Six sellouts

It’s been two years since Jay County Civic Theatre last performed in front of a live audience.

The local group returns to the stage for six sold-out shows next week.

Civic theatre opens its holiday show, “Elf: The Musical,” at 7 p.m. Tuesday, with shows also scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, and 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday.

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, Jay County Civic Theatre hasn’t performed live since its December 2019 production of “Frozen Jr.”

As of Nov. 30, one week before the first performance, all six shows were sold out. (The Tuesday showing after its five originally scheduled performances were nearly sold out three weeks ahead of opening night.)

“It’s (been) way too long,” said director Jason McGraw, who has directed 15 shows and has been involved in civic theatre for more than 20 years. “To come back to six sold-out shows, there’s just no words to describe that. That’s amazing. It’s going to be a blessing for Civic, but good for our community too that they’re getting out and about and getting a chance to get back in the theatre scene …”

“Elf: The Musical” is based on the 2002 movie, “Elf,” starring Will Ferrell. The production follows Buddy, a human adult who believes he is an elf until he learns the truth about his past.

He travels to New York City in search of his Scrooge-like biological father.

“Buddy is very different than most New Yorkers, so that kind of causes some issues along the way, but it’s all about connecting with his dad and trying to find his place in the world,” McGraw said.

Reid Knuth stars as the oversized elf. The Portland resident and Fort Recovery Local Schools band director also serves as the production’s music director. This is his second time on stage, although he’s been working on music direction for the group since “Shrek the Musical” in June 2018. He debuted as an actor in Jay County Civic Theatre’s production of “Newsies” in June 2019.

“I thought playing Buddy would be a lot of fun, because he can act like a goofball all the time,” he said.

Like others in the cast, he’s most looking forward to being in front of a live audience again after the two-year hiatus.

“It’s just been so long since we’ve done anything,” Knuth said. “I think just having an audience out there the first night, for somebody to come out on stage, is gonna be awesome.”

The cast of nearly 50 performers also features Chad Mills of Albany as Walter, Buddy’s father; Mandi McIver of Portland as Emily, Buddy’s mother; Rachel Werling of St. Henry, Ohio, as Jovie, Buddy’s girlfriend; and Lucy Fennig of rural Portland as Michelle, Buddy’s sister.

Student director Megan Templeton, a 20-year-old Ball State University theatre education major and Jay County High School graduate, explained her role has been an “eye-opening” experience. She started in August and helped with planning, casting, reading lines, giving notes and feedback and other various activities. She’s thrilled for the community to come see the show.

“It’s going to be nice to have the cast actually have a good crowd besides just me and Jason,” Templeton said. “I’m excited to see how the crowd interacts with actors and see how they kind of play off of their audience and what they’ll do.”

The show’s staff has been working on the production for at least five months, and rehearsals started in late September. The group held off on its performance of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” which was originally scheduled for April 2020 but was postponed in response to the coronavirus pandemic. (It is now scheduled for Feb. 24 through 27.)

McGraw noted the relevance of “Elf: The Musical” in the midst of the pandemic.

“(It’s) a good, heart-warming story, and I think it’s fitting right now because we all need laughter,” he said. “We all have been away for so long that we need a good, family comedy to kind of bring us together for the holidays. It’s definitely fitting.”