Buddy the elf onstage

WAUPACA – The Waupaca Community Children’s Theatre will be presenting “Elf - The Musical Jr,” as its 2026 summer musical production. Based on the 2003 New Line Cinema hit, “Elf - 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.
The performances will be at the Waupaca Middle School auditorium on Thursday, July 16 at 6 p.m., on Friday, July 17 at 3 p.m. and on Saturday, July 18 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
The production, directed by Emma Ives, is free to the public. The Waupaca Community Children’s Theatre is part of the Waupaca Community Theatre and a division of the Waupaca Fine Arts Festival. For more information please visit fineartsfestival.org.