Green meanie

It isn’t easy being green -- especially when you’re playing that shaggy, sneering holiday antihero, the Grinch.

“This is one exhausting role,” says Jeff Skowron, who stars in “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. “But it’s a lot of fun.”

The musical, a 13-year tradition at the Globe, is based on the 1957 children’s story about the conniving creature who tries to keep Christmas from coming to Whoville by swiping the town’s presents, food and decorations. The Whos join hands and celebrate anyway, teaching the selfish thief the season’s true meaning.

To be a good bad guy Skowron must sing, prance, vamp and slither down the side of the proscenium (“at first that was kind of terrifying”) during each 90-minute show. The 34-year-old actor, who just began his second winter as the Globe’s Grinch, gives up to three performances a day (“down from four last year”) in a run that ends Dec. 26.

Skowron often arrives at the theater at 9:30 in the morning and heads home at 10 at night. He needs to leave plenty of time before the first curtain to put on his costume -- which resembles a spiky-haired yeti -- and makeup that transforms his face into a semi-feline scowl. As the day flies by, he says, “I’m dripping with sweat and everything smears and is dried on, so I have to go downstairs and start completely over before the next show.”

Another challenge, he says, is competing with audiences’ memories of Grinches past, notably ones from the story written by Seuss (a.k.a. Theodor Geisel), the oft-repeated 1966 animated television special and the 2000 Jim Carrey movie.

The theatrical version, which has music by Mel Marvin and lyrics and book by Timothy Mason, was commissioned by the Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis, where it first appeared in 1994. Globe Artistic Director Emeritus Jack O’Brien conceived and originally directed the San Diego production, which premiered in 1998. Over the years, the score gained two of the TV special’s songs, which have music by Albert Hague and lyrics by Seuss. “Doing this musical in San Diego is really special,” says Skowron. “It’s such an institution here. People who came as children now are coming with their own children.”

The Grinch usually is portrayed as a villainous curmudgeon who brings to mind another holiday stage favorite, Ebenezer Scrooge. Skowron takes a lighter approach. “Some people say, ‘Your Grinch isn’t scary. It’s funny.’ Well, I always thought of him as brattier rather than sinister.”

Even so, in the current production -- directed by James Vasquez -- he is trying to be “a bit more sinister, just to make it more interesting.” Keeping a character, as well as a show, fresh is a constant concern for holiday performers. “We’re lucky because we’ve got lots of kids involved,” says Skowron, “so things will never be boring.”

Skowron enjoys performing for young audiences -- although he admits he’s not quite sure what to expect this year when the Globe opens its 11 a.m. shows to the under-3 crowd. “I really love the student matinees,” he says. “You feel like you’re doing some kind of British pantomime. They yell out. They scream. They shout back. Half the time it fits right in because I’m yelling at them, too, telling them how much I hate them!”

He laughs a Grinch-like laugh. “It’s the perfect way to celebrate Christmas.”

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