Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! plays final performance on Broadway

The children's musical, Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! � The Musical, plays its final performance on Broadway on 6 Jan 2008, as scheduled. When the show closes it will have played 13 previews and 96 regular performances.

The musical, which began previews on 1 Nov 2007, and opened on 9 Nov 2007, had an eventful run.

The show was closed on 10 Nov 2007 when Local One (Broadway's stagehands union) went on strike. The producers of Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! � The Musical finally persuaded Local One, that since they negotiated a special contract with the union in Aug 2007, (Allowing the show to have up to 15 performances in one week, as opposed to the usual 8), that they should not be included in the current industrial dispute.

Local One agreed to resume work on the show and ordered the removal of the picket line outside St James Theatre on 19 Nov 2007, with the intention for the show to reopen on 21 Nov. However, Jujamcyn Theatres, owners of the St James Theatre, then announced that they were locking the stagehands out of St James Theatre, thus preventing the show from resuming performances.

The producers of Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! � The Musical went to court on Wed 21 Nov 2007, in order to force the Jujamcyn Theatres to allow the show to resume performances. The court agreed with the producers, and Jujamycn were ordered to allow the theatre to reopen.

As a result of the injunction Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! � The Musical finally resumed on 23 Nov 2007, but there was always the danger that the show may have been forced to close as Jujamcyn Theatres were to appear in court on 27 Nov 2007 to seek to have the injunction lifted. However, on 26 Nov 2007 Jujamcyn Theatres announced that they had dropped there appeal.

In Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! � The Musical, a Christmas hating Grinch steals all the xmas toys and decorations from the Christmas loving Who's family. As the musical unfolds both the Grinch and the Who's learn the true meaning of Chriatmas. The show includes two songs from the 1966 Grinch film: 'You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch' and 'Welcome Christmas.'

The musical recieved mixed reviews: "A tasty morsel of a show for families." (New York Daily Post); "Mason's writing is still largely uninspired. His stabs at Seussian rhymes remain awkward, and his book retains some glaring errors." (Variety). The musical, which played an earlier engagement in 2006, was not reviewed by most Broadway critics.

The cast features: Patrick Page (Grinch), Rusty Ross, Jan Neuberger, Janet Dickinson, Amy Griffin, Kurt Kelly, Josephine Rose Roberts and Pearl Sun.

Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! � The Musical has book and lyrics by Timothy Mason and music by Mel Marvin and was directed by Matt August and choreographed by John DeLuca.

Set design was by John Lee Beatty, with costumes by Robert Morgan, lighting by Pat Collins and sound by Acme Sound Partners.