‘A full holiday experience’: Lone Peak Thespians bring ‘Elf’ to the stage

By Gus Hammond EBS CONTRIBUTOR

As the 25th annual Big Sky Christmas Stroll kicks off this year, the Lone Peak Thespians will present matinees of “Elf the Musical” at the Warren Miller Performing Art Center Saturday, Dec. 10, and Sunday, Dec. 11.

The success of the annual spring musical inspired producer and founder of Big Sky Broadway, Barbara Rowley, to add one more show to the season. 

 “We’ve seen the number of kids who want to perform and the audiences who want to see them [increase] dramatically in the last few years,” Rowley said. “Coming off of last year’s three-show run of ‘Oklahoma,’ we started looking for ways to provide opportunities.”

Rowley also stated that the holiday season and a break in the athletic schedule provided the perfect time for an additional performance. Close to 40 high school students are involved in the show, with 34 performing on stage. The show is a double cast with different leads each night and tickets are already selling rapidly.

“When we realized we could combine our performances on the same days people were out strolling and really give a full holiday experience, we knew we’d be successful,” Rowley said. “And ‘Elf the Musical’ was the perfect material.”

Alongside Rowley as director, her partner John Zirkle had some words on the upcoming Christmas show.

“As the district grows, we thought this is the year to do so,” Zirkle said. “This year, especially as we are all coming back to a sense of normalcy, we thought it would be good to give it a shot and ‘Elf’ made sense.”

As many know, the main character in Elf is Buddy—the jolliest role in the cast. Buddy is cast by junior Matthew Jennings and sophomore Henry Flach. All main roles are double-cast due to the extensive number of kids who signed up. This will be Jennings’ first major role.

“I’m excited because Buddy is a really fun and energetic role,” Jennings said, “And I think the overall production, being a comedy, will be fun and appealing to the community.”

Shows begin at 4 p.m. on both days. General admission tickets are $15 for students and $25 for adults. To purchase tickets to “Elf the Musical,” visit warrenmillerpac.org.