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Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage
Old Globe Theatre
Conrad Prebys Theatre Center
Andrew Polec as The Grinch and Tyrone Davis, Jr. as Young Max in Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, 2022. Photo by Rich Soublet II.
Book and lyrics by Timothy Mason
Music by Mel Marvin
Original production conceived and directed by Jack O’Brien
Additional lyrics by Theodor S. Geisel
Additional music by Albert Hague
Original choreography by John DeLuca
Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas! is a wonderful, whimsical musical based upon the classic Dr. Seuss book. Back for another incredible year, the family favorite features the songs “Santa for a Day,” “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch,” and “Welcome, Christmas (Fah Who Doraze),” the delightful carol from the popular animated version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas! Celebrate the holidays as the Old Globe Theatre is once again transformed into the snow-covered Who-ville, right down to the last can of Who-hash.
Running time: One hour and 25 minutes. There is no intermission.
Children under the age of three will be admitted to 10:30 a.m. performances only, which are open to all ages. At the 10:30 a.m. performances only, children under the age of two are free, but must occupy the same seat and sit on the lap of a parent or guardian in attendance. Regardless of age, each audience member, including babes in arms, must have a ticket to be admitted into the theatre. Free lap tickets for children under two must be obtained from the Ticket Office are not available online. You may reach the Ticket Office at (619) 234-5623. (Please note: free lap tickets are not available for three-year-olds.)
As in years past, The Grinch will be performed on Saturday, December 10 at 10:00 a.m. for children on the autism spectrum and their families, as well as other families with special needs that may appreciate the welcoming and supportive environment this performance provides. There will also be a free AXIS event before the performance for all to enjoy!
More on Sensory-friendly Performances
Open captioning is live text displayed simultaneously to the performance and does not require the user to have any special equipment for viewing the text. To purchase tickets within view of the captioning screen, click the show titles below or contact our Ticket Services Department at (619) 23-GLOBE (234-5623) or Tickets@TheOldGlobe.org. Tickets for open-captioned performances go on sale on the single-ticket on-sale date and are subject to availability.
Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas!: Tuesday, November 29 at 7:00 p.m.
American Sign Language–interpreted performances are scheduled upon request with at least three weeks’ notice. Requests are subject to the availability of interpreters and accessible seating arrangements, and are provided at the discretion of management. Advance notice (four weeks or more) will allow for best seating options and more flexible date availability.
Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas!: Sunday, November 20 at 5:00 p.m.
Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas!: Sunday, December 11 at 10:30 a.m.
Production sponsor Elaine and Dave Darwin for Grinch. Financial support for The Old Globe is provided by The City of San Diego. The Theodor and Audrey Geisel Fund provides leadership support for The Old Globe’s year-round activities.
Dr. Seuss Properties TM & © 1957 and 2022. Dr. Seuss Enterprises, L.P. All Rights Reserved.
Timothy Mason (Book and Lyrics) The Old Globe: Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas! Broadway: Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas! Circle Repertory: Levitation, Only You, Babylon Gardens, The Fiery Furnace. Actors Theatre of Louisville: In a Northern Landscape. American Conservatory Theater’s Young Conservatory: Ascension Day, The Less Than Human Club, Time on Fire, Mullen’s Alley, My Life in the Silents, The Life to Come. Other titles: South Coast Repertory, Seattle Rep, Victory Gardens, Jungle Theatre, Royal National Theatre. Novel: The Darwin Affair (Algonquin Books).
Mel Marvin (Composer) The Old Globe: Tintypes, Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas! Broadway: Yentl, A History of the American Film, Tintypes (Tony Award nomination), Fascinating Rhythm, Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, Cymbeline. Theatre: 11 Off Broadway shows, dozens of scores, from Shakespeare to Kushner, for America’s best-known regional theatres, including Lincoln Center Theater, Arena Stage, Guthrie Theater, ART, ACT, La Jolla Playhouse, Mark Taper Forum (where he wrote the original music for the world premiere of Angels in America). Opera: Guest from the Future, Buwalsky, Truth and Reconciliation, Isolation. Other: Head Faculty Composer, Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program, Tisch School of the Arts, New York University.
