Not that there was much doubt, but be assured: If you take your child to see "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas," running through Sunday at the Benedum, that child is going to like it.

Along with the beloved characters children already know from the classic Dr. Seuss book of the Christmas-hating Green One and other adaptations, this Broadway touring production offers eye-popping costumes and sets, a flying dog, "real" snow, lots of sing-alongs, and a gun that shoots confetti at the audience.

Did I mention the production also runs a child-friendly 80 intermission-free minutes? It can't miss.

MEET THE GRINCH AND OLD MAX

What's surprising, though, is that the show, with book and lyrics by Timothy Mason and music by Mel Marvin, is also sympathetic to the exhausted joylessness that starts to steal over adults this time of year at the prospect of all that shopping, travel and Who-feast prep.

Two songs in particular seem to acknowledge the Grinch point of view. The first, "It's the Thought That Counts," shows the usually tranquil Whos frantic to tick items off their shopping lists and laying down their last dollar to buy expensive toys.

The other, "What Cha Ma Who," reminds us that Christmas, in particular the tradition of lavish mounds of gifts for small children, can result in a high-decibel frenzy that is the opposite of seasonal peace. As the Who children shriek, whack rattles and thump drums, it's hard not to see the Grinch's point about the "noise, noise, noise, noise!"

Notable among those children is Cindy Lou, a part shared by Bailey Ryon and Clara Young. Her role in redeeming the awful Grinch is here much larger than it is in the original tale, and she sings "Santa for a Day" in a sweet voice that is all the more appropriate for being that of a real-life child, not an "America's Got Talent" phenomenon.

While the performances by the Whos, both Cindy Lou's family and the ensemble, are uniformly good, it's their wild Seuss-inspired costumes that steal the spotlight. Working in the book's limited palette of red, black and white (with a little green for you know who), costume designer Robert Morgan has conjured much of the distinctive visual style of Seuss while allowing the actors freedom to move.

Max the dog, played in his youth by Seth Bazacas and in his reminiscing old age by Bob Lauder, emerges as a character, and Mr. Bazacas' physical hijinks help personify the excitement of the Christmas season that children all over know first-hand.

But the biggest treat in this show, for kids and adults, is of course the Grinch himself, played by a mugging, strutting Stefan Karl to great effect.

Mr. Karl flings himself around the stage and hams it up (roastbeasts it up?) during his big Broadway-style ballad, "One of a Kind," which perfectly sums up the Grinch's boastful self-loathing.

The character's slime-covered glee is the show's antidote to its own sweetness, the sour cocktail onion that prevents the whole potion from going saccharine.