The Dallas Children’s Theater (DCT) 2022-2023 Season dashes into the holidays with famous jazz artist Harry Connick Jr.’s THE HAPPY ELF running November 27 thru December 23.
This show, based on the classic song and movie by the same name, will be perfect for audiences both familiar and new to the world of Santa’s hard-working elves. Silly and imaginative, families can expect zany magical antics, toe-tapping jazz dance numbers, and sleighfuls of holiday charm.
Eubie the elf is, much to the exhaustion of his coworkers, an elf of unparalleled and endless energy looking to get a spot on Santa’s coveted sleigh team.
When his unstoppably sunny spirit comes into contact with the miserable town of Bluesville – where every single child is on the naughty list – he’s in for the shock of a lifetime. Will his relentless positive attitude be enough to turn this gloomy place around, or has the happiest elf in the North Pole finally met his match?
Directed by DCT mainstay and master of musicals K. Doug Miller, with choreography by the incomparable Megan Kelly Bates, THE HAPPY ELF is a full-scale musical filled to the brim with motion and playful humor.
Dallas Children’s Theater’s scene shop has been hard at work crafting spiral staircases and numerous gorgeous holiday surprises designed by Michelle Harvey. If audiences are looking for spectacle, this is not a show to miss!
“It’s a fun, different kind of story,” says Nancy Schaeffer, artistic director. “Perfect for families who love singing, dancing, and a naughty town turning nice. Who doesn’t love a holiday musical filled with quirky, goofy, elves?”
We’re living in cynical times, which is exactly why we need musicals like the HAPPY ELF which tease at the exhaustion of the holidays, but maintain a playful lens.
When it comes down to it, there’s a childhood magic in everyone that never goes away, and adults and kids have a lot to learn from the upbeat, inexhaustible joy of Harry Connick Jr.’s THE HAPPY ELF.
Tickets on sale now at dct.org/plays.
Dallas Children’s Theater features professional actors performing for an annual audience of 250,000 young people and their families through mainstage productions and an arts-in-education program.
As the only major organization in Dallas focusing solely on youth and family theater, DCT builds bridges of understanding between generations and cultures, instilling an early appreciation of literature, art, and the performing arts in tomorrow’s artists and patrons.
