Kelly Krieger as Buddy, sits on the lap of Santa, played by Jim Pall in the Music Box Dinner Playhouse production of ‘Elf.’ In the back row are cast mates Joe Gorham, Jill Gerson, Braden Vallach, who play Buddy’s Manhattan relatives.
Submitted photo
‘Elf’ the musical runs Dec. 1-17 in Swoyersville
Click here to subscribe today or Login.
Buddy (Kelly Krieger) brings a certain enthusiasm into the life of his real father, played by Joe Gorham. In this scene Buddy has discovered the joys of the office paper shredder.
Submitted photo
Jim Pall, as Santa, uses a snow globe to show Buddy where his father lives, in in the Music Box Dinner Playhouse production of ‘Elf.’
Submitted photo
Surely you know who Rudolph is. And Frosty. And George Bailey.
But, are you familiar with Buddy?
“He’s a 6-year-old living in a 30-year-old man’s body,” said Kelly Krieger, who has the title role in the musical “Elf,” which opens tonight Dec. 1 at the Music Box Dinner Playhouse in Swoyersville.
The character was “raised by elves,” Krieger said, “and he’s full of joy and child-like wonder and the Christmas ideal of what the world could be.”
Aww. That sounds so sweet. Who could resist such a person?
Well … when Buddy leaves the North Pole and travels to Manhattan to search for the human father he never knew, he’ll find plenty of people are impatient with him, from his biological dad to the boss who puts him to work in the holiday display of a major department store. Even his favorite co-worker there, a young woman decked out in elfin attire, will take a while to warm up.
“She’s a bit standoffish at first,” said DaVae Lewis, who plays Jovie. “But everyone has an inner child and when the right 5-foot-10 elf comes along, he’ll help her find hers.”
Jovie has had bad luck with previous boyfriends, and during a recent rehearsal break, several cast members pointed to her song, “Never Fall in Love with an Elf,” as one of the most humorous numbers in the show.
“One of her previous lovers stole her credit card. Another took her clothes,” Lewis said, sifting through the lyrics.
So an optimistic, enthusiastic elf would have to be better, wouldn’t he?
While Buddy works on building a relationship with Jovie, he also wants to work on bonding with his father, Walter, and with Walter’s wife and younger son.
Walter, who is on Santa’s naughty list, “has been detached from his family,” said Joe Gorham, who has that role. “His life is work, work, work.”
Eventually, Walter and his wife and younger son, Michael, and of course, Jovie, will rediscover their own Christmas spirit.
That should brighten the holiday season for audiences at this family-friendly show, director Kira Sky DeRemer said.
The stage musical closely follows the plot of the 2003 movie starring Will Ferrell, which DeRemer noted is traditional holiday viewing for many families.
“Christmas is a time of year when I look for nostalgia,” she said, noting that over the years she has so much enjoyed such long-time holiday favorites as “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” which debuted in 1964, that she’s sometimes resisted the appeal of more recent offerings.
That wasn’t the case with “Elf,” she said. “That immediately became a classic.”
The Music Box Players will present “Elf,” the musical, Dec. 1 through Dec. 17 at the Music Box Dinner Playhouse, 196 Hughes St., Swoyersville. Show times are 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays, with meals served 90 minutes before curtain and doors opening two hours before curtain. For reservations call 570-283-2195.