YOU'RE A MEAN ONE….. MR. SCHEU!!! It has just been announced that Tony and Emmy nominee Matthew Morrison (TV's Glee along with Broadway's original Hairspray, The Light In The Piazza, the Lincoln Center Theater revival of South Pacific, and last seen on the Great Bright Way in Finding Neverland) will be ringing in the holiday season starring in an upcoming NBC Live televised presentation of the musical version of Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas!
Filmed LIVE from the Troubadour Theater in London, its set to air December 9th, 2020 at 8pm EST. For Morrison, you will experience an unbelievable transition before your eyes as he goes from playing the beloved show-choir director "Will Scheuster" to becoming Green starring as one of the most grouchiest and cold-hearted creatures of WHO-VILLE with no holiday spirit.
Joining Morrison will also include….
Tony Award winner and Emmy nominee Denis O'Hare (Broadway's original Take Me Out and the 2005 revival of Sweet Charity along with TV's True Blood, American Horror Story, and This Is Us) as the show's narrator "Old Max" (yup, the dog of "The Grinch" himself),
Booboo Stewart (well known as "Jay" in Disney Descendants) as "Young Max" (the Dog experiencing Drama of living with "The Grinch"),
newcomer Amelia Minto (the upcoming film The Lost Girls) as the beloved "Cindy Lou-Who",
and a full Ensemble of the West End's best!!!
The musical version of THE GRINCH features an original score by Mel Marvin and Timothy Mason including WHO LIKES CHRISTMAS, WHATCHAMA WHO, ONE OF A KIND, THIS TIME OF YEAR, and more. It also features some of the beloved Grammy winning songs written for the original 1986 Animated TV special adaptation by Albert Hague and Dr. Seuss himself) consisting of WELCOME CHRISTMAS and the fan favorite YOU'RE A MEAN ONE, MR. GRINCH.
In case anyone may not remember, HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS is based on the best selling Children's Book by Dr. Seuss. It tells the classic tale of a grouchy, solitary creature who attempts to put an end to the holiday season by stealing Christmas-themed items from the homes of the nearby town Whoville on Christmas Eve. Miraculously, "The Grinch" learns that Christmas may not all be about money and presents.
The musical adaptation of THE GRINCH originally was written and debuted for the Children's Theatre Company in Minneapolis, MN in 1994. With the stamp of Dr. Seuss' approval, it was remounted there again in 1995 and 1998. It later went on in San Diego, California at the The Old Globe Theatre where it has continued to become their holiday musical tradition performed every single year.
With the success of both the Minneapolis and San Diego runs, THE GRINCH went on to terrorize the holiday season in our very own New York City backyard on The Great Bright Way. It made its Broadway debut in 2006 playing the Hilton Theatre (currently The Lyric Theater) for a limited engagement of 129 performances total. It also made history as the first Broadway Musical running on the Great Bright Way performing 12 shows a week instead of the traditional 8 times a week. Under the direction of Tony winner Jack O'Brien and Matt August along with choreography by John DeLuca, the cast was led by…
Tony nominee Patrick Page as "The Grinch",
the legendary John Cullum as "Old Max",
Rusty Ross as "Young Max",
and
Nicole Bocchi and Caroline London alternating the role of "Cindy Lou Who".
In addition since the show featured a full set of children on stage, 2 rotating cast of children were split up to do 6 shows a week instead of the usual 12. Also, this is part of labor laws with children working underage and having to focus on both school and being normal kids.
With the success of the 2006 Broadway run, THE GRINCH returned to Broadway again for another encore engagement the very next year of 2007. This time, it played the St. James Theatre for a limited engagement of 109 performances total. With its same creative team, the cast was led by…
Patrick Page reprising the role of "The Grinch",
the legendary Ed Dixon as "Old Max",
Rusty Ross reprising his performance of "Young Max",
and
Athena Ripka and Caroline London alternating the role of "Cindy Lou-Who".
When THE GRINCH returned for its 2nd Broadway engagement, the plan was to boost the game up with performing 15 shows a week. However, the first first several weeks of performances were cancelled due to the 2007 Stagehand Strike. The production remained dark due to failed negotiations. However, the show's general manager David Waggett revealed that Local One had agreed to continue to work on the show due to the unique contracts with the show's stagehands, but later the same day the owners of St. James Theatre issued a statement that the musical will not reopen until the strike affecting all of Broadway had been settled. The producers of the musical brought the matter to court and were granted an injunction enabling the show to resume 2 1/2 weeks later. When it officially began, the show went down from doing 15 shows to now doing 11 shows a week.
Following the success of the Broadway engagements, THE GRINCH went on to steal the holiday seasons all around the world including several National Touring companies including several returns to New York City every few years playing The Theater at Madison Square Garden. It also recently debuted a UK Tour last year in 2019.
Today, THE GRINCH is such a popular holiday icon as a musical, book, and several films.
Who is excited about this new NBC Live production?
Who cannot wait to see Matthew Morrison GREEN?!!!
#TheGrinchLIVE
#WelcomeChristmas
#youreameanonemrgrinch
Matthew Morrison Will Lead DR. SEUSS’ THE GRINCH MUSICAL! on NBC
NBC is bringing the magic of Dr. Seuss' world to life in a new musical production airing next month! Matthew Morrison will star as the title role in “Dr. Seuss' The Grinch Musical!” set to air Dec. 9 at 8 p.m. ET/PT from the Troubadour Theatre in London.
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