Now that Children’s Theatre Company’s “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” seems to have settled into the role of theatrical comfort food – gracing the stage of the company’s larger auditorium on an annual basis – it’s interesting to examine how each new incarnation responds to the tone of its time.

Like the Guthrie Theater’s wintertime staging of “A Christmas Carol,” CTC is offering a tale of transformation about the liberation of a hate-bound heart, this one from the imagination of Dr. Seuss, with a dash of development from the 1966 TV cartoon.

Judging from Friday’s opening night performance at CTC, it seems the 13th time’s the charm for its musical adaptation of Seuss’ book. For this is indeed the most charming version of the story it’s yet presented.

In his second year at the helm of th

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