'Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical
Kidsday reporters getting ready to see "How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical" at the Hulu Theater in Madison Square Garden, from left, Maya Richards, Sean Boehmann, Ethan Schmutz and Jalissah Louis, all 10, from Patchogue
Credit: Jennifer Hempfling
On Saturday, we had the opportunity to see “Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical” in the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden. We had great seats up front and center stage. In one word the show is amazing. The musical is based on the story written by Dr. Seuss about a lonely, mean, green Grinch who doesn’t like the Whos in Whoville. The Grinch especially didn’t like Christmas, some say his heart was two sizes too small. The Grinch, along with his dog, Max, devises a plan to steal Christmas from all the Whos in Whoville.
The Grinch ties fake antlers to little Max’s head and forces him to pull the sleigh from his mountain home. They sneak into Whoville in the middle of the night and steal all the lights, wreaths, Christmas trees, food and presents from all the houses. Along the way, the Grinch encounters Cindy Lou Who when she is awakened by the noise he is making. She thinks he's Santa and she shares her Christmas love with him. The Grinch sends her back to bed and races with his loot back to his home high in the mountains with Max.
He is very pleased with himself and waits patiently to hear all the Who’s cry, “boohoo.” Instead, he hears all the Who’s singing below, and he realizes he couldn't take Christmas away from the Who’s. Christmas was in their hearts. At that moment, his heart grows three sizes and fills him with such love and joy that he races back down the mountain and returns all the presents he stole. He's even is invited to the Christmas feast.
We all gave this musical 5 smiles and highly recommend the show for kids 5 and older. We thought all the costumes were colorful and exciting to look at. The singing and dancing was great and made us want to sing along, we actually did sing as an audience to “You’re a Mean One Mr. Grinch.” Gavin Lee, the actor who plays the Grinch was awesome. His facial expressions and dancing had us laughing and kept us engaged in the show. It was practically impossible for us to dislike the Grinch.
We especially loved the parts when the Grinch climbs down the wall. The set design was made to be true to the illustrations in the book, which we thought was very creative. The narration by “Old Max” was an unexpected twist to the story. The interactive element at the end of the show left us feeling as if we were a member of Whoville ourselves and our hearts grew three sizes as well. We left the show excited for Christmas to come.
INFO The show runs through Dec. 30. Visit www.msg.com.
