Movie Review: Dr. Suess's The Grinch! Musical

Stars: 2 out of 5
Pros: The actors playing Max, sets and costumes
Cons: Too many forgettable songs; Matthew Morrison’s Grinch
The Bottom Line:
Familiar story
Filled with forgettable songs
Stretching does not work

At the Risk of Being a Grinch….

I love Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas, both the book and the popular animated special.  I’ve loved them since I was a kid.  However, I’ve struggled with the attempts to turn them into something longer.  The recent version of the stage musical that aired on NBC is no exception.

The story is the one we are all familiar with.  With an older Max (Denis O’Hare) narrating something that he witnessed years ago, we get the story of the Grinch (Matthew Morrison), who hates Christmas.  Unfortunately, he lives near Whoville, and the Whos love Christmas.  Despite the efforts of young Cindy-Lou Who (Amelia Minto), who wants to be nice to the Grinch, the Grinch decides to steal Christmas with the help of the young version of Max (Booboo Stewart).  What will happen?

Part of my issue is that there is not enough story.  The book takes 10 minutes to read if you are reading slowly.  Seven minutes is probably more realistic.  The special is 25 minutes of show factoring in commercials (and probably a little less).  Now, we are going to stretch that out by another hour?  There just isn’t enough story to support that.  I do appreciate that they tried to expand on Cindy-Lou Who’s role and have her attempt to do nice things for the Grinch, but that still isn’t enough.

Instead, they try to fill this version with songs.  Lots and lots of songs.  This is The Grinch! Musical, after all.  Yet most of the songs are immediately forgettable.  Some of the dance numbers are okay, but they don’t make up for the bland songs.  And there are lots and lots of songs.  It is clear the songs are how they are padding the running time, but since I wasn’t enjoying them, it didn’t work for me.  At times, when the Whos were singing, they didn’t sound like they were in tune with each other.  I suspect it was an artistic choice, but it didn’t work for me.

I also struggled with Matthew Morrison’s Grinch.  Yes, he’s supposed to be mean early on, but he was over the top.  I did love both Denis O’Hare and Booboo Stewart as Max.  In fact, any time either version of Max got the spotlight was a highlight.

And I loved the costumes, makeup, and even the stage.  It looked like a Dr. Seuss book brought to life, right down to things on the set looking like pencil strokes.

I’d been curious about Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch! Musical, so I’m glad I finally got to see it.  It was pretty much what I expected, so I’m glad NBC made it easy for me to watch it.