Elf The Musical

Many thanks to Centre Stage Productions for inviting me along to see their performance of Elf the Musical on Sunday 26th November 2023 at the Gaiety Theatre. This show is a musical adaptation by Bob Martin & Thomas Meehan of the nostalgic 2003 Christmas film of the same name. In this heart-warming musical, Santa narrates the story of Buddy, an oversized elf who has been raised in the North Pole. During the lead up to Christmas, Buddy overhears the other elves discussing how he is really a human but has not realised. He is devastated and Santa must reveal to his wannabe elf that baby Buddy mistakenly crawled into Santa’s bag of gifts on Christmas Eve many years ago and was transported to the North Pole on Santa’s return home. With Santa’s blessing, Buddy decides to travel to New York City to find his real father, who is on the naughty list. Shocked that his own father could be on the naughty list, he is further astounded that his half-brother does not believe in Santa. How can this be? Buddy decides to change the outlook and behaviour of his new family and bring the true meaning of Christmas back into New York City. Along the way, he discovers friendship, romance, and his true identity. After the success of Centre Stage’s past performances, it was unsurprising that this was to the highest of standards. 

Directed by Kristine Sutcliffe and assisted by Peter Shimmin, the audience were transported to a Christmas wonderland throughout the production, with all the theatrical elements contributing to this. The characterisations were naturalistic, with heightened personalities, with a slight infusion of stock characteristics, which enabled a cathartic reaction to the piece and had the entire audience in awe of what was occurring on stage. There was a great pace, some wonderful light and shade created to enable greater interest and engagement throughout the narrative; this was also achieved through creative use of staging, and the use of lighting & SFX (described further in detail below) added mesmerising detail. I adored the depth of characterisation of the majority cast, specifically those within the ensemble, which gave greater depth and honesty. The only thing I can think of which could have been improved would be to have creatively filled the blackouts for scene changes with continued action. This was achieved at times but did add negative space to the flow a few times, understandably though, when setting the coordination with such an elaborate set and technical are constrained to hours. 

Choreography was provided by Breeshey Crookhall and assisted by Molly Bowman, which was expertly constructed throughout. The dance was seamlessly entwined with the action using pedestrianised movement, retention of individual characterisation and staggered phrasing before moving into full dance break sections. I loved the used of various dance styles which were embedded, including rag time, Charleston, lyrical, acro, all of which matched the aesthetic and were always infused into the narration, never looking like an addition to what was happening onstage. I was also impressed at how drilled and precise the execution of the movement was from the entire cast. I truly applaud the members of the ensemble who undertook full dance numbers as elves on their knees, this was impeccable and a wonderful aesthetic. I hope they were wearing knee protection for these moments!! 

Musical Direction was provided by Claire Temple who arranged and led the 10-piece orchestra with finesse. There was perfect balance between the instruments, and I loved the variety of musical genre within the score. The cast were well-rehearsed and had a great blend and there was a huge wall of sound created during the crescendo of the full ensemble moments. 

The staging & lighting were a true delight for me. The selected hue for the scenes ranged from rich vibrant colours, which uplifted the energy of the show, to soft pastel saturated shades which added a wonderful calm and enchanting feel. For a lot of the production, there was a construct upstage of a New York City skyscraper landscape, this mesmerised me throughout as the windows within the detail were of a material which twinkled with the lighting, a minor detail, but an extraordinary effect. I adored the creativity of the staging whereby trucks moved within the action of the song with the crew or mechanics not being visible to the audience, adding more Christmas magic throughout the action. The pinnacle of the staging must be the Santa’s sleigh towards the end of the show. Spoiler alert for those who have not seen the film or show, but a big piece of the drama is that the sleigh will not fly due to the lack of Christmas spirit. Of course, Santa’s sleigh eventually flies in the show, and to see this in 360-degrees with elevation on stage was something like within a dream. I am not certain of the mechanics, but whatever was used, the theatrics used suspended the belief the engineering was not there.  

Costumes, hair and make-up were detailed throughout and to the highest of qualities. All were true to characters and ensured the realistic style of the production was upheld throughout. My most notable call out here would be that of the costume of Santa Claus, as he looked just as he would do in ‘real life.’ 

Now to the cast, I will start with a comment on the holistic cast including the ensemble deliberation. The cast worked as a solid unit throughout, each supplying high energy and solid technique throughout all the triple threat disciplines. There was a great unity between all cast members, and this bond enhanced the Christmas values of the production. I loved the children’s chorus who added that childlike innocence and purity to the narrative and the adults’ chorus were all strong and added context and dynamics to the show. 

Buddy the elf was played by Jack Divers who epitomised the joyous, spritely characterisation I would associate with this part. I loved how he chose not to mimic that of Will Farrell in the film version, but instead created a detailed characterisation which span throughout his kinosphere. His prominent level of dance technique was clear through both the choreography and his acting as every moment was positioned in tune with both line and the emotion and intent behind it; his energy filled the entire stage and theatre. He sang all songs wonderfully, utilising various vocal techniques which ensured his performance remained truthful, dimensional and interesting.  

Jovie, Buddy’s love interest throughout the performance, was played by Shay Marsden who took on a true character arc within her performance. Starting out as a worker at the Santa’s Grotto in the New York shopping centre, she had her full defences up to Buddy, and this read immediately. Within the number ‘Never Fall in Love (With an Elf), in which her strong vocal technique was highlighted, she expressed genuine vulnerability whilst acting through song, after she was stood up on the date she was promised by Buddy. At the end of the production, back at the North Pole, the barriers which were placed at the beginning of the production were lifted and she radiated the Christmas warmth and positivity of Buddy to bring a happy resolution to her journey. This was a wonderful performance and very honestly and transparently delivered. 

Santa was played by Chris Caine who, as alluded to before, epitomised this character in every essence, kindness, humility, gravitas and a sprinkle of festive humour always radiated from him. Santa in this production serves both as a member of the action as it transposes as well as a narrator telling the story in retrospect, and this juxtaposition carried well. 

Walter Hobbs, Buddy’s workaholic father, was performed by Geoff Pugh, who again had a nice character arc, from utter disbelief, rejecting the idea of Buddy, to changing his entire ethic to put his family before his job and accepting his lost son back into his life. This was very strongly played, and some moving moments were created from Geoff. 

Emily Hobbs, Buddy’s stepmother, was nicely played by Sue Tummon, who served as a foil to Walter, giving hope and depth to the absurd scenario which was in hand. There was a gorgeous duet between Emily & Michael Hobbs, Buddy’s Stepbrother, played by Ciaran Dougherty, in which they strongly kept their characterisations to act through the song to instil the message of the possibility Buddy’s story could be true. Ciaran played the role well and had a nice honesty to his performance. I did struggle with some of his diction, which I believe could have been resolved through slowing the pace of dialogue a little bit, but this is a minor comment. Michael was a shared role on alternating nights with Zac Colligon and I was informed Zac gave a similarly robust performance, with a slightly varied characterisation. 

Other named characters were played by Meg Walker as Deb, Andrew Deighton as Manager, Grainne Joughin as Greenway, Sean Reaney as Chadwick and Orry Wilson as Matthews, who all performed well in their respective roles. I would watch to ensure that consistency of acting style is kept in the featured roles as at times some of this cast lost the realistic style and chose to emphasise the stock characteristics, again a minor comment and very well performed. 

Thanks again to Centre Stage Productions for their invitation and hospitality to come and review this show. It really was an honour to see this work and the amount of love and Christmas Spirit the show delivered brought a warmth to my heart and tear to my eye.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.