Cast of 89 at Wise Intermediate School to perform Elf in Medina

Photo courtesy of Celeste Balaban: Buddy played by Rayna Balaban and Santa played by Henry Dresser are “Happy All The Time” with the elves.

Press Release, Anna Ferlito, musical director

MEDINA – Medina residents will embrace their inner “elf” when Clifford Wise Intermediate students present their production of Elf The Musical JR. The show features 89 fifth and sixth grade students and will premiere on Dec. 4.

Clifford Wise Intermediate School will present Elf The Musical JR. on Dec. 4th and 5th at 7 p.m. at Clifford Wise Auditorium. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $3.50, and are available at www.cliffordwise.booktix.com. For more information about the show please call 585-798-2700 ext. 6204.

“Every year the 5th and 6th graders look forward to the musical, and last year when we announced we were doing Elf everyone was ecstatic” says Anna Ferlito, the musical director. “It’s a huge project to put on a show with this many kids, but it becomes a highlight every school year.”

(Left) Eliana Baity-Medina plays the “no nonsense” manager of Macy’s. (Right) Emily and her son Micheal Hobbs played by Charlotte Berry and Davante Major Dixon ask Santa for Walter Hobbs to spend more time with them.

Elf The Musical JR. is based on the 2003 New Line Cinema hit and features songs by Tony Award nominees Matthew Sklar (The Wedding Singer) and Chad Beguelin (Disney’s Aladdin On Broadway, The Wedding Singer), a book by Tony Award winners Thomas Meehan (Annie, The Producers, Hairspray) and Bob Martin (The Drowsy Chaperone).

 The musical tells the story of a young orphan who mistakenly crawls into Santa’s bag of gifts and is transported to the North Pole. The would-be elf is given the name Buddy and raised by elves in the North Pole.  Buddy lives happily unaware that he is actually a human until his enormous size and poor toy-making abilities cause him to face the truth.

With Santa’s permission, Buddy embarks on a journey to New York City to find his birth father and discover his true identity. Faced with the harsh reality that his father is on the naughty list, and his stepbrother doesn’t even believe in Santa, Buddy is determined to win over his new family and help New York remember the true meaning of the holidays.

Buddy played by Rayna Balaban gets escorted out of Macy’s by security guards played by Shane Re and Vincent Moriarty.