Jack O’Brien (Conceived and Directed Original Production) The Old Globe: Artistic Director, 1981–2007. Broadway: All My Sons, Carousel, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Front Page, It’s Only a Play, Macbeth, The Nance, Catch Me If You Can, The Coast of Utopia, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Henry IV, Hairspray, Imaginary Friends, The Invention of Love, The Full Monty, Porgy and Bess, more. Other work: national tours, West End, Metropolitan Opera, San Diego Opera, PBS’s “American Playhouse.” Other awards: three Tony Awards, five additional nominations, 2008 Theatre Hall of Fame inductee. Books: Jack in the Box, Jack Be Nimble: The Accidental Education of an Unintentional Director.
James Vásquez (Director, Swing) The Old Globe: Resident Artist; Hair, American Mariachi (world premiere), Hurricane Diane, Tiny Beautiful Things, Rich Girl (West Coast premieres), The Rocky Horror Show, Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas! Regional: Cabaret (Goodspeed Musicals), American Mariachi (Denver Center Theatre Co.), In the Heights (Dallas Theater Center, Moonlight Stage Productions), Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax (associate director, Children’s Theatre Co.), West Side Story, Cats (SD Musical Theatre), Pageant, Hedwig... (Cygnet Theatre Co.), Next Fall, Pippin (Diversionary Theatre). Education: The Juilliard School, Drama Division. jamesvasquez.com.
John DeLuca (Original Choreography) Current: Producing The Little Mermaid (live action).Film: Mary Poppins Returns, Into the Woods, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Nine, Memoirs of a Geisha, Chicago, The Terminal. Television: Tony Bennett: An American Classic, “The 75th Annual Academy Awards,” “The Kennedy Center Honors.” Awards: two Emmys, three Golden Globe Best Film noms, three AFI Top Ten Best Films, three National Board of Review Top Ten Films, four Critic’s Choice Best Film noms, BAFTA nom, Choreography Media Honors, two American Choreography, Hamilton Behind the Camera, Humanitas Writing, Chita Rivera Award. Theatre director/choreographer: Broadway, Off Broadway, City Center’s Encores!, The Public Theater, regionally.
Bob Richard (Additional Choreography) Broadway/tour: Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas! Off Broadway: directed/choreographed Inventing Mary Martin: The Revue of a Lifetime (Joseph A. Callaway Award nomination), The Road to Qatar! As director: North Shore Music Theatre, Ordway Center, Theatre By The Sea, 5th Avenue Theatre, Theatre Under The Stars, Pioneer Theatre Company. International: Shanghai, Beijing, Singapore, Tokyo, London, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. Awards: Footlight Award, Gypsy Rose Lee Award, Ivey Award, Ernie Award, San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award. Coming soon: new national tour of An American in Paris, South Pacific.
Elan McMahan (Music Director) The Old Globe: Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax, As You Like It, Inherit the Wind, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas! Regional: Ragtime, In the Heights, West Side Story, Titanic, Big Fish, Sweeney Todd, A Little Night Music, 50 more productions (Moonlight Stage Productions), Forbidden Broadway (North Coast Rep), Into the Woods (New Village Arts). Education: B.Mus. in Piano Performance from Brigham Young University, M.Mus. in Piano Performance from St. Louis Conservatory of Music. Awards: San Diego Theatre Critics Circle Craig Noel Award for Outstanding Musical Direction (2012, 2015, 2017). Other work: associate faculty at MiraCosta College.
