This December, Oconee Youth Playhouse (OYP) is presenting “Elf the Musical.” OYP is a non-profit, youth theater organization. Both the cast and crew have been working extremely hard to put on this show!
When asked why OYP chose to showcase “Elf,” Jordan Powers, a vocal and musical theater teacher at OYP, answered, “We always try to choose a show that highlights our performers strengths and that we hope they have fun with! It’s also important for us to choose shows where we can include a large age range!” This show includes first graders all the way to twelfth graders! Powers added, “Elf seemed like a great fit since it’s a holiday classic and we could easily cast high schoolers in the lead roles, with plenty of elf character opportunities for the younger performers.
There are a lot of Christmas/Holiday musicals to choose from. OYP has already done ‘Annie,’ ‘A Christmas Story,’ and ‘Frozen.’ ‘Elf’ is a first timer for OYP and we knew we had the actors available to handle the specific and famous characters from the movie as well as the talented dancers to be able to tackle all the tough dance numbers! 2023 is also the 20 year anniversary of ‘Elf’ the movie being released!”
Nate St. Onge, a sophomore at Clarke Central, is playing “Buddy the Elf” in the musical. In the past year, St. Onge has starred in multiple shows at OYP including the role of Donkey in “Shrek” and Prince Eric in “The Little Mermaid.” He said his favorite thing about the role of Buddy is that he “get[s] to act like a seven year old that’s thirty.”
Buddy the elf is quite an entertaining character, so St. Onge gets to do several fun activities while playing this role. For example, he gets to roller blade during the show, and he even said that his favorite memory from “Elf” so far is when he fell “in front of everyone on roller blades during ‘A Christmas Song.” St. Onge has spent almost every day in the past month practicing for the show. Despite the heavy time commitment, St. Onge expresses that “it’s all worth it after the first curtain call.”
Avery Roark, a junior at Athens Academy, plans to watch “Elf the Musical” and says that she is “so excited to see [her] friends do what they love.” She went on to say that she is “most looking forward to seeing their hard work come together in one of [her] favorite Christmas movies.”
If you want a study break on the weekend before exams or a fun way to kick off the Holidays, come see “Elf” at OYP (1050 Jamestown Boulevard, Watkinsville)! The shows are December 8-10 and December 15-17. Go to oconeeyouthplayhouse.com to see times and buy tickets. Enjoy the show and remember that the best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear!