Elf The Musical @ Bass Performance Hall (Performing Arts Fort Worth)
Photos by Jeremy Daniel
—Review by Jan Farrington
Elf the Musical is stopping at Bass Performance Hall for this weekend only—not much more time than it takes Santa to fill the stockings and rocket off again. With lots of clever, lively songs added to the comedy of the popular 2003 Will Ferrell movie, it’s a Broadway-built show that hits a nice spot between grownup musical and kids’ entertainment—if you know your kid. Young musical fans will find it fun; the littlest ones (at two hours, it’s a stretch) might just be looking for Santa.
The show’s script was written by Thomas Meehan and Rob Martin; the music is by Matthew Sklar with lyrics from Chad Meguelin; and direction is by Sam Scalamoni. Together, they rack up a lot of Broadway experience (Hairspray, The Producers, Annie, Beauty and the Beast, The Prom, The Wedding Singer), and it shows. The plot (a lost baby crawls into Santa’s sack and is raised by Santa & Elves at the North Pole…until he goes off to New York to find his “human’ future, whew!) is hilariously improbable. But the story-telling is funny, engaging, and makes us care about this long-legged Elf-man and what happens to him.
Opening night, I will note, had a few hitches in its giddy-up (ones I’m sure will be resolved for the next shows). “Technical difficulties” had Elf starting about 25 minute late (a long time for little ones). The problems seemed to be with the handling of scenery: the show has a lot of moving parts, and things went quite visibly wonky: two NYC department stores crashed together at center stage, the snowflake curtain had its own ideas about how it would “frame” the action (sometimes choosing an off-center, randomly “modernist” look), and a large tree flew in above a singer’s head and wobbled, refusing to land. I’m sure there were fits backstage—but it kept things interesting.
Glitches aside, music director Michael Gildin and his merry band were a pleasure to hear. The sets (by Christine Peters) were delightfully storybook, from Santa’s workshop to New York street scenes and Deco-inspired interiors—all lit with imagination by designer Paul Miller. And Gregg Barnes’ costumes were vibrant and detailed. I especially loved the wonderfully individual tones of the Elves’ belted costumes, like dumping out a box of the fanciest crayon colors.
But the chief charm of the show is its deep-bench, very talented cast.
Santa is played by the very funny Mark Fishback, whose quick quips keep us laughing. Incredibly long-legged Cody Garcia unfolds himself into the World’s Tallest Elf, Buddy. He’s laughably out of place, especially alongside the hard-working Elves of the ensemble, dancing Munchkin-like on their knees (wishing all y’all some combat pay!) to Connor Gallagher’s nifty choreography.
Garcia has a fine, big-range voice, more-than-decent comic chops, and the sweetness the role of Buddy requires. In New York, he’s matched with his “real” family (a Dad he’s never met, a stepmom, and a little brother), played well for both laughs and heart-tugs by Christopher Robert Smith, Caitlin Lester-Sams, and young Jaxon James. Buddy’s challenge is to melt the heart of his gruff, workaholic Dad, and put this stressed-out family back together. (He starts by winning over his Dad’s assistant Deb, played to a tuneful T by Nakiya Peterkin.)
Along the way, Buddy meets live-wire Jovie (terrific singer Tieisha Thomas), a fellow Christmas worker at Macy’s. He’s smitten, but she thinks the “new guy” is an oddball. As you’d expect, their little love story would melt a bucket of snowflakes.
Catch this Elf while you can, especially if a) YOU are a fan of the original movie; or b) the kid(s) in your life already have a bad case of the musical theater “bug.” They’ll think it’s great!
WHEN: Multiple shows today and tomorrow (closes November 13)
WHERE: Bass Performance Hall, Downtown Fort Worth
WEB: basshall.com
