Little Grinches are regular characters in Easy Street Productions’ “Miracle on Easy Street,” but neither the holiday-hating Grinch nor the COVID-19 virus will stop the Mahoning Valley Christmas tradition.

Instead of a live production at Youngstown’s Powers Auditorium this year, Easy Street will turn the musical revue into an hour-long television special that will air multiple times on WFMJ and WBCB in December.

“We got the green light (on Friday) for ‘Miracle’ to become a TV special this Christmas,” Easy Street cofounder Todd Hancock said. “The GM at FMJ (Jack Grdic) agreed with Easy Street that the show must go on.”

Exact air dates haven’t been determined, but the special will be shown two times each on the locally owned channels.

Since April, Hancock has been thinking on an alternative to the live event, which traditionally has four public performances as well as multiple weekday morning performances for area school children.

“I knew in my gut that ‘Miracle’ probably wasn’t going to happen this year,” he said. “What way could we — and I know this sounds corny — save Christmas?

“Miracle is really what’s kept Easy Street in business the last 30 years. We put a lot of money behind our fall and spring shows, but we know Christmas can save us if we have slow sales. I knew the schools probably weren’t going to come this Christmas even if they’re in session.”

For the past 10 years, “Miracle” has been filmed with broadcast quality cameras for DVDs made available to cast members and families. Hancock said they will draw upon that archive of performances for part of the special, but he doesn’t envision that being more than 30 percent of the finished product.

The special also will include interviews with Hancock and Easy Street cofounder Maureen Collins about the show’s history, new performances from some past “Miracle” entertainers who have gone onto professional careers and musical numbers by the current group of students, known as “Little Rascals,” taking workshops with Collins.

“We can’t do big rehearsals with a bunch of kids, so those will have to be done Zoom style,” Hancock said.

The final content also will depend on the cost of securing broadcast rights for some of the holiday standards and more contemporary Christmas songs included in the show.

Hancock said he will start looking for sponsors to be involved with the production, and Easy Street also will be responsible for selling the commercial time.

“Having this show kind of go on and having it happen at all is going to be a miracle in itself, but it also brings some normalcy back to the holidays this year,” Hancock said. “Some people are dreading it, knowing they’ll be away from family members they’re around every year at the holidays. Those are the people who’ve been telling me, ‘Please save Christmas. Figure out a way to do that show.'”

“Hopefully it will be our gift to the community, something we’re all going to be proud of.”