On Wednesday, December 9th, Dr Seuss’ The Grinch aired on TV as a live musical, starring Matthew Morrison as the Grinch, and it was…interesting, to say the least.
Listen, I have to give it this. It was Christmassy. If nothing else, it was Christmassy and sometimes, that’s all you can ask from any version of the Grinch. It had that classic heart warming charm to it, and that was good.
I was also really impressed by the set. It was really interesting to see the pages of the book turned into a set, and I also think the lighting was really good. I also really liked the costumes, they stood out against the black and white set and it helped the characters stand out and helped me focus on them.
At first, when I saw that Max the Dog was going to be the narrator, I was skeptical. Why did we need to flesh out the character of a dog? However, as it went on, it grew on me. I think that this is owed to Denis O’Hare, who I think did a great job as the narrator. I think that if the performance fell flat or was someone else, it would have been worse.
Now, let’s move on to Matthew Morrison. I’ve watched Glee and I’ve been on TikTok, so, to say the least, I’ve seen my fair share of Matthew Morrison hate. I think a lot of it is rooted in cringe and tone-deafness, and that’s kind of where I stand on him. I went into this with an open mind-I wanted to truly judge the performance as if I didn’t know who he was.
Overall, I think he did a good job. He was committed to the role and you could tell he was giving it his all. I think that it was refreshing to see a Grinch that wasn’t endearing or cute or funny–he’s supposed to be a bad guy. That insult to my couch early on hurt, bad. I also think that Booboo Stewart did a good job alongside him, complimenting his performance.
However, I could tell that he was trying to emulate Jim Carrey. That was my biggest concern and I could somehow feel that it was going to happen. I get it, it’s hard to think of the Grinch in any other way, and I do think he brought some of himself to the role. I just think that this made the musical more uncomfortable to watch-he was wincing after every word and a fart joke was slipped in there too. It was just hard to watch at times and I think this is why.
I think this can also be owed to the format. I just don’t think that the Grinch is a great story to tell in musical format. The songs were extremely forgettable. I wanted to see Morrison’s musical talent, because I’ve seen him sing before, and he isn’t horrible. However, it’s hard to not play the Grinch as you’re singing, and if you stop playing the Grinch while you’re singing the song, it wouldn’t feel like the Grinch anymore.
While it was super refreshing to see this story told in a different way, on a stage and from Max’s perspective, I just don’t know how well it works as a musical with songs built in. I think that a stage adaptation or a play would have worked just as well because the set and costumes were great, I just wanted to see more of Morrison’s musical talent and with a character like the Grinch, that’s hard to do.
Overall, I think that this was a fine rendition of the Grinch. I don’t think it’s the best by far, but given the circumstances of this year, I really appreciate them bringing something new and refreshing to audiences. I wish a lot of things were changed and I don’t think I’ll watch it again, but I don’t think it’s a complete waste of time. If you find yourself bored by other holiday movies, I might give this a try if you haven’t already watched it.