As the saying goes, the best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.
A close second may be to just follow Kendall Glaze around a while.
Glaze takes center stage as Buddy the Elf in the Iola High School production “Elf Jr., the Musical.”
The two-night show runs Thursday and Friday at the Bowlus Fine Arts Center.
Fans of the Will Ferrell Christmas classic “Elf” will be delighted to see the musical adaptation brought to the Bowlus stage, with Glaze as the effervescent protagonist.
The story largely follows that of its cinematic predecessor.
Glaze portrays Buddy, who as a toddler mistakenly travels from an orphanage with Santa to the North Pole, where he’s raised as an elf.
Once Buddy eventually realizes his true heritage — his mother had given him up for adoption not long before she died — Buddy sets out to find his birth father, who has no idea Buddy exists.
What follows is a delightfully funny, and occasionally touching story of family, fitting in and of course, spreading Christmas cheer.
Glaze shines as a walking, talking — and of course singing — personification of a Christmas card. He greets every stranger with a big smile and a hearty greeting; even those with decidedly less Christmas spirit.
But with an ensemble cast and crew of 48 — perhaps the largest ever IHS production in terms of numbers — Glaze is hardly unique in bringing joy to the show.
Keira Fawson sparkles as Jovie, Buddy’s fellow coworker after he finds a job at Macy’s, and with whom he becomes instantly smitten. Jovie has had a tough go of it. Expect disappointment, she explains, and you’re rarely disappointed.
Can Buddy change her outlook?
And Max Andersen plays Walter, Buddy’s overworked father. His demands at work are such that he often has to eschew family time at home with his wife and son, with even less time to enjoy the frivolities of the Christmas season. In fact, his lack of cheeriness has landed Walter on Santa’s naughty list.
Will meeting his long-lost son, one of the North Pole’s jolliest characters, make much of a difference?
