‘Elf’ takes the stage at Bass Hall
An elf is a little guy. But this Elf is huge.
The holiday musical, based on the popular 2003 film starring Will Ferrell, arrives at Bass Hall on Tuesday for a five-day, eight-performance run, and it is anything but small scale.
“This show has become the new classic for this generation at holiday time. So we pay loving tribute to the film. It tells the same great story. But there is a big Broadway musical behind it,” says Sam Scalamoni, who has directed all three of the national touring productions of this musical, which opened on Broadway in 2010-11 during the Christmas season and returned to the Great White Way for 2011-12.
Scalamoni says the tour includes a 26-member cast, an 11-member orchestra and six stage hands. Additional crew will also be hired at every stop because of the show’s technical demands.
“Santa flies in this show,” Scalamoni says proudly.
Elf tells the story of Buddy, an orphaned child who is whisked away to the North Pole after crawling into Santa’s bag of toys while he is making his annual deliveries. Buddy is raised with the elves in Santa’s workshop, but his human size makes him an obvious misfit.
When he comes to understand why he is so different, Buddy sets off to New York City to find his father. The task is not easy, because he soon realizes that he also must goose up the flagging spirit of Christmas — the magical force that powers Santa’s sled.
The film has already established itself as a Christmas favorite, joining the ranks of classics like Miracle on 34th Street. It reportedly cost about $33 million to make, but has grossed more than $220 million worldwide.
The musical version has also proven to be a winner based on its two Broadway runs (it is difficult for a seasonal show to find a theater on Broadway so having multiple runs there is unusual and impressive) and its national tours.
“It’s a great, contemporary Christmas story. A lot [of Christmas stories] tend to be from the past, from Dickens and so forth. But not a lot of them are of today, of now,” Scalamoni says.
“And I think that is what is great about the film and the musical. It is about family right now, and it all feels very contemporary. There are a lot of hip kind of elements to it.”
Scalamoni, who lives in New Jersey near Manhattan, also likes the way the show presents the city that he considers home.
“We get to sort of bring our little New York vibe all the way across the country, which I think is great,” says Scalamoni, listing a number of iconic Big Apple locations, such as Rockefeller Center and the Empire State Building, in the show.
Because of the size of this production, it also appears to have a little more oversight than most touring shows, especially considering this is not its first time out.
“It is a very unique production because the composer [Matthew Sklar], the lyricist [Chad Beguelin], the books writers [Bob Martin and Thomas Meehan], all Broadway guys, were very involved in not just casting, but the rehearsals as well,” Scalamoni says.
Moreover, he and his choreographer, Connor Gallagher, will be making a trip to Fort Worth to check on the show — a costly and somewhat unusual extra step for a production on a relatively short tour.
But Scalamoni says he is likely to be pleased by what he sees at Bass Hall, given the care taken in casting the show. In addition to New York, the show’s creative team held auditions in Chicago, and in locations in Florida and California — a testament to the increasing quality of theatrical talent found outside of New York.
“Shows are written today in such a way that everybody needs to do everything. Now you have to find kids who can sing and dance and act. I think it took a little while for the training to catch up with that,” Scalamoni says. “But we found exactly the people we wanted. We didn’t have to settle at all. So hats off to the training that these kids are getting out there.”
The scenery, too, “looks like something out of a pop-up book,” the director says.
“It’s a pleasure to try to bring all of these elements together,” he says. “The most difficult thing is creating the right environment and setting the right overall tone.
“As a director, I have to remember that I set that tone every day. But as long as we get that right, we seem to get everything else right.”
Scalamoni also said he feels that this staged version of the story can offer some things the film does not.
“We get to spend a little more time with the characters and the relationships among them,” he says. “It is about family, and believing in something special and having hope. It really comes together at the end of our show when Buddy tells us that story. It is not all about giving gifts. So it is not just a puffy musical.
“It is about believing in something and having faith in something — on top of all these great entertainments they are going to get. It has lots great energy and tells a heart-warming story, as well. And I’m proud of that.”