Last week, from the theatre critic's cave high up on Mount Crumpit, I tuned into the CBC broadcast of the 1966 cartoon classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas for the first time in years. This was prep work for reviewing the 1994 musical based upon it and, cynically, I fully expected fond memories to be reawakened by the Boris Karloff-narrated cartoon and then crushed by the stage adaptation.
As it turned out, however, it was the TV broadcast - quite ironically, given the story's message, sponsored by a major credit card company - that left me with a Grinchy taste in my mouth, one that it took a lovely moment in the musical to completely rinse out.
Dr. Seuss's story of the Grinch, as you'll no doubt recall, is about a spindly, furry Scrooge who steals all the trees, gifts and "roast beast" from Whoville on the night before Christmas in an attempt to stop the holiday from coming.
Naturally, he does not succeed: The Whos wake up, happily celebrate the day with a song, the strains of which make the Grinch's heart grow three sizes that day.
The How the Grinch Stole Christmas! musical was refreshingly free of the product placement and ads that have insinuated their way into other commercial shows around town.
That's not to say that writer Timothy Mason and composer Mel Marvin's adaptation of the Seuss story is a new Christmas classic.
With the exception of the bombastic ballad Cindy-Lou Who sings ( Santa For A Day) - which constantly threatens to morph into Tomorrow from Annie - and the tunes filched from the TV special, Marvin's songs are dark and dissonant with more sharp corners that you'd expect in a children's musical.
Mason's lyrics, meanwhile, are no match for the silly simplicity of Seuss. They're awkward, frequently embarrassingly so, with obvious rhymes that get repeated more than is justifiable.
(It didn't help endear me to the score that the Sony Centre's sound system was malfunctioning on opening night - at first providing a sharp, tinny ringing backdrop to every song and never finding an appropriate volume. Those poor young ears.)
Dr Seuss' brief book has been expanded into 85 minutes with no intermission, but his story hasn't really been properly fleshed out. Rather bafflingly, the musical is framed as a melancholy memory play, narrated by the Grinch's pet Max (Bob Lauder), who is now an old dog and departing Whoville to mysteriously "retire." He mournfully reminisces on his life in the dear little village he knew as if he's Tevye leaving Anatevka. Presumably, Old Max was invented primarily so a character would be on hand who could sing You're a Mean One, Mr Grinch, but his bittersweet remembrances set entirely the wrong tone, especially in Lauder's dour performance.
But How The Grinch Stole Christmas has a saving grace: Stefan Karl, the dynamic Icelandic actor from the children's series Lazy Town who plays the Grinch in a nifty green costum. While contemplating his mean deeds, he contorts his body into all manners of cartoon villain poses and taps the tiny tendrils that come out of the end of each finger on any available surfaces including the head of his loyal dog (played as a pup by an unremarkable Seth Bazacas).
Near the end of the show, Karl even broke loose from the script and bantered, hilariously, with a few small children yelling "Merry Christmas" at him from the crowd. At this moment, the play came to life and the true message of the book - that Christmas is about sharing a moment together - shined through. It was truly joyful and my heart grew a size or two at least.
Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical
- Book and lyrics by Timothy Mason
- Directed by Matt August
- Starring Stefan Karl
- At the Sony Centre in Toronto
Dr Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical continues to Dec. 30.