He’s Buddy the elf. What does he want for Christmas?
Spenser Micetich, who plays the title role in the East Coast tour of “Elf the Musical,” chuckles. “I’m not asking for anything this year, because doing this show is the best gift I can ask for.”
It does seem to have been an enchanted experience for Micetich, who won the prized role of Buddy simply by answering a casting notice. Following a few rounds of emails and videos, the California-based actor was flown to New York for callbacks and was given the job a few days later. “It was a Christmas miracle,” the actor says.
Micetich rehearsed the show in October alongside the West Coast Buddy, Sam Hartley. The simultaneous tours began in November. The penultimate stop on the East Coast “Elf” tour is Dec. 20-24 at the Shubert Theater in New Haven. A different tour played the Palace in Waterbury in 2013.
“Elf the Musical” is of course based on the 2003 movie starring Will Ferrell as an irrepressibly giddy man in green felt who has grown up at the North Pole under the mistaken belief that he is an elf. Buddy travels to New York to find his father, unleashing oodles of Christmas spirit throughout his journey.
“Our director, Stan Scalamoni, pulled both of us Buddies aside,” Micetich says. “He said, ‘We don’t want you to re-create what Will Ferrell did in the movie. We want you to make this role your own.”
That said, Micetich realizes that “the general consensus is that if people are coming to see ‘Elf the Musical,’ they’ve seen ‘Elf,’ the movie.” He himself grew up watching the movie every year with his family. Now the tradition has changed to the family coming to see him in the stage show.
Micetich actually cites Will Ferrell as an influence on the type of comedy he likes to do. “I’m a big fan. He’s someone I always looked up to.” Micetich has generally found himself in upbeat musicals such as “Guys and Dolls,” “The Drunk Chaperone” and “Footloose.”
Buddy, he muses, is “is a very physical role, don’t get me wrong, but a lot of the comedy is verbal. A lot of the show I felt immediately comfortable with at rehearsals, but I wouldn’t know if the jokes would land until I was able to do them in front of an audience.”
His favorite number in the show is one of the more sentimental ones, “World’s Greatest Dad.” Micetich says “it reminds me of the first time I ever went to New York.”
Due to its Christmassy subject matter, “Elf” tends to subsist on short seasonal tours. The stage version launched with a brief Broadway run in 2010, but most audiences will know “Elf the Musical” from its many tours. Micetich suspects that the show will be around for years to come.
“This tour has become a new holiday tradition,” Spenser Micetich exults. “It’s a lot of fun. It’s very flashy — every number is a big Broadway-style production. It’s a feel-good musical, for everybody.”
Everybody, and every Buddy.
“ELF THE MUSICAL” kicks up its pointy toes Dec. 20 to 24 at the Shubert, 247 College St., New Haven. Performances are Tuesday and Wednesday at 7 p.m., Thursday at 1 and 7 p.m., Friday at 2 and 7:30 p.m. and Saturday at 11 a.m. $42-$124. 203-562-5666, shubert.com.
