There's a scary moment in Elf the Musical, a show that is pretty much devoid of scary moments. When Santa's sleigh becomes grounded in Central Park because not enough people have the Christmas spirit, Buddy the Elf claims he can rally enough Christmas soldiers onward to power up the buggy. Maybe because of the recent Peter Pan broadcast, with its pleas for applause (and tweets) to keep Tinker Bell alive, I feared that Buddy would turn to the audience and ask us to clap or whistle or pat our heads while we rubbed our tummies to send Santa back on his gift-giving mission. The show hadn't genuinely earned the spirit that needed to be invoked, but the audience at the Curran Theatre probably still would have obliged as its own act of gift-giving.
Elf the Musical had a Broadway run in 2010, and twin tours have subsequently been sent out to make the most of the limited seasonal window. It's in fact a pleasant show manufactured from mostly middling material of effortful secular good cheer. The source material is the 2003 movie Elf that starred Will Farrell as an orphan who grew up at the North Pole believing he was one of Santa's elves despite his considerable size advantage. The movie played to Farrell's deadpan doofus charms, especially after he heads to New York in search of his real father, and the film's insouciant charms balanced the sugar content.
The musical's script by Bob Martin (The Drowsy Chaperone ) and Thomas Meehan (Annie ) is more apt to name-drop to suggest contemporary hipness (North Pole is so isolated there is only one Starbucks; Santa keeps his naughty-and-nice list on an iPad) as it hits a series of well-worn plot points as Buddy ingratiates himself to his Grinch-like father, woos a cynical co-worker with his improbable innocence, and saves the day �" several times. The songs by Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin (The Wedding Singer ) are easy listening but never quite overcome near-miss status.
But there is a pleasant surprise in Eric Williams, who has the big pointy-toed shoes of Will Farrell to fill as Buddy. Williams wisely makes no attempt at imitating Farrell, even if he doesn't create an entirely new character in his likable performance. He pulls heavily from Martin Short's Ed Grimley character, a nerdy manchild of insatiable enthusiasms. But he sufficiently channels these mannerisms into his own creation that we are happy enough to join him for the ride.
There is competence but not much more among the other performers, whose sketchily drawn characters are in need of strong personalities. We'll make an exception for Ken Clement's Santa who gives good jolly, even if he does bet illegally on college football games.
Sam Scalamoni and Connor Gallagher are, respectively, the director and choreographer and were not participants in the original Broadway run. This is a non-Equity production, which may account for the generally unremarkable performances, but production values are in good shape. And there is no denying the go-for-broke cheeriness of the cast. As Santa says of Buddy, Elf is freaky happy.
Elf the Musical will run through Dec. 28 at the Curran Theatre. Tickets are $45-$160. Call (888) 746-1799 or go to shnsf.com.