Twenty-seven years aft the Old Globe launched its beloved “Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” musical, a Spanish-language version of the show will premiere in a pair of concert-style staged readings this fall.
“¡Cómo el Grinch robó la Navidad!,” which will be presented Nov. 21 and 22 at the Globe with Spanish-speaking actor-singers at music stands, a full orchestra and some costume and staging elements. This new translation will the first step in a planned future rollout of the show, including future concert dates and plans for a fully stage production that will be announced in 2026.
First presented at the Globe in 1998, the Mel Marvin/Timothy Mason musical was adapted from the 1957 children’s holiday book by Theodor “Dr. Seuss” Geisel, a longtime La Jolla resident who passed away in 1991. His widow, Audrey Geisel generously worked with the Old Globe before her death in 2018 to ensure the “Grinch” musical — about a grumpy and lonely green creature who schemes to steal Christmas from a nearby village — can carry on in his memory.
Each holiday season, more than 40,000 English-speaking audience members attend the Globe’s Grinch musical. That will carry on, but the new translation and adaptation of the musical was created to serve the more than 800,000 San Diego County residents, representing roughly 24 percent of the county population, who speak Spanish at home.
Barry Edelstein, the Old Globe’s artistic director since 2012, said the new Spanish-language edition of the “Grinch” fulfills the company’s mission “to make theater matter to more people.”
“This project represents the Globe at its best, making spectacular theater and sharing it with our community in innovative and entertaining ways,” Edelstein said. “We’re grateful to our partners at Dr. Seuss Enterprises for their unwavering and enthusiastic support.”
The new translation was written in Latin American Spanish by Katya María Ojeda Iturbide and Luis Gerardo Villegas, who have translated stage works and musical films made by Disney, Marvel, Pixar, LucasFilms, Netflix, Warner Bros. and DreamWorks, including “Aladdin,” “The Lion King” and “Frozen.”
The concerts in November will be directed by James Vásquez, who has directed 22 productions of “Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” at The Old Globe. He is now directing the theater’s production of “The Comedy of Errors” and will once again direct the fully staged English-language production of “The Grinch” opening in November.
“¡Cómo el Grinch robó la Navidad!” will be presented at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 21, and 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 22, on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage of the Old Globe Theatre in Balboa Park. Tickets will range from $23 for children ages 3 to 17 and $29 for adults. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Sept. 24 at 619-234-5623 and at theoldglobe.org.