Just got back from tonight's performance. I saw in the back of the Mezz and it was a terrific seat, but of course it would have been nicer to sit closer.
I loved it.
And I hated it.
How is that for bi-polar? (HAH! Get it?)
(OK, it should probably be stated up front that I had a few glasses of wine before seeing the show. Hence the horrible bi-polar joke.)
ANYWAY -- Act I was MUCH stronger than Act II. The score is fun but is not utilized to the show's advantage.
The set worked wonderfully. Lots of hard edges, as if it were a pop-up book (as in the book that Santa is reading to you. a la the movie.). I understand the "skimpy" remarks others have made, but everything you needed was there so anything additional would not have been necessary.
The structure of the story was HIDEOUS. (***Spoilers*** from this point on...). They set it up great with Santa introducing the story. It was fun and cute. Introducing Buddy to us worked. So did throwing him into New York. So did introducing his dad. So did throwing him in Macys. Where it began to go wrong was the family. They were already "used" to the father being away, so the characters' disappointment that the father works so much and is never home to spend time with them doesn't hit home with the audience like it should. The stakes should have been raised. There should have been a moment where we see the boy get real upset, and the mother trying to comfort him. Later in Act II the father supposedly learns that family is more important than his job. But WHERE did that come from? That was a very weak part of the script. It came across as the father simply changing his mind, rather that becoming a changed man.
And this is where the show misses the mark. There is no lesson learned, as there is with so many Christmas tales.
Buddy should have inspired the family. Inspired the office. Inspired the Macys department. Inspired the city. Instead, he just looks like a lunatic on the News and rambles on.
ELF has a lot of holiday fun but it lacks Christmas spirit -- the very point of the show!! Most of it is charming, but ultimately it is an opportunity missed. I really hope they fix it because it has SO much potential to be one of the most exciting new pieces of musical theatre we have seen in a while.
If they're not going to get the Christmas spirit added into it, then the LEAST they could do is rewrite the ending. YUCK! It still has a bad taste in my mouth. Santa is just suddenly lifted into the air? And Buddy is suddenly a father? And suddenly the entire cast is an elf and everybody does the same Casey Nicholaw tap dance that they did with the license plates in CRY-BABY?
They can also cut the Act II opening number. Very fun, but it's a new setting and a new character that can easily be removed from the story and there is no damage. It just makes the evening longer.
A lot of the show is fun but it all becomes pointless because Act II doesn't amount to anything.
Lastly, Sebastian Arcelus is GREAT! A real stand-out performance. He's hilarious! He definitely carries this show BIG time.
"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle
