Morrison as The Grinch
The NBC adaptation of the Grinch stage musical, based on the children’s book How the Grinch Stole Christmas! by Dr. Seuss, has received mostly negative reviews from critics. The 1957 story was first adapted for TV in 1966 with Boris Karloff voicing the grumpy, green creature. The stage adaptation debuted in 1994 at Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis, eventually making it to Broadway in 2006 with Patrick Page. Other adaptations include the 2000 live-action film with Jim Carrey and 2018 3-D animated feature with Benedict Cumberbatch.
The NBC creative team includes Simon Nye (screenplay), Mel Marvin (music), Albert Hague (addl. music), Tim Mason (lyrics), Dr. Seuss (addl. lyrics), Julia Knowles (TV direction), Max Webster (stage direction), and Peter Bingemann (production design). The cast stars Matthew Morrison (Grinch), Booboo Stewart (Young Max), Denis O’Hare (Old Max), Amelia Minto (Cindy Lou Who), Claire Machin (Grandma Who), Amy Ellen Richardson (Mama Who), Ako Mitchell (Papa Who), and Cary Wilmot (Grandpa Who).
https://youtu.be/g_vZJPJn__I
AV Club (Caroline Siede): Whatever magic it conjures up in the shared communal space of a holiday theater very much doesn’t translate to the small screen. … There were some high points throughout the evening, including fun costuming, a committed Who ensemble, and a truly fantastic set design. … Yet despite all that, The Grinch never amounted to more than the sum of its whimsical parts.
CNN (Brian Lowry): Having brought back the live musical event, NBC offers … a not-live (and not-very-good) stage production. … Staged at the Troubadour Theater in London, the presentation was playful, colorful and visually inventive. … The songs, though, are unmemorable, other than the few cribbed from the original animated classic. … So while it’s a bit tired, perhaps, to say it in rhyme, this Grinch, alas, wasn’t worth the time.
Decider (Joel Keller): Morrison’s choices as The Grinch made us wonder what he and director Max Webster were going for. The gyrating, the makeup that made the Grinch look too handsome and too strange at the same time, the growls, the line readings … all of it added to a forced campiness that just didn’t work. … Our Call: SKIP IT. … You’ll never see the Grinch the same way after watching this mess.
Indie Wire (Ben Travers): Director Julia Knowles sure left no angle un-shot. For those watching without the distraction of a second (or third) screen, the sheer number of cuts, zooms, pans, and movement in general is overwhelming. It really feels like they were going for a zany, over-the-top vibe to match the Seussian weirdness driving this story, and while the set design and costumes got there, the performances, songs, and blocking didn’t quite make it. Grade: C.
USA Today (Kelly Lawler): I’m no Grinch, but NBC’s latest attempt at a holiday musical about him might have made me hate Christmas. … Grinch Musical was grating, painful and pointless from its opening moments. … There is one good thing in this travesty of a musical, and that is the clever set design by Peter Bingemann. … This version of the Grinch can be summed up in three words: stink, stank, stunk. 1 of 4 stars.