Elf The Musical

This show sold out in a few days, which took Sharnbrook somewhat by surprise and in the rush for tickets I almost missed out on getting two to review it! Now having seen this production I can see why there was a mad scramble for them!  What a thoroughly entertaining evening we had with this top-notch production directed by Charlie Hammond-Smith.

The main stage, managed by Steve Ward, was bare to black and mainly relied on the use of furniture and props to depict each scene. To stage left a large box structure was erected, which at ground level had sliding doors giving us a very realistic lift or ‘elevator,’ through which many an entrance and exit was slickly made. On top of it at balcony height was a railed off area festively decorated in Christmas tinsel etc, with a large highbacked chair which depicted Santa’s home. Then with the use of a double-sided truck; on one side an interior scene of bench seating by the window of Walter’s home and the other side the exterior of the Walter’s house painted as white brickwork. The same truck was also used to depict a New York Yellow Cab. A special treat awaited us at the finale when Santa rode onto the stage in a huge sleigh, which just about manoeuvred across the stage before turning round and exiting to loud, appreciative applause. In contrast we also had a miniature sleigh fly high above us to great amusement to those in the audience that spotted it. Very neat and clever scenery design by Charlie Hammond-Smith, Dave Jones and Steve Ward and constructed with the additional help of Kevin Beirne, Tim Murden and Gerry Stanford. Great job guys!

Unfortunately, the scene changes themselves were a bit clunky and left quite long blackouts and I do feel that the overworked stage crew could definitely have done with some extra assistance, especially as with no wings at the Mill everything has to come on and off via the rear centre stage exit.

Lighting Design by Benjie Cronin, Charlie Hammond-Smith and Dave Jones and operated by Benjie Cronin, Bethan Lee and Luke Skeel did a first-rate job, and sound by Mark Luckin with a team of Ava Callan and Alexander Home was, as per usual crystal clear with not a troublesome face mic, despite almost the whole of this large cast wearing one. Well done indeed!

The Pinup girls of Virginia Pope, Deanne Tucker, Kim Hawking and Gill Ridley certainly had a busy time with kitting out the large cast in a splendid array of Santa and Elf costumes and a special mention to Phil Wise who made Buddy’s Jacket. I particularly like the black ‘kneepad’ pointy shoes worn by all the “adult” Elf’s which made a great sight and really added to the humour as they shuffled on and off the stage. Clever!

Props were supplied by Tracey Arnold, Sue Lander and Zandra Saxby and wigs by Debs Bobka. Buddy’s wig was particularly impressive and suited the character perfectly!

Our Elf Band, positioned on the balcony to the rear above the main stage was under the expert management of Kate Brewster, with the very familiar professional crew of Andrew Longland-Meech (Keys 1), Ed Jones (Keys 2), Tim Nightingale (Reed 1), Lesley Brazel (Reed 2), Chas Hutchings (Trumpet 1), Isaac Hutchings (Trumpet 2), Chris Topley (Trombone), Tim Brewster (Bass) and Dan Phillips (Drums). Faultless!

Sharnbrook Mill Theatre is going through a bit of a purple patch at the moment, with the addition of some recent, brilliant, new talent. This has very much been accentuated by such as Joe Bygraves, who played the lead role of Buddy. This guy has energy at a level most of us can only dream of. In fact, he is the epitome of the triple threat – to use Hollywood vernacular – he can sing, he can act and he can most definitely dance. The full nine yards of talent with his body language, comedic acting, facial expressions, great voice and his ability to interaction with an audience. This show only served to confirm what I said about him in Sharnbrook’s production of Hound of The Baskervilles back in March. Absolutely fabulous performance which carried the show. It’s breathless just watching him!

Katie Morton playing Jovie, his girlfriend, has a great vocal range particularly demonstrated in ‘Never Fall In Love (with an Elf).’ Another obviously budding talent (pun intended) was Willian Mclaughlin as Buddie’s half-brother Michael. What a confident and powerful voice for one of such a young age! Loved his rendition of ‘There is a Santa Claus.’ And he is no slouch in the acting department either. One to watch.

Paul Wildman as Walter it turns out does grumpy and work obsessed quite well and of course with his super voice he is always worth listening to. Good to see Leanne White back on stage as Deb with numbers like ‘In The Way’ and ‘Just Like Him.’ Mark Woodham was the archetypical Santa and as ‘Ho, Ho Ho’ as it comes, with Elspeth Duffy as his Other Half, Mrs Claus and some great comedy from the pair of them.

Emily Hobbs, played by Natalie MacPhall, is Walter’s devoted wife who would prefer her husband to spend more time with his family and copes somewhat better than Walter with the arrival of her ‘stepson,’ providing a clear contrast to Walter and is another powerful singer in this cast. Great empathy between her and William Mclaughlin’s Michael as demonstrated in ‘I’ll Believe in You.’

Mr Greenway, the cold-hearted businessman who owns the publishing company was splendidly played by Ian Howat. Tim Dawes played The Manager and Charlie, and Aaron Standage played Chadwick and the Fake Santa. Wonderful memorable comic moment when Buddy goes to pull his pants down! Josh Broomhead played Mathews and Jim and Louise Devonshire-Mander played Tiara.

Finally, we had a large chorus of thirteen adults and ten youth performers drilled to perfection by Choreographer Charlotte Pask who had come with superbly original routines which were only limited by the space to fit a cast of thirty-seven! Clever use of hand and body routines got around that problem.

This show was very pacey, had a cast with excellent voices and some very skilled actors to carry it off, which entertained the full house from start to finish. So well done to Charlie Hammond-Smith, his cast and crew, a lot of whom I note were brought in from other Bedford societies, which added an extra dimension to The Mill’s pool of talent. Thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish!

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