Review: ELF Brings Christmas Cheer to Broadway At Music Circus

It’s a miracle on H Street! Finally, the magic of Broadway at Music Circus can be experienced outside of the summer months. In its first show since expanding its season to go almost year-round, the Music Circus team is offering a dazzling display of holiday splendor with a family favorite, Elf.

Based on the 2003 film by the same name, Elf tells the heartwarming story of Buddy the Elf, a human who made his way to the North Pole as an infant. On Christmas Eve, Santa visited the orphanage where Buddy was sent after his mother died. After crawling into Santa’s sack of toys, he ended up in the North Pole, where Santa tasked his elves with raising Buddy. This made Buddy, well, weird by human standards. So weird that he even sticks out in bustling Manhattan, where he has been sent to look for his absent father. Buddy finds him in the Empire State Building: a miserable, workaholic children’s book publisher who has long ago forgotten what Christmas spirit is. Growing up in the North Pole gives one a perpetually cheery outlook on life, though, and Buddy will need it as he navigates a new family, new love interest, and a new life that looks nothing like what he’s used to in Christmastown.

Filled with indomitable hope and the typical Christmas themes of greed and redemption, Elf is bound to be a favorite of the whole family. Aaron Kaburick returns to Sacramento as Buddy after a recent appearance at Broadway Sacramento in the national tour of Mrs. Doubtfire. He is energetic, endearing, and so believably, adorably naïve in his devotion to Santa and Christmas. His strong vocals coupled with exuberant, festive choreography by John MacInnis complement the talented ensemble in numbers such as “Nobody Cares About Santa,” “Sparklejollytwinklejingley,” “The Story of Buddy,” and my favorite (those elf legs!), “Happy All the Time.”

The other principals are also gifts that keep on giving. Sacramento native Alexi Ishida as Jovi is a girl after my own heart – part Grinch, part romantic, how can she possibly resist Buddy’s sincerity when he tells her, “You look miraculous,” even if he is dressed rather unconventionally? Leah Hocking and Benny Poort as mother/son pair Emily and Michael Hobbs share a magical chemistry in their duos “I’ll Believe in You” and “There is a Santa Claus.” They unite with Buddy to bring the Christmas spirit back into patriarch Walter Hobbs, played by a wonderfully cantankerous Darrin Baker. Korrie Lee Blossey as a 49er-loving Santa, Kathy Deitch as Deb, Gerry McIntyre as the Store Manager, and William Ryall as Mr. Greenway round out the incredible cast.

Add some ice skating in Central Park, sprinkle in some glorious falling snow, and stir. You’ve got director Linda Goodrich’s magical concoction of holiday delight wrapped up in a big, shiny, spirited gift to Sacramento. It’s one you’ll want to unwrap year after year.

Elf plays at Broadway at Music Circus through December 15th. Tickets may be found online at BroadwaySacramento.com, by phone at (916) 557-1999, or in person at the Box Office at 1419 H Street in Sacramento.

Photo credit: Charr Crail

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