Deep beneath its sugary jokes, sing-song delivery and buffoonish cheeriness, there is an urgent message fluttering away inside "Elf." Holiday stress and the convenient shield of cynicism have a way of chiseling at the ability to enjoy life's fleeting moments. And once you've lost your whimsy, you're left with alarmingly little.
No doubt the deep truths that lay within "Elf" has contributed to making it such a holiday phenomenon. The touring musical is bigger, bolder and wackier than the 2003 Will Ferrell movie on which it's based. The show, which started with a 2010 run on Broadway, embraces its embellishment, its excess and absurd nature.
By no means does the tale of a 30-year-old man raised to believe he was one of Santa's goofy minions need to last 150 minutes, but darned if every one of those minutes isn't a raucous good time. I challenge anyone to pick and choose a song and dance number that should have been cut. Every song, every dance break and every overindulgence is hard-earned and necessary for the very fact of how unnecessary they all are.
For starters, "Elf" is a treat to look at. Its cartoonish staging blends seamlessly into stunning projections, and the way it's integrated into the stage blocking is often the stuff of Loony Tunes fever dreams. The performances flow along the same note of broader is better, and the choreography often approaches the precision of a ballet. From the opening number, in which crouching ensemble actors pantomime a chorus of dancing elves, the show brims with gumdrop-sweet eye candy that puts Buddy's plates of syrup and sprinkles spaghetti to shame.
"Elf" never walks when it can skip, drifts when it can bounce or speaks when it can sing. The show is a gallon full of sugar to make the medicine of holiday burdens go down. It challenges you to connect with the inner child who wrote letters to Santa and expected replies, who wished upon shooting stars and who saw magic in mundanity. If only for 150 minutes, "Elf" makes you see the world through Buddy's candy cane-lensed glasses.
"Elf the Musical" plays through Sunday at Centennial Hall. Buy tickets here.
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