November 1, 2007 | Read Time: 2 minutes
Photograph by Craig Schwartz
It was the kind of selfless gift that the Grinch himself would have endorsed — once his heart had grown three sizes. A decade ago, for the first and only time, the widow of Theodor Seuss Geisel — the writer known as Dr. Seuss — gave away the exclusive stage-production rights and royalties to one of her husband’s most beloved stories, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
The beneficiary was the Old Globe, a San Diego nonprofit institution.
“I just gave it to them, and I never asked a thing,” says Audrey S. Geisel, who has long donated to the theater. “They’ve had 10 years, and to me, in giving it to them, I’m supporting the Globe theater.”
For the Old Globe, the gift has kept giving: Since it started producing the show in 1998, it has raised $100,000 annually, which the nonprofit theater uses for free tickets to first graders, a literacy program in local schools, and other projects.
When Broadway producers approached Mrs. Geisel about mounting a new Grinch production in New York, she approved it only when they agreed to let the Globe’s artistic director, Jack O’Brien, produce it there.
Inspired in part by the interaction with Broadway, Globe staff members reworked the San Diego Grinch production this summer, and it starts its 10th annual run on November 25. The Broadway production’s second season will start this week.
Mrs. Geisel, who attended the summer Globe workshops, says her husband, who died in 1991 at age 87, would be surprised and gratified that his story lives on.
“I’m kind of trying hard to let Ted know about it, knowing completely that he won’t,” says Mrs. Geisel, 86, who signs “Mrs. Seuss” below her legal name. “But I’m observing the emotion for him, and it is so rewarding.”
Shown here are members of the cast of the San Diego version of the show.
