Dr Seuss’ The Grinch will be turned into a musical starring Glee’s Matthew Morrison set to air on NBC in December
Dr Seuss’ The Grinch will be turned into a musical for NBC just in time for Christmas, it was announced on Tuesday.
Former Glee star Matthew Morrison will play the titular character. The two-hour production is currently set to air on December 9 at 8 p.m ET.
Also starring in the upcoming musical are American Horror Story’s Denis O’Hare playing an older version of Max, the Grinch’s dog, with X-Men: Days of Future Past actor Booboo Stewart playing a separate, younger version.
He going to the stage: Dr Seuss’ The Grinch will be turned into a musical for NBC just in time for Christmas it was announced on Tuesday;pictured is Jim Carrey in 2000’s How The Grinch Stole Christmas
The Lost Girls actress Amelia Minto is set to portray Cindy Lou Who; the rest of the cast, including a child version of Max, is set to be announced in the near future.
The musical is set to be broadcast from the Troubadour Theatre in London.
In a clip from rehearsals that aired on Today, Morrison spoke about bringing the musical together under the changes brought on by COVID-19.
He noted that ‘while the pandemic presents some challenges in bringing the stage musical to life, we are putting together a really special show with some crazy, fun, imaginative things going on.’
He got the role! Former Glee star Matthew Morrison will play the titular character. The two-hour production is currently set to air on December 9 at 8 p.m ET; seen in March
In a slightly out of character moment, Morrison added that ‘we all need some cheer.’
The Tulip Fever actor will become the second actor to portray the Grinch in live-action following Jim Carrey, who starred in 2000’s How The Grinch Stole Christmas, which was directed by Ron Howard.
Numerous other actors have voiced the Grinch in various animated features, with the most recent individual being Benedict Cumberbatch in 2018’s The Grinch.
The classic: How the Grinch Stole Christmas, an American festive favorite, from 1966
The animated original came out in 1966.
NBC’S Doug Vaughn stated, ‘Dr. Seuss is an indelible part of all of our lives and we’re thrilled to bring a stage production of The Grinch Musical! to our audience. This is a perfect addition to our annual holiday program traditions and a telecast the entire family will enjoy.’
NBC has taken to producing and airing a number of musicals over the last several years, including The Sound of Music in 2013, Peter Pan in 2014, The Wiz in 2015, Hairspray in 2016, and Jesus Christ Superstar in 2018.
The network was also slated to produce live versions of Hair and Bye, Bye, Birdie, the latter of which was supposed to star Jennifer Lopez.
NBC eventually canceled the production of Hair and placed Bye, Bye, Birdie on hold, citing Lopez’s packed schedule
The last one: The Grinch (Benedict Cumberbatch) warns his dog Max and reindeer Fred about the seductive power of the Santa cookie as he trains them to help him steal Christmas in Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch from Illumination
The star: Cumberbatch is seen in 2019 in New York for The Current War premiere