Elf the Musical

Elf the Musical is based on the 2003 Christmas film many people know and love. It is a simple story of the spirit of Christmas being reawakened in cynical New York by a very innocent and loving elf. This elf, however, is in fact human. As an orphaned baby, he crawled unnoticed into Santa’s sack, and was brought up at the North Pole by Santa and his elves under the illusion that he was an elf himself. He gets a rude awakening on being told that he is in fact human, and is full of trepidation as Santa sends him back to New York to find his real Dad. All sorts of trials and tribulations follow for all involved, but this being an all-American Christmas story, of course it has a happy ending.

As usual, FAOS provided an excellent, well-designed programme. There were good, just the right length, Chairman’s and Director’s notes; comprehensive synopsis and cast profiles; a list of musical numbers; the always interesting list of past productions; and a very welcoming appeal for new members. At the top of the cast profile pages, there were jolly headshots of the cast wearing an astonishing array of different elf hats!

Musical Direction was in the very capable hands of Steven Bean. Although, to my mind, there are no memorable songs in this musical, the 11-piece orchestra was one of the stars of the show, directed with vim and vigour by Steve, providing a well-paced and energetic selection of musical numbers. Balance of sound between orchestra and voices was excellent.  There was quite a jazz element, which was super, and the orchestra played us out as we left - much appreciated.

There were lots of Christmassy props here of course. To the left of the stage was Santa’s cosy armchair and small table. The curtain opened then onto Santa’s workshop, where the 18 or so elves were working away getting all the presents made and sorted, at a very long table covered with a silver sparkly tablecloth. There was a signpost to New York City and Buddy’s journey there was indicated by people carrying way markers, one I remember was, I think, the Lincoln Tunnel. This was cleverly done. The backdrop of the New York skyline stayed in place right up to Buddy’s final return to the North Pole. In New York there was an impressive Souvlaki cart (who knew there was such a thing?). As Buddy found his way to his Dad’s office, he entered via an old lift (impressive doors) through the central office doorway. Macy’s looked splendid with wares displayed on round tables with gold tablecloths, just like Fortnum and Masons (for those of us who have never been to New York), with a fine Christmas tree, and Santa’s grotto in the corner. All so festive. The Hobbs house though was in marked contrast to that, not a bauble nor sprig of holly in sight, rather sad.

The second half started in a cheap Chinese restaurant for store or other type of Santas, entered via the central arch decorated with Chinese dragons. In Central Park we had a bench behind which was a trough with shrubs, and a lantern. Later it was enhanced with a marvellous Christmas tree and skating rink, or was it that people were skating on the frozen lake? Santa’s wonderful sleigh crash-landed there, and was nicely lit up in all sorts of different colours. A lot of hard work and thought had gone into all this.

Both lighting and sound were very effective throughout. The projections of Santa’s sleigh whizzing across the stage and round the auditorium, and of the falling snow doing the same, were lovely, quite a thrill.

There were two splendid Santa outfits for Santa and Mrs Santa, and several cheap and nasty ones for the Fake Santas at the restaurant. The elves looked jolly, the young lady elves especially good in their shiny skater-type dresses in many colours, with stripey long socks over their tights. Buddy, of course, was in green tunic and conical green and yellow hat, with yellow tights, and his green shoulder bag with red strap. This he always had over his shoulder, even when in his suit, or in his white outfit on his return visit to the Pole with his new young family. The Hobbs family were always dressed normally, except at the end, when Christmas Jumpers finally appeared, how nice to see the Christmas spirit finally appearing there!

Jovie always looked great, but her outfit for her (very disappointing) Christmas Eve date was fabulous, a kind of duck egg blue shiny dress with full skirt and astonishing gold high heeled shoes!

Elf, the Musical stands or falls with the standard of the three lead characters, and FAOS had found a super trio with Tony Carpenter as Buddy, Alexandra Yates as Jovie, and Mark Mowbray as Walter Hobbs. Fine performances from all. Tony Carpenter brought out all the carefree enthusiasm for life, the joyful grabbing of every opportunity, the wide-eyed innocence and the humour of Buddy. Alexandra Yates brought out Jovie’s sadness, her jaded attitude to dating following so many disappointments, and yet her perpetual hope that maybe a Mr Right might appear. Her surprise when she found that her evening with the very strange Buddy had in fact been rather fun, was delightful. Her renditions of ‘A Christmas Song’ and ‘Never Fall in Love with an Elf’ were super, she has a fine voice indeed. Mark Mowbray excelled as the archetypal American executive, stressed, always prioritising work over his family life, with an air of being perpetually distracted, and quite impatient and disinterested when it came to family matters. And then of course, with the chaos of the Buddy thing, he gradually thawed, and even he became quite loveable in the end! Well played.

The office employees were great too, took me back indeed! The awful boss (Kate Wakley – she was good) ramped up the pressure, reminded me of life at the high-powered US firms I once worked for.

Life at Macy’s was suitably buzzing, feverish activity, Buddy getting in the way.

Endearing performances from Francesca McPhee and Max Maze as poor Emily and Michael Hobbs, Emily having to do the work of two parents, it seemed, till Walter saw the light of course, and their delight at the end was palpable.

Santa Claus (Martin Sampson) and Mrs Santa (Sue Sampson) were cosy. We and Buddy felt safe with them, in great contrast to the way we all felt on edge at the Hobbs household.

The second half opened with an energetic, lively rendering of ‘Nobody Cares About Santa’ by the group of disillusioned, crotchety Fake Santas in the cheap Chinese restaurant, led so well by Nick Lang (who also made me chuckle as the perplexed and desperate Chadwick in the ‘search for a new story’ episode).

The heartwarming tap-dancing snazzy finale rounded off this well-directed and well-choreographed production.  A super team effort, which fizzed along full of energy and festive fun.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.