'Glee’s’ Matthew Morrison Will Play The Grinch In a TV Musical Special
Getty Images, Dimitrios Kambouris / Staff
Matthew Morrison better be breaking out his old vocal warmups from his Glee days. Morrison, who played the down-with-the-kids Mr. Schue, has signed on to play the Grinch in a two-hour musical event for NBC. The special, Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch Musical! will air on December 9th at 8 p.m. ET from the Troubadour Theatre in London.
"In what has been an extremely challenging year for us all, it is an honor to bring some holiday cheer into viewers’ homes this December," Morrison said in a statement, per Entertainment Weekly. "My wish is to bring some Who-ville magic to this holiday season and, while the pandemic presents some challenges in bringing a stage production to life, we are excited to present a unique version of this seasonal favorite in a new creative and imaginative way."
This winter, “Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch Musical!” is bringing Whoville to the stage.🎄 See @Matt_Morrison in the holiday classic December 9 on NBC. pic.twitter.com/TQvYHpo1fK
— NBC Entertainment (@nbc) November 10, 2020
Ryan Murphy's Glee has gone through a bit of a renaissance period, likely due to the pandemic-caused nationwide Netflix binge. Dance numbers have been recreated on TikTok, tweets have pointed the absurd covers and plot points the show was able to get away with in the mid-2000s, and Morrison's Will Schuester has been virtually citizen's arrested too many times to count.
So, when the internet found out about Morrison's next role, the crowd went wild.
is this a threat? https://t.co/VfnMTNqhhk
— 𝐤𝖔𝖇𝐲 ♥ (@kobychill) November 10, 2020
matthew morrison playing the grinch is my villain origin story pic.twitter.com/dPNshp7scd
— the ultimate Michael™️ (@gonnaluvmeagain) November 11, 2020
The Grinch, himself, even has thoughts on the casting choice. Wow.
enjoying the cozy solitude of my computerless apartment, where the books are organized by the color of their spines.
— jack (@jack) April 13, 2006
Listen...maybe this is a "separate the art from the artist" situation, and we just have to let chips fall where they may. Will it be hard to not see Mr. Schue in full Grinch regalia during this live musical? Yes, absolutely. But let's do some mental preparation and try our hardest not to give into the meme-ability of the entire thing.