Macaroni Review ~ How The Grinch Stole Christmas

      
How the Grinch Stole Christmas is playing at The Buell Theatre, and you and your littles will love it! If you’re a fan of the original animated Grinch Christmas special, you will be happy to know that your favorite songs, “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” and “Welcome Christmas” are prominently featured, along with some new songs performed by the Grinch, Max (his dog), and the Whos. As you might expect, the stage version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas is kind of like the original TV special...on steroids. 

  

The live show is narrated by Max, the dog. Max is now in his golden years, telling us the Grinch’s story from Max’s point of view, back when he was a young pup. I loved Old Max (played by Bob Lauder) as the storyteller; he sounded almost exactly like Boris Karloff, who narrated the animated classic. Other standouts included Cindy-Lou Who, played by 8-year-old Raleigh Shuck – she is so cute and adorable, you won’t even believe it – and Stefan Karl as the Mean One himself. It was great how he drummed his long, hairy/feathery fingers, and his voice and other mannerisms were just so…Grinchy.

    

The costumes were fun, as you’d expect for characters from a Dr. Seuss story. Both Young Max and Old Max had big bouncy tails, the Grinch was spectacularly green and fuzzy (though my son didn’t think his face should have been yellow), and the Whos had wild Who-like costumes. The set design looked like something right out of Dr. Seuss’s illustrations; I enjoyed how they were cartoon-like, adding to the awesomeness and the whole feel of the show.

   

How the Grinch Stole Christmas is good for all ages. I would highly recommend checking it out before it leaves town!
  
I received complimentary tickets for the purpose of writing this review.
  

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