John Lee Beatty (Scenic Design) The Old Globe: The Underpants, Much Ado, Richard II, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Love’s Labor’s Lost, Redwood Curtain. Broadway: 117 productions; Plaza Suite, Sweat, Disgraced, The Nance, Good People, Venus in Fur, Other Desert Cities, The Royal Family, The Color Purple, Rabbit Hole, Doubt, Chicago, Proof, A Delicate Balance, The Heiress, The Sisters Rosensweig, The Most Happy Fella, Burn This, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Talley’s Folly, Crimes of the Heart. Off Broadway: Whipping Man, Sylvia, Substance of Fire, A Life in the Theater, Lips Together…, MTC, Circle Rep, Encores! Awards: Tonys, Obies, Drama Desks, Outer Critics Circles, Theater Hall of Fame. Education: Brown, Yale School of Drama.
Robert Morgan (Costume Design) The Old Globe: Associate Artist. Broadway: The Grinch, The Full Monty, Imaginary Friends, I’m Not Rappaport, Sherlock’s Last Case. Off Broadway: Pride’s Crossing, Saturn Returns (Lincoln Center), The Loves of Anatol (Circle in the Square). Television: American Playhouse’s The Skin of Our Teeth, A Christmas Carol. West End: The Full Monty. Regional: Ahmanson, American Conservatory Theater, American Players Theatre, Denver Center, Guthrie, Huntington, Kennedy Center, McCarter, Milwaukee Rep, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Portland Center Stage, Seattle Rep, Studio Arena Theater, Williamstown. Awards: two Drama Desk nominations, 12 Drama-Logue Awards.
Pat Collins (Lighting Design) (1932–2021) The Old Globe: Camp David, Twelfth Night, Cymbeline. Broadway: Orphans, Good People, The Grinch, Doubt (Tony nom), Sight Unseen, Proof, Moon for the Misbegotten, A Delicate Balance, The Sisters Rosensweig, Conversations with My Father, The Heidi Chronicles, I’m Not Rappaport (Tony), Execution of Justice (Drama Desk), Ain’t Misbehavin’, The Threepenny Opera (Tony nom), Once Upon a Mattress, An American Daughter. Other work: Off Broadway, Lincoln Center, Mark Taper Forum, McCarter, Berkeley Rep, Seattle Rep, Hartford Stage, Alley, Center Stage, Long Wharf, Guthrie, Goodman, ART, Actor’s Theatre of Louisville, over 100 international operas.
Paul Peterson (Sound Design) The Old Globe: The Taming of the Shrew, The Brothers Size, God of Carnage, Nobody Loves You, Welcome to Arroyo’s, The Mystery of Irma Vep, Kingdom, The Women, Two Trains Running, Hold Please, Restoration Comedy, Pig Farm, Moonlight and Magnolias, Lucky Duck, The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow, Blue/Orange, Time Flies, Pentecost, Compleat Female Stage Beauty, many more. Regional: Milwaukee Repertory Theater, San Jose Repertory Theatre, Center Stage, La Jolla Playhouse, Sledgehammer Theatre (Associate Artist), Mo`olelo Performing Arts Company, San Diego Repertory Theatre. Education: B.A. in Drama with an emphasis in Technical Design from San Diego State University.
Anita Ruth (Orchestrator) As orchestrator/arranger/musical director: over 150 musicals in the last 30 years. As musical director: Chanhassen Dinner Theatres (1968–1988). As freelance music director/orchestrator: Children’s Theatre Company, Bloomington Civic Theatre, Theatre Mu, others. Guthrie Theater: three Shakespeare productions (as arranger/music director), A Christmas Carol for many years (as music director). Other work: orchestrated two operas composed by Mel Marvin: one presented in Holland, one at Bard College (2004).
Joshua Rosenblum (Vocal Arrangements and Incidental Music) Broadway, as conductor: Miss Saigon, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Grinch, Wonderful Town, The Music Man, Falsettos, Anything Goes. Off Broadway, as composer/lyricist: BUSH IS BAD, Fermat’s Last Tango, Einstein’s Dreams (Drama Desk nomination). As guest conductor: Brooklyn Philharmonic, New Jersey Symphony, American Repertory Ballet. As pianist: New York Pops (Carnegie Hall), City Center Encores! Faculty member: NYU (conducting), Yale University (composition). Music director: Pit Stop Players. Contributing writer: Opera News. Education: B.A. in Music from Yale (summa cum laude), M.Mus. in Piano from Yale School of Music. Wonderful family: Joanne, Julian, Phoebe.
