Who is likely to enjoy "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical" at the Hippodrome Theatre? Well, anybody who has read the 1957 Dr. Seuss book or watched the 1966 animated TV program, that's who.

This holiday-themed immersion in Whoville became a Broadway musical in 2006. Its beloved source material and breezy, intermissionless 75-minute running time make it a sure thing as family entertainment. All that good cheer ensures that the furry green critter known as the Christmas gift-robbing Grinch will have a Scroogelike change of heart and turn into something of a Santa.

The storybook-style set design, colorfully garbed cast, boisterous production numbers and, yes, simulated snow falling on the audience guarantee that this musical will fill you with holiday spirit.

By Broadway musical standards, however, it's hardly a great show. The agreeable score by Mel Marvin and concise book and lyrics by Timothy Mason certainly convey the essence of the story by Theodore Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss), but the theatrical treatment is not likely to linger in memory.

Brief songs quickly accomplish their task, the show marches ahead, and then most of the songs get reprised in the final scenes. Ironically, even the repetition does not imprint most of these songs in memory.

It seems significant that what does linger in memory are the two songs that aren't by Marvin and Mason. Albert Hague composed "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" and "Welcome, Christmas" for the 1966 TV special. Watching the unusual inhabitants of Whoville harmonize on these two numbers will prompt knowing smiles in the audience.

For all the sentimental appeal that accrues to such a show, it's rather thin as stage material. Although the Dr. Seuss-derived dialogue is clever and the scheme to destroy Christmas will make kids mildly anxious, there frankly isn't much plot amid all the storybook trappings. And while the broadly delivered performances are entirely appropriate for the material, all that mugging verges on being shameless.

Fortunately, there are a few performances that are so skillfully conceived that the human actors aren't entirely subservient to their outsized costumes. Most importantly, Stefan Karl is so tall and limber as the Grinch that it's a pleasure watching him slink around the stage and even climb the proscenium arch. He snarls, sings, prances, does a little soft shoe, and in numerous other ways really occupies the title role.

Among the big supporting cast, Walter Charles brings emotional conviction to his role as Old Max, an old dog who serves as the narrator; and Aaron Galligan-Stierle has so many endearingly cheerful facial expressions as Papa Who that he's a delight to watch. They're among the reasons this show tugs at your heart.

"Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical" runs through Nov. 23 at the Hippodrome Theatre, at 12 N. Eutaw St., in Baltimore. Tickets are $25 to $70. Call 410-547-SEAT or go to www.BroadwayAcrossAmerica.com.

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