Elf

Elf is an iconic much loved Christmas film for me so I took my guest to see The Drama Dept’s production of it with some excitement. The ushers all had Christmas headbands on which only added some sparkle and fizz to the barely contained excitement and anticipation in the theatre auditorium, the lights dimmed and we were off!

The set was a very minimal set with very good use of trucks and minor props that the children could easily get to grips with. The projections work so well in this theatre space and The Drama Dept certainly know how to stage round and through them. The lighting throughout was sympathetic to the storyline and hit the button every time. I was personally very pleased that TDD had decided to radio mic most of the children - I could hear every word and note as clear as a bell.

The choreography was fresh and grabbed your attention. It is always lovely to see some real tapping in a production and not just the odd timestep, it is also a very brave lady that takes on a large amount of children between the ages of 5 and 15 and gets them to dance in jangly elf slippers! Great job Tracy Harper (Choreographer) and Jess Haslam (Dance Captain) you did Elf proud!

Jess Haslam played the role of Emily Hobbs, I must commend her on letting us in, by this  I mean in to her characters thoughts and emotions. She used her face and her eyes brilliantly throughout and her vocals were spot on too. She was a good counterpart for both Alex Lythe (Walter Hobbs) and Stan Millea (Michael Hobbs) to balance their characters on. Both gave good strong performances with some great vocals from Stan. Lauryn Pickles who played Jovie gave us a lovely, strong, sassy character with clear diction , enunciation and some super vocal work, she showed a level of vulnerability that I didn’t expect to see in one so young. She was the perfect foil for Buddy played by Seb Green, he kept his energy level up from start to finish, delivered a very strong, fun, solid performance and also he gave us some super vocals - well Done Musical Director’s Jess Sanchez and Gary Jones McCaw.

I have to mention the cast now as a whole or we will be here all day - every single one of them burst onto that stage with beaming smiles and sledge loads of enthusiasm, there were no prompts or lines dropped and they all looked very happy to be there. I must just give a special mention to Daniel Eccles, he played Santa in a huge beard and wig so we couldn’t see much of his face except for his eyes which he used brilliantly in expressing everything he was saying, well done Daniel - I believe you also had a wardrobe malfunction and coped with it superbly, a definite star in the making.

Once again I am stunned to hear that the children in this production range from age 5 to 15 and then I am shocked to hear that the show went from page to stage in just 7 weeks rehearsal time, a huge well done to director Michael Jone McCaw. Thank you for inviting me and for your wonderful hospitality, my guest and I thoroughly enjoyed it. See you all again soon.

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