The Nightmare Before Christmas light entertainment while marveling at how adept Hollywood has become at these techniques. There are songs, laughs, and a little romance. In short, "The Nightmare Before Christmas" does what it intends to: entertain." Desson Thomson of "The Washington Post" enjoyed stylistic features in common with Oscar Wilde, German Expressionism, the Brothers Grimm and "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari". Michael A. Morrison discusses the influence of Dr. Seuss' "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" on the film, writing that Jack parallels the Grinch and Zero parallels Max, the Grinch's dog. Philip Nel writes that the film "challenges the wisdom of adults through
Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical Max. In 2009, the musical was produced at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, California, and ran from November 10, 2009 to December 27, 2009. Stefán Karl reprised his role from the tour as the Grinch, with John Larroquette as Old Max, Kayley Stallings and Issadora Ava Tulalian as Cindy Lou Who, and James Royce as Young Max. In 2010, a North American tour ran in the cities of Omaha, Houston, Dallas, Tempe and Toronto. Stefán Karl performed as the Grinch and Brooke Lynn Boyd as Cindy Lou Who. In 2011, the tour played Providence, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, St. Louis and San