From the time of its release in 2003, the movie Elf has been hailed as a modern Christmas classic, if not one of the greatest Christmas films of all time. So it was somewhat predictable that Elf would be made into a Broadway musical seven years later. But with songs like “Sparklejollytwinklejingley” and “Nobody Cares About Santa,” there’s a natural tendency to write off the show as frivolous holiday fare. However, under Amy Marie McCleary’s insightful direction, the Broadway Palm production of the musical operates as a delightfully meaningful quest for identity and purpose.
As the show opens, Buddy makes a startling discovery. He’s no elf. He’s a human, who came to the North Pole after stowing away in Santa’s bag as a toddler one Christmas Eve thirty years ago.
McCleary explained the significance of the opening scene, “One of my jumping-off points for Elf was it reminds me a lot of the musical Annie and it even mentions it in the show. Like right when Buddy discovers that he is human, he says ‘I’m an orphan, like Annie.’”
But Buddy isn’t an orphan.
It turns out that Buddy has a biological father, a stepmom and a half-brother living in New York City. This revelation launches Buddy on a journey of self-discovery.
If he’s not an elf, then what is he? And who is he connected to?
“That’s the catalyst for every part of the show,” observed Zach Greer, who inhabits the role of Buddy. “It is so deeply profound and it’s something that everybody can relate to. We all want understanding. We all want community. We all want to know who we are. We’re all searching for some semblance of personal identity, and I think Buddy’s very empathetic in that way because everybody just wants to belong.”
Viewed from within this framework, "Elf the Musical" will resonate with anyone and everyone who has ever patronized Ancestry.com, 23 and Me or FamilyTreeDNA. Even before COVID, family genealogy had become a cultural phenomenon, with more than 35 million Americans taking recreational DNA tests. Most - just like Buddy – were motivated by a sense of rootlessness attributable to the loss of the customs, closeness and connection that once characterized the American family. They - like Buddy - hope that the past can elucidate the present.
But genealogical searches are a 2-edged sword. Sometimes the discovery of a previously unknown relative is just as impactful for them. And this is certainly true of Buddy’s newfound family, the Hobbs.
Yank a strand out of buddy's hair
Then as planned, wait till you're not there
sneak and find your hair on the sink
Then i check with my cousin Mel
He's a tech at Beth Israel
Melvin checks all the DNA
It's complex, but he works all day
This fed-ex shows up here when he's done
Walter has an elf for a son!
“Having a character like Buddy come in can kind of help re-evaluate your priorities and help you see that maybe what you’ve been missing has been right in front of you the whole time, or inside of you,” Zach Greer said. “I think that’s the beauty of this show.”
Amy McCleary agreed.
"To me, Walter has the biggest arc in the show because he goes back to who he was as a person … I just love that element. I love that he goes back to realizing what’s important - and that’s spending time with his family, telling beautiful stories, not the bottom line,” said McCleary.
The other central character who’s on a quest for purpose in "Elf the Musical" is Buddy’s love interest, Jovie, played by Lexi Rae Smith.
“She’s also on a quest of identity, and really trying to find a purpose, almost,” said Smith of her character. “She’s working at Macy’s, she doesn’t have a whole lot going on in her life, and Buddy kind of re-inspires her and lights that spark back in her. She then kind of goes on this journey of ‘Oh, things are going to be okay. I’m going to find out what I’m meant to do.’”
Buddy, the penultimate personal growth catalyst, even has Jovie singing during the darkest of times.
And though you vowed you'd never sing
Just look at yourself
You're halfway through a Christmas song
Called "Never Fall in Love with an Elf"
So if you, too, are on a quest for personal identity, connection and purpose – or you’re just looking for a great story to put you in the holiday spirit - Broadway Palm’s version of "Elf the Musical" will have you singing too.
The show is on stage now through Christmas Day.
