THE WEEKEND TEN
The top things to do and places to be
1 ELF Buddy’s pilgrimage starts when he crawls into Santa’s bag of gifts; raised in the North Pole and unaware that he’s actually a human, he eventually embarks on a journey to New York to find his birth father and discover his true identity in Elf. The musical, with songs by Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin, adapted by Thomas Meehan and Bob Martin (book) from the 2003 Will Ferrell film, opens Friday and runs through Jan. 4 at the
Arkansas Repertory Theatre, 601 Main St., Little Rock. Curtain time is 7 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday, with 2 p.m. Saturday matinees this weekend, Dec. 27 and Jan. 3, 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $60 and $40, $30 for students. Call (501) 3780405 or visit therep.org/attend.
2 ENERGY Little Rock officially welcomes the Christmas season with the annual Big Jingle Jubilee Holiday
Parade, 3 p.m. Saturday. The flow of floats, bands and dancers starts at Second Street and Broadway, continues along Broadway to Capitol Avenue, then ends at the state Capitol, where the official Capitol lighting and fireworks will follow at dark. Admission is free. Call (501) 835-3399 or visit holidaysinlittlerock.com. See story on Page 8E. 3 ERSTWHILE When the Historic Arkansas Museum talks about an old-fashioned Christmas, they mean it. The annual Christmas Frolic &
Open House, 1-4 p.m. Sunday, takes visitors back to the 19th century for carols, re-enactments, music, dancing and living history as well as hot cider and ginger cake. Admission is free. Call (501) 324-9351 or visit historicarkansas.org. See story on Page 4E.
4 ELECTRIC
Trans-Siberian Orchestra is debuting its rock opera, The Christmas Attic, on a current North American tour with performances at 4 and 8 p.m. Saturday at North Little Rock’s Verizon Arena. Tickets are $59.50, $74.50 and $89.50; there’s an eight-ticket limit and a portion of all ticket sales goes to a local charity to be announced. Call (800) 7453000 or visit ticketmaster.com or stonecityattractions.com. The arena is using its Credit Card Entry system (formerly called Paperless Ticketing). See story on Page 5E. 5 EUPHONIC As it has every year since 1930, the Arkansas Choral Society, joined by the University of Arkansas at Monticello Concert Choir and members of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, will perform portions of George Frideric Handel’s oratorio Messiah at 7:30 p.m. today at First Pentecostal Church, 1401 Calvary Road (fronting Interstate 40), North Little Rock, and, under the auspices of the Southeast Arkansas Concert Association, at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the UA-Monticello Fine Arts Center in Monticello. Soloists are Suzanne Banister, soprano; Diana Salesky, alto; Sergio Cepeda, tenor; and Scott Bearden, baritone. Kent Skinner, music director of the Choral Society and director of choral activities at UA-Monticello, will conduct. Tickets are $15, $10 for students for the North Little Rock performance; call (501) 376-8484 or visit lovetosing.org. In Monticello: $15, $10 for children 3-11 (plus service charges for tickets bought online), free for children under 3. Call (870) 460-1060 or visit searkconcert.org.
6 ECLECTIC Admire high-quality arts and crafts at the Arkansas Craft
Guild Christmas Showcase. More than 100 artists will display their pottery, woodworks, glass, photos, jewelry, food and fiber arts, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Friday, 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday at the Statehouse Convention Center, 101 E. Markham St., Little Rock. Admission is $5, free 5-8 p.m. Friday, 8-10 a.m. Saturday. Call (870) 615-4825 or visit arkansascraftguild org.
7 ENHANCED Carefully decorated homes will throw open their doors for the Holiday Tour of Homes and Designer Breakfast. The catered breakfast kicks things off at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Wildwood Park for the Arts, 20919 Denny Road, Little Rock. Then guests are free to tour the houses at their leisure, noon-4 p.m. Tickets are $25 for the breakfast, $25 for the tour. Call (501) 821-7275 or visit wildwoodpark.org. 8 ELEGANT The historic Quapaw Quarter is all dressed up for Christmas and they’re going to show off their finery during the annual Christmas in the Quarter, 2-5 p.m. Sunday. Tours of Quapaw Quarter United Methodist Church, 1601 S. Louisiana St., Little Rock, start at 1 p.m. Tickets are $20 through Saturday, $25 after. Call (501) 375-1600 or visit qqumc.org/ citq. 9 EXHIBITS Learn about a different kind of gift-giving with hands-on activities, meetings with Heifer International animals, gift sales and exhibits at Heifer Village’s Living Gift Market, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday. The Village is at 1 World Ave., Little Rock, and admission is free. Call (877) 8702697 or visit heifer.org. 10 “EASY FOR ME TO SAY” Country star Clint Black, with special guest Doug Seegers, will take the stage at 7 p.m. today in Baum Walker Hall, Walton Arts Center, 495 W. Dickson St., Fayetteville. Tickets are $32-$62. Call (479) 443-5600 or visit waltonartscenter.org.
