Elf on a shelf of the store shelf at the theater stage

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Carol Aebersol had a little Christmas elf named Fisbee, whom her mother told her would tell Santa if she was mean or nice. She shared the same story with her own children, Chanda and Christa, and they decided it was a tradition that needed to be shared with the world. In 2005, the Lumistella company was born and brought the Elf to the shelf with it.

According to Christa Pitts, co-founder and co-CEO of Lumistella, the rules for Elf on the Shelf are the same as for her and her sister Chanda when they were growing up.

“Rules such as ‘You are not allowed to touch the elf because he might lose his magic’,” she said. These rules are intact.

Over the years, Atlanta-based Lumistella has grown beyond the little elves themselves to include many products and productions associated with Santa Claus and Christmas. According to Pitts, the company’s employees are “Santa’s human helpers”. Finding success in the retail market, these elves are now determined to conquer the theater; they come to the capital region with the theatrical production of “The Elf on The Shelf: A Christmas Musical”.

“It was time to take families to the next level,” Pitts said. “There is nothing more personal than taking your family, taking your friends to see a live show. Anything can happen at any time. And you can be a part of this experience which is bigger and broader and shared with people of all ages unlike any other format.

“And for us, it was the perfect translation of a beloved tradition,” she added.

The elf in question in this story is an elf scout who must help his human family remember the joy of Christmas. He recounts how he and some of his friends from the North Pole are helping the family realize that.


Talents involved in production include writer and lyricist Sara Wordsworth, who worked on Broadway’s “In Transit” and Disney’s “Frozen JR”; composer Russ Kaplan of Broadway’s “In Transit” and “Dear Albert Einstein”; and director Sam Scalamoni, who also directed Disney’s “Elf the Musical,” “Beauty and the Beast,” and Nickelodeon’s “StoryTime Live”.

According to Wordsworth, it was her 8-year-old daughter’s education that inspired the story. The Elf on the Shelf is a Christmas tradition in her own home, and she wanted to write about a family that has experienced love and loss and felt the magic of Christmas.

“This story is about finding the light after a very dark time,” Wordsworth said. “And I feel like now more than ever it will be meaningful for families to see themselves reflected in a story about coming back from a loss, how you reclaim traditions, how you build new ones.”

“The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Musical”

Where: Palace Theater, Albany

When: 7 p.m. Wednesday, November 24

Tickets: $ 33.95 and are available at Palacealbany.org, Ticketmaster.com and at the Palace Theater box office.


After last year’s hiatus, Pitts said she was thrilled to be giving the holiday cheer a new lease of life.

“To me Christmas means hope,” Pitts said. “Giving, magic, wonder. There is so much that is wrapped up in this season. It’s that feeling of giving in to the nostalgia and wonder that I think makes this such a special and unique time of year.

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