Starting the Holiday Season with "ELF the Musical"

Ready to get in the Christmas spirit? “ELF The Musical” is a show that can definitely achieve that. “ELF The Musical” is a production by NETworks Presentations that was shown on November 11 at 7:30 p.m. The show took place at Bloomsburg University’s Mitrani Hall, which is located in The Haas Center for the Arts and is based on the 2003 movie, “ELF” which is the story of Buddy, a human that thought he was an elf until he overheard his fellow elves talking about how he was actually a human. The musical goes through the hilarious and heartwarming journey of Buddy trying to reconnect with his human father, with a pinch of Christmas spirit.

I was impressed and delighted with the show. I must admit, I love musicals, but this was an especially fun one to see. If you were a fan of the movie, you would have definitely been a fan of the musical. It featured some of the most iconic lines from the movie such as:

“The best way to spread Christmas Cheer, is singing loud for all to hear.”

“You sit on a throne of lies!”

“We elves try to stick to the four main food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corns and syrup.”

This musical definitely incorporated various aspects from the movie, but added its own musical twist to it. The songs were captivating and the choreography was beautiful (and cheerful). My favorite song from the musical has to be “Sparklejollytwinklejingley”, a fun and upbeat song with an important message of bringing holiday cheer to your life. When Buddy performed this number at Macy’s I was absolutely cracking up. It was a sweet and amusing song, but the choreography definitely made this number incredibly hilarious.

The musical perfectly captured the nature of Buddy trying to connect with his new family in New York City, as well as his new-found relationship with Jovie. Although a lot of the scenes from the movie were cut from the musical, I did not find that the quality of the musical was affected by this. The musical definitely made sure to have scenes that thawed up your cold heart, and you would find yourself rooting for Buddy to have a happy ending.

From the fun and jolly songs, to the beautifully decorated set pieces and backdrops, it made me excited for a holly jolly holiday season!