elf the Musical

From the quiet opening scene with Santa sitting in his favourite armchair to the dazzling silver and white tap-dancing finale this production was full of “sparklejollytwinklejingley” –ness and at the heart of every scene was the larger-than-life, exuberant Buddy the Elf. Gavin McKay as Buddy gave a tour-de-force performance with a wonderfully strong singing voice, excellent dancing skills and perfect comic timing. Santa was played by Andrew Begg as to the manor born. Sophie Hamilton Pike as Jovie, Buddy’s love interest, was beautiful and her tongue–in-cheek ballad “Never Fall In Love With An Elf” was a delight. Michael Barrie as Walter Hobbs - Buddy’s (human) hard-nosed, workaholic Dad who eventually sees that family life is the most important thing – was perfect in the role. As was Rachael Watson as his wife Emily – her duet “I’ll Believe In You” with her young son Michael, played by the outstanding Archie MacLean, was really touching. Mention too must be made of Victoria Cowan as Hobbs secretary Deb and Gavin Davidson as Macy’s store manager - their comic talents added greatly to the humour of the piece. Strong support was given by Garry Watson (Mr Greenway), Stephen Reid (Matthews/Fake Santa) and Matthew Rose (Chadwick). The company singing and dancing was superb – even that of the 20 or so Santa suited men in the “Nobody Cares About Santa” number in Act 2! The set, including a flying Santa Sleigh, depicted New York City life to a “T” with the lighting adding greatly to the atmosphere. The 15 piece orchestra, under the careful baton of Craig Pike, played Matthew Sklar’s delightful score well and were sympathetic to the singers never once overpowering them. The costumes were appropriate to the characters and period, their colourfulness adding greatly to the jolly feel of the show. Congratulations to everyone involved – you certainly deserved the standing ovation given!

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