MORE INFORMATION:
· Amy Marie McCleary is a multi-faceted musical theater artist who works as an actor, director and choreographer in local and regional theater. Most Southwest Florida theater lovers know McCleary through her work as Prather Entertainment Group’s resident director/choreographer. In that capacity, she has staged more than 50 productions, including Footloose, The Wizard of Oz (2022), Escape to Margaritaville (2022), Singin’ in the Rain (2022), Beehive the 60s Musical (Dutch Apple Theatre), Holly Jolly Christmas (which she created), The Sound of Music, Happy Days, Holiday Inn, Kinky Boots (choreography by Chris Kane), Beauty and the Beast, Momma Mia, Jesus Christ Superstar, Saturday Night Fever, Little Shop of Horrors, Memphis, Hairspray, Grease, CATS, Swing, Sister Act and Peter Pan, among others. As choreographer, Amy has staged dances for Evita, Cabaret, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, All Shook Up, The King and I, Les Miserables, Annie, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and the 2009/2010 national tour of The Wedding Singer. She also did the choreography for Prather’s 2018 production of Chicago, for which she won a Broadway World Award for Best Choreography (Professional).
· Among McCleary’s favorite director/choreographer credits are Grease (Broadway Palm 2021), Beehive: The 60s Musical (Broadway Palm 2021), Irving Berlin’s White Christmas (Broadway Palm), Yeston & Kopit’s Phantom (Broadway Palm), the 2015 national tour of Memphis the Musical, the international tour of The Wizard of Oz (Choreographer), Footloose, Sister Act, I Love a Piano, Hairspray, 9 to 5 (Little Theatre on the Square), CATS, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Ain’t Misbehavin’ (for the Herb Strauss Theatre), Spamalot (Herb Strauss Theatre), Hairspray (UNCG), Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story, The Great American Trailer Park Christmas Musical and Some Enchanted Evening.
· “During the rehearsal process, I talked a lot about wanting the show to be full of joy and positive and uplifting,” Amy divulges. “And that’s what Buddy brings to the show and brings to audiences - that outlook of a child, where everything is just pure and joyous. Isn’t that what we all return to during Christmas season that innocence? I hope that audiences regain some of that. They start to look at life again through the eyes of a child.”
· McCleary also thinks that Broadway Palm’s production of Elf will appeal to people who don’t go for traditional Christmas stories. “They’re going to love Elf because there is sort of a bit of a tongue-in-cheek aspect to it. There are jokes for kids. There’s jokes for adults. And I think that’s why it endures. It appeals to all ages.”
· NYC-based actor Zach Greer was last seen at Broadway Palm this past summer as Willard Hewitt in Footloose. Other credits include Something Rotten! (Shakespeare), Head Over Heels (Musidorus) and The 39 Steps (Clown). Zach has a BFA in Musical Theatre from Missouri State University. Discover more about Zach at https://www.actorzachgreer.com/.
· Zach predicts that audiences will leave the show with a heavy dose of Christmas cheer. “The character of Buddy the Elf is so ingrained in pop culture nowadays that everybody kind of knows what to expect in terms of the ride of the show. So quote along with some of the most iconic lines from the film, and really just have a little bit of Christmas cheer put in you, whether it’s early November or Christmas Day.”
· Greer likes the synchronicity that the playwright has incorporated into the storyline. In Act One, Buddy discovers that his entire life at the North Pole has been “one big lie.” When he meets his biological father, Buddy discovers that Walter is also leading a life that’s also a lie which, in turn, prompts Walter to embark on a journey of self-exploration.
· Chicago native Lexi Rae Smith was previously seen by Off Broadway Palm audiences as Sue Lawson in Not Now, Darling, Principal in Ha! Ha! Ho! The Holiday Show and Emma in Just Desserts: A Musical Bake-Off. Other credits include Anna King in Dear Soldier Boy, Little Red in Into the Woods, Rusty in Footloose, Steward in Polar Express Train Ride, and a Principal in Gershwin & Friends. Lexi has a BFA in Musical Theatre from Point Park University. Discover more about Lexi at https://www.lexiraesmith.com/.
