I try to be a fair Mom. I took my daughter to Aladdin at The Paramount so it was my son’s turn to go with me to The Paramount to see Elf the Musical. My quiet and even tempered son. Unless you anger him, he doesn’t show a whole lot of emotion with things. During the show I remember looking over at him at one point and he looked at me with this huge grin on his face; an unforgettable type of grin.
The show starts just like the movie, with a comical twist; Santa reading the story “Buddy the Elf.” This was my son’s favorite part of the whole show. He also enjoyed watching all the elves in their workshop. The set, the actors, the song, and dance, made the North Pole look like the most magical place in the world; what every child would dream the North Pole to be. This is where we first meet Buddy. And after watching the movie several times, it is a favorite in our house, the actor that plays Buddy has some very LARGE shoes to fill. Let me tell you, he plays the part perfectly! He has the spunk, the energy, and the innocence that is needed for the role. Never once did I miss that “other guy.”
As Buddy discovers his true identity in New York City we see some great song and dance numbers, my favorite being when they were decorating the store in preparation for Santa’s arrival. The set changes between The Empire State Building, The Hobbs Condo, Macys, Rockefeller Center, and more were seamless. The actors were great at embodying the true New Yorker spirit while still delivering some good one liners to keep the audience on their toes. The ending of the play was heartwarming for this ultimate Christmas believer and once again magical for my son. Although, I do think it was drawn out a little too long.
To prepare those with young kids, the first half of the play moves along fairly upbeat and fast, the second half is much slower moving until about the last 10 minutes of the play. The play itself runs 2 ½ hours so keep that in mind when choosing which show to attend. There is a bit of adult language in the play. Including the word “bitchy”, some “hells”, and “damns”, talking about “a secret love affair”, and some adults phrases, “ Screw you Jenny Craig!” and “Jingles the friggin’ pony.”
Overall the show was a hit with my son. The next day he just had to watch the movie after school. I would say this is a great show to take family and friends and get into the Christmas spirit. As you leave, all you will want to do is sing loud for all to hear!
ELF will be at Seattle’s Paramount Theatre for only ten performances. The schedule for the Seattle engagement is:
Tuesday, December 5 7:30pm
Wednesday, December 6 7:30pm
Thursday, December 7 7:30pm
Friday, December 8 1 pm and 8:00pm
Saturday, December 9 10am, 3:00pm and 8:00pm
Sunday, December 10 1:00pm - An ASL/AVIA Interpreted performance
6:30pm - An Open Caption performance
For tickets to these performances, call the TTY line at 888-331-6774.
Tickets start at $30 and are available on-line at STGPresents.org, Ticketmaster.com, by calling 1-800-745-3000 or in person at The Paramount Theatre Box Office (Monday through Friday, 10am to 6pm).
ELF is part of the 2017/2018 KeyBank Broadway at The Paramount series, presented by Seattle Theatre Group, with support for the eighth year from KeyBank as the series title sponsor. Brotherton Cadillac is the official auto sponsor, The Roosevelt Hotel is the official sponsor hotel and Delta Airlines is the official airline sponsor of KeyBank Broadway at The Paramount.
Additional information about ELF is available at www.ElfTheMusicalOnTour.com.
