The Clark State Community College Performing Arts Center will present ELF The Musical, Thursday, November 9 at 7:30 p.m.
Based on the beloved holiday movie, ELF features songs by Tony Award®-nominees Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin, with a book by Tony Award®-winners Thomas Meehan (Annie, The Producers, Hairspray) and Bob Martin.
“We are extra excited because this production is opening in Springfield and will be playing Canadian and US theaters before sitting down for three weeks at the Theater at Madison Square Garden,” said Adele Adkins, executive director of the Clark State Performing Arts Center.
ELF The Musical is the hilarious tale of Buddy, a young orphan child who mistakenly crawls into Santa’s bag of gifts and is transported back to the North Pole. Unaware that 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, discover his true identity and help New York remember the true meaning of Christmas. This modern day Christmas classic is sure to make everyone embrace their inner ELF.
Emily Larger, a 2004 Shawnee High School graduate and veteran performer at the Clark State Performing Arts Center, will return to the Kuss Auditorium stage in her fourth tour with ELF. Lager performed in “The Wizard of Oz” on the Kuss stage years ago. She fills multiple roles in ELF, including a stressed New York mom, a glamorous reporter and, of course, an elf.
“I’m beyond happy to share this with my hometown,” Larger told the Springfield News-Sun. “There will be a lot of butterflies, but lots of family will be there, so that will make it special to me.”
ELF is appropriate for ages 12 and up and will begin at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, November 9 at the Clark State Performing Arts Center, 300 South Fountain Avenue in downtown Springfield.
Tickets range from $26 to $58 and are available online at ticketmaster.com.