‘Grinch' Opens Old Globe's Holiday Season With Comic ‘Scrooge' Hot On His Heels

By Editor, Times of San Diego

November 15, 2022

Two holiday favorites return to the Old Globe for their season runs, just ahead of the Thanksgiving festivities.

Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, directed by Resident Artist James Vásquez,, features Andrew Polec reprising his role as The Grinch. The production opened Sunday, and continues through Dec. 31 on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage.

Back for its 25th year, the musical features the songs “Santa for a Day,” “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” and “Welcome, Christmas (Fah Who Doraze),” from the popular animated version.

Principal cast members include Tyrone Davis, Jr. as Young Max; John Treacy Egan as Old Max; and, alternating in the role of Cindy-Lou Who, Issa Ally (Red Team) and Harper Quinn Hill (Pink Team).

Ebenezer Scrooge’s BIG San Diego Christmas Show, at the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre in Balboa Park, has its formal opening Nov. 22 (previews begin Friday), with the engagement continuing through Dec. 24.

Based on A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, the Scrooge parody is set in San Diego and written by Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen and directed by Greenberg. The iconic ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future still will visit the miserly Scrooge, but with a comic twist in “wintry” San Diego.

Tickets, which start at $32 for the Grinch and $39 for Scrooge, are available online.

Most of the cast takes on multiple roles. It includes Bill Buell as Actor 5 (Ebenezer Scrooge), Elizabeth Nestlerode as Actor 2 (Prudence Saint, Lavinia, Ghost of Christmas Present, etc.), Christopher M. Ramirez as Actor 4 (Bob Cratchit, Jacob Marley, Mr. Fezzi, etc.) and Jacque Wilke as Actor 3 (Gertrude Saint, Ghost of Christmas Past, Mrs. Cratchit, etc.).

Globe Artistic Director Barry Edelstein said the production delivers “a jolt of pure joy, filled to the brim with theatrical exuberance and holiday cheer.”

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