Matthew Morrison? Really? The nice, helpful, politically correct choir director? Surely not! Surely his nemesis Jane Lynch will have the green fur and the nasty attitude. No, it is in fact Mr. Shue who plays the iconic villain. And yes, he is quite evil, but like so many versions of Ebenezer Scrooge, he starts to show signs there is good in him early on. But when we finally meet him, which takes a while, he's so mean he even hates the kids watching TV! Yes, several times The Grinch breaks the fourth wall. Unlike the Jim Carrey movie, this production never really explains why The Grinch hates the Whos so much. We just know he DOES. We do learn the last straw is that sign the kids put up. But more on that later. That's an important feature of this movie.
Back to who The Grinch is here and what makes him different. He does show up in a department store, in disguise, before he ever steals Christmas (or at least its material representations). And the Whos are so nice. How can he still hate them? Also, the big scene with Cindy Lou is very different, and her reaction to him is quite unexpected. I think you just need to see it. And because this is a stage production, a lot of the excitement of the fast=paced scenes from the Boris Karloff special is missing.
I can't really say who is the best of the three: Morrison, Carrey or Karloff. They were all very good. Just different. If this is your first introduction to The Grinch, it is a good one, but the writing here does miss something. So I recommend this production for people who already know the character and just want to see a different interpretation. Morrison does a very good job with what he is given.
A new feature here is "Old Max", the narrator, who appears alongside his co-stars even though he is from a different time. He takes a lot of lines spoken by Karloff as the narrator back in 1966. The Grinch also gets some lines that Karloff spoke as the narrator. Actually, I think there are many more rhyming lines than Dr. Seuss wrote himself. If they're in the book, they weren't in the animated special. Dennis O'Hare is quite good but he takes too long to establish the story, and that's a writing problem, not anything negative about the actor. Considering this is a kids' story, I think they wasted a lot of time and made the production too long, and kids might get bored. Also, in some time zones it was way past their bedtime. Old Max tells us a lot about what it was like to be the sidekick to The Grinch. Believe me, it wasn't nice. And he takes the Thurl Ravenscroft role, singing the big number "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch". I like hearing it here, but I wish radio stations wouldn't play it. It isn't nice. It sure isn't nice the way O'Hare sings it, and that's a good thing.
Young Max actually helps The Grinch with his misdeeds. I remember the dog from the animated special being a lot happier, while Young Max behaves very much like a human and knows he is mistreated. Booboo Stewart is good too.
There are two other even younger actors playing Max. One is quite a gymnast or breakdancer. Can humans actually move like that? And there are also two characters who sort of act like servants in a few scenes. They resemble elves with green hair, one who seems to be a short adult rather than a child. They are funny.
Amelia Minto is the true standout here. If she isn't a big star in years to come I will be very surprised. Cindy Lou was a minor role in the animated special and a bigger role in Carrey's movie. She is not only a major character here but an outstanding one. While she has hair that makes Cyndi Lauper look like a cranky old librarian, she is so perky and so friendly, and has such a positive outlook on life. She is a supremely talented actress and singer for her age. And Cindy Lou and her friends are not ready to give up on The Grinch. Whatever his faults, she wants to send a message that even he is a friend, putting up a sign with her friends that says so. The R falls off and that's what The Grinch sees, making him so mad he has to take away everything good from these people. But all through the movie it is clear Cindy Lou and other kids think the villain is not beyond redemption.
Cindy Lou's mom also has a great role but I don't know the name of the actress. She too has the hair color that did not occur in nature.
The grandparents also add a lot. It should be noted that members of the same family are of different ethnic backgrounds. This is the politically correct version of the story, and several performers are African American or some other ethnic group that is not Caucasian, and some of these are married to characters who are, or have children who are, white.
Other characters have wild looking hair and costumes, but the hair colors are much more reasonable. Of course the costumes have a certain look, because Dr. Seuss created these people. And the same is true of the sets. This being a stage production, there is very little of the outdoors, and sets mostly show what is inside.
There is lots of talent here, including acting, singing, and dancing. The kids are talented gymnasts.
The familiar songs are here, with some revisions. I still don't know what "Dahoo Doris" means or how to spell it. Some of the songs must have been in the Carrey movie. I only saw it once and don't remember a lot about it. And maybe some of the songs are new to those who have only seen the other two versions of the story.
As I have said, there is a lot of wasted time here if your goal is too entertain children. I wonder if children will get bored during certain scenes. That's the only weakness I am aware of if this production is not compared to other versions. And I do wonder how much children will enjoy the older styles of music here. I am constantly being told online that the only people who like the music that I do are in their 80s and 90s. And yet the same basic musical styles from over fifty years ago are used here. The logic is that those who have seen the animated special will know the songs. But how did the kids of today learn to like those songs too?
There are at least two references to the present day. The Grinch uses the word "hashtag", and refers to "social distancing", which in his case was the result of being different from everyone else. Like Tigger from "Winnie the Pooh", he seems to be the only one, as he explains to Young Max. And something that was never allowed on TV back in the day does happen, and it's quite loud too. The Grinch shouldn't have eaten the food left for Santa Claus. Because certain foods can be quite noisy later.
This is a worthy effort, and one fans of the other versions of The Grinch can still enjoy.
