How The Grinch Stole Christmas: Steal With Style

Watch out, Patti.  Step aside, Betty.  Make room, Eartha.  Broadway's got a brand new diva and this time it's a big, green, hairy fella.  When Patrick Page makes his star entrance playing the title role in How The Grinch Stole Christmas, it's with a striking pose of diabolical panache that would make Tallulah take notice.  Before long he's kicking up his heels in a snazzy vaudevillian turn and dropping acid remarks with foppish glee.  "I love it when the little ones cry," he sneers while pointing out at the audience, but really, he's far too loveable to be frightening.  Instead of the traditional boos reserved for villains in children's shows, the sight of Dr. Seuss' tiny-hearted creation, a guy who hates Christmas, drew such cheers of delight from the audience full of little tykes the night I attended, you'd think that Santa Claus had just come down the chimney.

In transporting the Grinch to the Broadway stage (in a production that has become a holiday tradition at The Old Globe in San Diego), bookwriter/lyricist Timothy Mason and composer Mel Marvin stick closely to the words of Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel's 1957 classic and the visual images of animator Chuck Jones' beloved 1966 television adaptation.  Their seventy minute one-act musical expands on the story a bit, and seven new songs accompany the two written by Geisel and composer Albert Hague for television, but the show completely remains in the world of Dr, Seuss, without any need for contemporary references or elaborate affects.  What makes How The Grinch Stole Christmas better than most Broadway fare for kids is that its magic comes from wonderful words and smart story telling.

The Grinch, of course, is the mean-spirited greenie living just north of Who-ville, the community of kindly hearted folks who, as the good doctor tells us, liked Christmas a lot.  I suppose any urban-dweller could relate to the Grinch's predicament.  He had really noisy neighbors. Every Christmas morning the little Who kiddies would wake up early and make a horrible racket playing with their new toys, and after a big holiday feast, all the Whos would ring holiday bells and have a loud community sing.

But instead of leaving a note asking them to keep it down a bit, the Grinch disguises himself as Santa, hitches his emotionally abused dog Max (the funny Rusty Ross) up to a sled, and on a remarkably busy Christmas Eve, manages to steal every toy, every morsel, every bell and tree from Who-ville.  But when he discovers that the Whos, don't really need all that material junk to have a joyous Christmas, the Grinch has a change of heart, quite literally, and realizes that being nice to one another is really kinda cool.

In adapting this basic story, the authors have done a bit of healthy tinkering with the role of little Cindy Lou Who, the tiny tot who appears only briefly in the book as the little girl who discovers the incognito Grinch trying to steal her family's Christmas tree.  In the stage version she reveals an open hearted desire to show kindness to the sad creature she's never even met and winds up being a tad cleverer than you might expect.  Her catchy ballad about friendship called "Santa For a Day" might have more than one budding young actress setting aside her "Tomorrow" sheet music for a spell.  Pretty-voiced Caroline London played the role when I attended.  She alternates with Nicole Bocchi.

Most of Dr. Seuss' original text is given to the always-welcome Broadway star John Cullum, who narrates the story as an older version of the Grinch's dog, Max.  He seems to be having a merry time of it, wagging his tail at the audience and leading everyone in a sing along of "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch."

Matt August's direction and John DeLuca's choreography (Jack O'Brien is credited as creator and supervisor) zips along nicely while John Lee Beatty's set and Robert Morgan's costumes may have you yearning for a peppermint stick, sticking to Dr. Seuss' sole use of red, white, black and a touch of pink for the Who-ville scenes.

While leaving the theatre I heard the sweet little girl sitting behind me (who had been quiet for the whole performance!) ask, "Mommy, can we see it again?"  My sentiments exactly.

Photos by Paul Kolnik:  Top:  Patrick Page

Center:  Patrick Page holding Nicole Bocchi

Bottom:  John Cullum