Elf the Musical

I had never seen this musical before but after a couple of bars of the overture I knew that I was going to be in for a treat. It was like going back to the days of the old blockbuster musical films full of fun, dancing, colour and good music.

Central to all the action is Buddy the Elf who suddenly discovers that he is, in fact, human and the story tells his adventures after he leaves the North Pole to travel to New York to find his father. The character is rarely off stage, but the irrepressible Leo Wright played him with so much energy he could have powered the theatre lights on his own. He showed us what a talented performer he is in singing, dancing, acting and comedy timing.

It is not easy opening a show as a singleton as we are so used to having a rousing chorus number. James Hogg (Santa Claus) was perfect as he started to tell us the story of Buddy and was ably assisted Sharron Burns (Mrs Claus). When he arrives in New York Buddy tracks his father down in the Empire State building where he has his office in a Children’s book publishing firm. Buddy’s dad is a workaholic, and he doesn’t spend much time with his family. Darrell Burns (Walter Hobbs) and Katie Gibson (Emily) found out that they were the parents of Buddy, and their lives were immediately turned upside down. Both these actors were ideal in their roles showing the different emotions associated with the situation perfectly. They also had excellent stage presence and powerful singing voices. The only
member of the family who welcomed the intrusion of Buddy was Michael Hobbs, the son. The performance that I saw had Travis Coleman in this role and showed that he is an up-and-coming star. He shared this role with Brandon Westaway, and I am sure that would also some notable talents. Every musical must have a romantic interest, and this was provided by Ellen Minton (Jovie) and she also shared her frustrations with her developing relationship. Once again, her stage presence, acting and singing impressed. Many of, the audience near me breathed a sigh of relief when the pair got their act together. There are many characters needed to tell a story and there were strong performances from Alison Gough (Deb), Andy Nicholls (Manager), Geoff Tunnicliffe (Mr Greenway), Ryan Spencer (Charlie), Ruth Stretton-Burns (Tiara), Flo Chambers (Chadwick), Callum Griffiths (Mathews), Ade Cox (Sam), Jess Mitchell (Charlotte Denton) and Chris Urwin (Fake Santa).

The chorus played a range of characters including Elves and Santas. It was just like the good old days of musicals with big casts.

The direction was excellent and well-paced with strong and confident singing throughout. The costumes were first class as well as being colourful and very appropriate. The orchestra, under the baton of John Nicholls, was well balanced and never drowned out the performers either in song or underscoring. There was some inventive choreography which was well executed with one of my favourites being Nobody Cares About Santa.

I must mention the technical aspects of the production. The set used a large digital screen programmed to support the different scenes and action. This was operated perfectly and the images used were of an extremely high quality. There was also a good balance of sound between the stage and orchestra pit, and I never missed a word. The technical team should be congratulated as the task isn’t easy.

Well done to everyone involved!

I just hope that the people thinking about closing the theatre were lucky enough to get a ticket for this production. If they managed to see it, then they couldn’t fail to realise what a diamond exists in Cannock town centre. I have visited the theatre twice during the past few weeks and on both occasions, there was a ‘house’ full of enthusiastic people of all ages.

Thank you CWAGMS and Prince of Wales Theatre.

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