Directed by Rob Ashford and Beth McCarthy-Miller, produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, and written by Austin Winsberg, 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, ...

'', '' The Wiz Live!'', and '' Hairspray Live!''. 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 British sitcom, sitcom ''Men Behaving Badly'', and all of the four ITV Pantos. He co-wrote the 2006 film ''Flushed Away'', created an ad ...

. The program featured music by

Timothy Mason Tim or Timothy Mason may refer to: *Tim Mason (bowls) Timothy Mason (born September 16, 1974) is a Canadian lawn bowling, lawn bowler from Penetanguishene, Ontario. Bowls career He is a two time Canadian champion and has won both outdoor and i ...

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

NBC Entertainment NBCUniversal Media Group is the television and streaming arm of NBCUniversal, and the direct descendant and successor of the former division NBCUniversal Television Group, which existed from 2004–19. History NBC Broadcasting In 2006, NBCUniver ...

Release

The special aired on 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 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 created in ...

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

Seussical ''Seussical'', sometimes ''Seussical the Musical'', is a musical comedy with lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, music by Stephen Flaherty, and written by Ahrens and Flaherty. The musical is inspired by many of the children's stories of Dr. Seuss, with most ...

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

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

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

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'' 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 nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

'' Holiday Sing-A-Long special.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Doctor Seuss' The Grinch Musical Live! Adaptations of works by Dr. Seuss Dr. Seuss television specials 2020 musicals NBC television specials Musical theatre television specials The Grinch (franchise) Films shot in London