Pendleton Heights High School Pendleton Players will present “Elf the Musical” at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Nov. 8 and 9, and 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 10, in the school’s Loran G. Skinner Auditorium.
The Broadway musical is based on the classic Will Ferrell motion picture with added song and dance numbers to entertain audiences of all ages.
Dancing elves and Santas add to the show with a holiday message of the importance of family.
“Elf” is the tale of Buddy the Elf, a young orphan child who mistakenly crawls into Santa’s bag of gifts and is transported to the North Pole. Unaware he is actually human, Buddy’s enormous size and poor toy-making abilities cause him to face the truth.
With Santa’s permission, Buddy embarks on a journey to New York City to find his birth father and discover his true identity, while at the same time helping the city remember the true meaning of Christmas.
The cast at the North Pole includes Santa (Luke Robinson), Mrs. Claus (Macin Precup), Buddy the Elf (Alex Hardin), Charlie (Joel Gaar) and Tiara (Jillian Sabotnik), joined by a number of elves (Corydon Roots, Jarrett Brooks, Dylan Ellyson, Jackson McKinney, Gretchen Brumbaugh, Emma Caldwell, Chloe Clark, Evelyn Garard, Bailee Hilpisch, Averi Lanman, Jaden Precup, Kyndal Sagarsee, Kaitlyn Wheetley).
Once in New York, a crowd of people guide Buddy to the Empire State Building, including Cayden Sisson, Anna Childers, Bryce Axel Adams, Evan Bobb, Sylvia Bobb, Johanna Braumandl, Paige Cesnik, Jennifer Delk, Justin Delk, Chloe Erdos, Tanner Huffman, Ella Jones, Layla Jones, Keylyn Leicht, Madison Mahoney, Sarah Marriott, Canon McClain, Alexa Moschell, Maddie Oliver, Ashton Richardson, Karly Riffey, Ben Simonson, Elayna Sisson, Camille Spencer, Zoie Weatherford, and Jillian Youtsey.
Buddy tries to find his father, Walter Hobbs (Parker Smith), at his office in the Empire State Building and is greeted by the secretary (Bria Grobey) and the rest of Hobbs’ family, Emily Hobbs (Lilli Burkhardt) and son Michael (Harrison Stull). Other executives and secretaries in the Greenpress office include Dawson Garner, Isaac Reddington, Vincent Spear, Bryce Hatfield, Taylor Eads, Delaney Gillespie, Zoė Hatfield, Alana Manges, Grace McKinnies, Quinn Miles, Lili Schaefer, Diana Talbot, Emma Weflen and security (Jared Mossoney and Cade Campbell).
Leaving the office, Buddy goes to Macy’s to find Santa and the North Pole and is greeted by the Macy’s manager (Nate Spencer) and future girlfriend Jovie (Katie Martin).
Some children are waiting to see Santa and are played by Tanner Huffman, Hailey and Aiden Powers.
After a fight ensues when Buddy discovers that Santa isn’t the real Santa, the two policemen (Bryce Axel Adams and Evan Bobb) come take him away. Several other scenes and characters bring more madcap action.
Jim McGee guides the orchestra and vocalists with the music.
Stage managers for the show include Ashley Ritchie, Leah Manges and Jared Mossoney, who guide a large group of backstage crew to make this magical show come to life.
Tech classes have been building sets and props for the past few months, and SPOT volunteers have helped with building and costuming.
The show will also introduce the first use of animated projections by Pendleton Players, which should make this production even more exciting for the audience.
Tickets are available online at www.pendletonplayers.com until Friday morning. After that, tickets will be available only at the door each night of the performance.
Guests using wheelchairs should contact the auditorium for seating availability, if possible.
Jacque Brown is artistic and technical director of the Pendleton Players.