Just as the hugely popular movie A Christmas Story was turned into a play and musical in recent years, another holiday hit movie, Elf, has been turned into a musical, which opens this weekend at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre.
Elf tells the tale of Buddy, a young orphan who, after mistakenly crawling into Santa’s gift bag, is raised at the North Pole. When he grows older, as he puzzles over his large size and poor toy-making abilities, he learns that he is actually a human, which sends him off to New York to find his father — who turns out to be on Santa’s “naughty list.” He soon finds himself trying to win over his new family as he reminds the city of the true meaning of Christmas.
The 2003 movie (which starred Will Ferrell) was adapted by Thomas Meehan ( The Producers) and Bob Martin ( The Drowsy Chaperone), with a score by the Tony Award-nominated songwriting team of Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin ( The Wedding Singer).
Nicole Capri, the Rep’s resident director and director of education, is directing Elf.
“The movie has such a cultlike following, just like A Christmas Story, with TV stations that play them 24 hours a day in December,” Capri says.
She says the musical — with a cast of 33, 13 of whom are children — differs from the movie in some respects.
“In the play, Santa is the narrator, not Papa Elf, as in the movie,” Capri says. “And in the musical, the story is said to have begun three years ago, not 30, like the movie. In the musical, we don’t learn that Buddy’s real name is William until he meets Walter [Buddy’s father], Emily [Walter’s wife] and Michael [Buddy’s stepbrother].
“And the musical adds a subplot about little brother Michael not believing in Santa Claus.”
Buddy is played by Ethan Paulini, whose past shows at the Rep include Compleat Wks of Wilm Shkspr, Avenue Q, White Christmas, The Who’s Tommy and The Full Monty.
“When the musical came out, it seemed like it spoke to a lot of the skills I get called upon to use as an actor,” Paulini says. “It’s quirky and silly and lovable, even, so it seemed like a pretty natural fit, and then this theater took it on.
“Buddy isn’t dumb or slow or dim-witted. He’s just the product of different circumstances. He hasn’t had the experiences a typical 30-yearold man has had. He takes things at face value, which is part of his charm but also the potential for people to misunderstand him.”
The cast also features J.B. Adams as Santa, Alyssa Gorgone as Jovie (Buddy’s girlfriend), David Hess as Walter Hobbs and Price Clark as Michael Hobbs.
Gorgone’s character is a cynical girl who works at Macy’s and has had bad luck with boyfriends.
“She hates Christmas at the beginning,” Gorgone says. “She’s had a lot of issues with all of the men in her life, but when she meets Buddy, it’s kind of hard for her to continue to be mean with someone like Buddy, who always greets you with a smile.”
Price is a 10-year-old fifth-grader at Chenal Elementary School in Little Rock. His previous acting roles include Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol in 2011 at The Rep and Nipper in Oliver in 2013 for the Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre.
“My character is always a smart aleck who wants his dad to be with him and to get in the Christmas spirit,” Price says.
Additional Elf- ish activities abound:
At 1 p.m. Saturday, Family Day will be hosted by Little Rock Family, with pre-show family fun, including an Elfie Station, with interactive activities and ice cream courtesy of Loblolly Creamery. Tickets are not required.
At 9:30 p.m. Dec. 13, after the play, there will be an “after-party,” with drinks and appearances by members of the cast, in Foster’s. Tickets are not required.
At 7 p.m. Dec. 15, the cast of Elf will present a special cabaret, hosted by The Stagehands.
The Dec. 17 performance will be sign-interpreted by Raphael James of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. He will be positioned in front of a new special Sign Interpreter Section that will be set up. Deaf patrons are encouraged to contact the Rep box office to reserve seating.
At 6 p.m. Dec. 18, a Girls Night Out, sponsored by Inviting Arkansas, will include preshow shopping with boutique Southern Accented in the lobby. Tickets are not required.
At 6 p.m. Dec. 19, local musician Ben Brenner will perform in Foster’s. Tickets are not required.