David Krane (Dance Music Arranger) (he/him/his) Film/television: Best Picture Oscar winner Chicago, Nine, Into the Woods with Meryl Streep, My Week with Marilyn with Michelle Williams, Mrs. Santa Claus with Angela Lansbury, Cinderella with Whitney Houston, Annie with Kathy Bates, Mary Poppins Returns with Emily Blunt.Upcoming: The Little Mermaid with Melissa McCarthy. Broadway: 35 shows; Cabaret with Alan Cumming, Kiss of the Spider Woman with Chita Rivera, Victor/Victoria with Julie Andrews, She Loves Me with Laura Benanti. Original shows: Aspire, The Road to Qatar!, Goin’ Hollywood (upcoming 2023 in Dallas). goinhollywood.com, davidkrane.com, @davidkranemusic on Twitter and Instagram.
Caparelliotis Casting (Casting) The Old Globe: What We Talk About…, Dial M for Murder, Mala, Shutter Sisters, Hurricane Diane, Noura, They Promised Her the Moon, Tiny Beautiful Things, Barefoot in the Park, The Wanderers, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Skeleton Crew. Select Broadway: Ohio State Murders, Macbeth, The Minutes, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, King Lear, Hillary and Clinton, Ink, The Waverly Gallery, The Boys in the Band, Three Tall Women, Meteor Shower, A Doll’s House Part 2, Jitney, The Glass Menagerie, Blackbird, Fish in the Dark, Disgraced, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo. Additional theatre: MTC, Signature, Atlantic, Goodman, Vineyard. Television: “New Amsterdam” (NBC), “American Odyssey” (NBC).
Jess Slocum (Production Stage Manager) The Old Globe: Dial M for Murder, El Borracho, Hurricane Diane, Noura, As You Like It, They Promised Her the Moon, Familiar, The Imaginary Invalid, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Love’s Labor’s Lost, tokyo fish story, In Your Arms, Bright Star, Othello, Water by the Spoonful, Pygmalion, A Room with a View, Robin and the 7 Hoods, dozens more. Regional: Noura (Shakespeare Theatre Company); Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord; Indecent; Side Show; Ruined; The Third Story; Memphis; Most Wanted (La Jolla Playhouse). Education: Vanderbilt University.
Amanda Salmons (Assistant Stage Manager) The Old Globe: Come Fall in Love, Bob Fosse’s Dancin’, Life After, The Blameless, American Mariachi, October Sky, Rain, The Metromaniacs, The White Snake, Inherit the Wind, over 30 more productions. Regional: Blueprints to Freedom: An Ode to Bayard Rustin (La Jolla Playhouse), Kiss Me, Kate (Hartford Stage), The Foreigner, See How They Run, The Rivalry (Lamb’s Players Theatre), The Gondoliers, The Pirates of Penzance, Candide, Trial by Jury (Lyric Opera San Diego). Education: UC San Diego.
Lyndon Pugeda (Associate Music Director) Part of The Grinch since 2014. Music direction: Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax, Picasso at the Lapin Agile (The Old Globe), Memphis, On Your Feet!, Once on This Island (Moonlight Stage Productions), Gutenberg! The Musical! (Backyard Renaissance Theatre Company), Forever Plaid: Plaid Tidings (New Village Arts). Associate: Benny & Joon (The Old Globe), Bhangin’ It (La Jolla Playhouse). Honors: Craig Noel Award nomination and three National Youth Arts Awards for Outstanding Musical Direction, 2020 Who-ville Hall of Fame inductee. Education: B.A. in Music: Interdisciplinary Computing and the Arts from UC San Diego. @lyndonpugeda on Instagram.