· “The biggest takeaway from Elf is the Christmas message that it brings - that it’s not about presents or what you’re doing or how well-off you are,” says Lexi. “It’s about who you’re with and what’s important, and I think the biggest thing in this show is family. Plus, you’re also going to get some really fun songs and dances and a lot of laughs with Buddy the Elf.”
· McCleary describes Zach Greer and Lexi Smith as two of the most positive, likeable people she’s ever known. But all Zach has to do to put himself into his character’s mindset is “have an extra cup of coffee in the morning.” Lexi’s task is more formidable since she plays a woman who is depressed, deeply unhappy and down on her luck. “I kept telling her in rehearsal, ‘No, you have to be darker,’” McCleary recounts.
· “Amy told us in rehearsals that Buddy becomes Jovie’s anti-depressants,” Lexi chimes in.
· Rather than making Jovie’s character off-putting, McCleary thinks that audiences will relate to her because everyone has a tendency to get bogged down by the stress of Christmas. “We get in our heads what Christmas is supposed to be,” McCleary remarks. “We think it’s supposed to be about buying all these presents and going on these trips, but [Christmas] is really about family and spending time with people that you love, whether it is like your family by blood or your chosen family.”
· “In the end, Jovie opens up and has all this joy brought to her heart because of Buddy,” Smith adds. “Nobody’s ever been like that in her life before, and he brings so much of this Christmas spirit, and she really kind of discovers who she is through meeting Buddy and her heart becomes a lot bigger and more full of joy, I would say.”
· Lost family author Libby Copeland examines the reasons so many people are interested in family genealogy in an article titled “Why Are Americans Obsessed with Genealogy?” that appeared in Psychology Today in 2020. “Many of America’s seekers embark on their research not to prove a connection to lofty or historic forebears, not to prove themselves Mayflower descendants or Daughters of the American Revolution… but out of curiosity,” Copeland writes. “They search out of a sense of rootlessness. Time and assimilation have stripped their families of the customs, language and foods of the past, and they may not know exactly where their ancestors emigrated from. African Americans, meanwhile, may be blocked from knowledge of the past by the paucity of records about their enslaved ancestors.”
· Operating from the premise that people are natural born storytellers, Copeland concludes that people embrace family genealogy because they want to know how their “once upon a time” fits within the narrative fo their lives. “Human beings desire attachment, belonging, and connection,” writes blogger Rachel Coleman. “The relationships we form with other people can be incredibly durable, not only with people in our present, but also with people in our past and future. The more we discover about our past, the greater a connection we feel to our ancestors. As we record our own history, we open the opportunity for future generations to connect with us when we are gone.”
· On the topic of Annie, Amy McCleary observes that Daddy Warbucks needed Annie in his life just as much as Annie needed him.
· This is also the theme of Hallmark’s popular Christmas movie My Christmas Family Tree starring Aimee Teegarden, Andrew W. Walker and James Tupper. Both Teegarden’s character, Vanessa Hall, and Tupper’s Richard Hendricks find each other through an online DNA testing service. Although married with three children, Hendricks finds that the daughter he never knew he had is a gift that he and his family didn’t know they needed or were looking for.
· Elf is filled with turning points such as these. For Walter, it comes during a song-and-dance number titled “The Story of Buddy.” For Jovie, it happens during “A Christmas Song.” “During the song, Buddy is trying to get Jovie in the Christmas spirit,” Lexi Rae Smith explains. “He’s like ‘Just sing. The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all the hear.’ And Jovie’s like, ‘I don’t sing.’ But eventually he persuades her to sing along with him, and it really opens up Jovie. I think that’s a big turning point for her character in the show is when she opens her mouth and starts singing ‘A Christmas Song.’”
To read more stories about the arts in Southwest Florida visit Tom Hall's website: SWFL Art in the News.
Spotlight on the Arts for WGCU is funded in part by Naomi Bloom, Jay & Toshiko Tompkins, and Julie & Phil Wade.