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The San Diego Union-Tribune

Rated 'G'

Local kids tell us what they think about what's out there

December 3, 2005


'Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!'

The Old Globe Theatre is putting its musical spin on Dr. Seuss' quintessential Christmas story now through Dec. 31 in Balboa Park. All the Whos down in Whoville, Maxes young and old, and the grinchy Grinch himself are represented in full holiday splendor.

Tickets are $19 to $59 and may be purchased by calling the Globe's Ticket Services Department at (619) 23-GLOBE; by visiting the Globe box office in Balboa Park; or at


Review: Shivering as I was when I entered the theater,
I began to think, did I have a fever?
When it started, boy, did I get spooked.
I thought I might find a Grinch in my boot!
The Grinch, with his glow-in-the-dark eyes,
Looked at me in glowing surprise
I couldn't pay attention to anything else,
The Grinch was so great,
Thank goodness, I didn't come late!
The grouchy Grinch in green
sang his songs of mean,
until the love of Cindy Lou Who
when the heart of Grinch grew.
This musical you must not miss
for you have to find out why
the Grinch didn't like Christmas!

It's about that time when actors speak in rhymes and we think about the meaning of Christmas. In "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!," nothing can stop Christmas from coming, not even the mean old Grinch with his evil eyes that are scary to look at sitting in the dark at the Old Globe.

The Dr. Seuss-inspired play has magical set designs. One is created in pink, red and white. It made me think of candy canes and a place where Santa waits for you to sit on his knee.

Another design is a group of white mountains drawn in black and white. The town of Whoville has houses with smoke coming out of the chimneys, windows with lights on, and hand puppets that sing Christmas carols.

The dogs that were howling together are the Grinch's dogs, an old Max and a young Max. The show is told by the older Max (Ken Land), while the younger Max (Rusty Ross) is taken by the Grinch to help him with his plan to cancel Christmas. The acting of the "dogs" was really good, but both dogs seemed a bit too big to belong to the Grinch.

The Grinch (Leo Daignault) was great. You can see what an incredible actor he is by the faces he makes as he tries to steal Christmas from the Whos. Of the Who family, Grandpa Seth Who (Steve Gunderson) is the funniest because he's hard of hearing.

The who's who in Whoville was Cindy Lou Who (Timyra-Joi Beatty of San Diego), the young girl who wakes up and finds the Grinch stealing her tree. Timyra-Joi sings so well even though she's only in the third grade! She gave Grinch the love he needed to make his heart grow three sizes bigger.

I really liked the special effects in the scene where Max pulls the Grinch in his sleigh across the sky. The electronic mouse that comes out to see if the Grinch left any crumbs is cute, too.

The costumes are colorful, and I especially liked the curled-up shoes the actors wore. When the Whos sing "Last Minute Shopping," they show us how crazy we get when we buy something at the last minute.

At the end of the show, Christmas does come, and we know why it's never been canceled. Then we get to sing "Deck the Halls" with the actors who come into the audience, and guess what happens then? Soapy snowflakes fall on sunny San Diego.

At the movies

'Santa vs. the Snowman'

This animated IMAX film is sure to become a holiday favorite. You can catch it now through Jan. 1 at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center in Balboa Park. Tickets are $8.75 to $11.75. Call (619) 238-1233.


Review: "Santa Vs. the Snowman" is without a doubt the best and funniest animated movie of the Christmas season. The entire audience, no matter what their age, roared with laughter.

Because of IMAX magic, the toys at the beginning of the movie reach out toward you as the camera takes you, at floor level, into Santa's workshop. There sits Santa, checking his list of boys and girls, on his computer!

Outside Santa's workshop it is snowing and a mysterious light fills the air. A lonely snowman sees the light and follows it as it leads to Santa's village. He looks in the workshop windows and is amazed to see elves happy and singing about how wonderful Santa is.

This begins a very funny story about someone seeing that Santa represents joy and happiness and tries to figure out how to get joy and happiness for himself.

The movie is a mix of the traditional Christmas theme and modern-day life. The Snowman wants to actually become Santa and have everyone love him. And Santa certainly doesn't want that.

There is a big battle between the Snowman and hundreds of little snowmen (and big ice creatures that look like they stepped right out of a "Star Wars" movie), and Santa and all of his elves, riding sleighs motorized by jets. Actually the message here is not fighting to get what you want, but that the spirit of giving lives inside of all of us.

One of the best, and probably the funniest, sections of this movie follows the end of the picture. You will be treated to several "mistakes" that were made while filming this picture. It is all make-believe, and I believe that this movie will be around every Christmas from now on. It was great!

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