Interview: Mark Fishback is Santa Claus in ELF THE MUSICAL at Clowes Hall

1. Bringing Santa to Life: Santa is such an iconic character. How do you approach bringing your own unique take to this beloved role in Elf?

While Santa is indeed an icon of the season, my goal was to capture Santa’s nature from the movie, ELF.  This Santa is a grounded, realistic, and more of a beer and pizza kinda Santa.  Because the character is blended with “Papa Elf,” Santa gains a sense of humor and dryness of wit.  Sure, there’s a little of “me” sprinkled in there.  That can’t be helped.  One wish for up and coming actors: be yourself, and bring the appropriate aspects of you to the character, and you will certainly be unique in your performance.

2. Balancing Comedy and Heart: Elf strikes a perfect balance between humor and heartwarming moments. How do you navigate those dynamics in your performance as Santa? 

Number one rule: follow the script.  Trust the script.  If it’s a good piece of comedy, drama, or suspense, the words will show you how to navigate the show.  As an actor, your job is to bring the words to life in a way that is in line and on track … both for your character, and the vision your director has for the production.  

3.Memorable Moments on Stage: What’s your favorite scene or line as Santa, and why does it resonate with you? 

My favorite moment is when Santa breaks the 4th wall at the beginning of the show, and speaks directly to the audience.  In this production, Santa has two scene partners: “Buddy” and the audience.  I don’t talk to anyone else throughout the show of any consequence.  When we had our preview audience in Richmond, KY (where we teched the show), I felt complete when I finally had an audience with which to converse.  Lovely.

4. Holiday Traditions: Since you’re playing the ultimate symbol of Christmas, do you have any personal holiday traditions or memories that inspire your performance? 

There are two holiday memories which help put me in the Christmas spirit before a show:  visiting my grandparents’ house over the Christmas school break, and watching the Christmas specials on tv.  My grandparents had one of the first artificial trees … which I still have to this day … with bubble lights, and ornaments from the 50s or ones we had made.  Plus, the house always smelled of something delicious in the oven.  Growing up, several of the now-iconic Christmas specials aired for the first time, and my siblings and I were glued to the TV set; knowing this was the only time this year you could watch the shows.  There was a real sense of anticipation to watch the original Rudolph, Grinch, or the Charlie Brown specials.  Even the Wizard of Oz aired once or twice during the Thanksgiving holiday.

5. Audience Reactions: Elf is known for bringing joy to audiences of all ages. Can you share a memorable audience reaction that reminded you why this story is so special? 

While we were in Red Bank, NJ, earlier this tour, something happened for the first and only time in my 6 tours of ELF.  Toward the end of the show, Santa is grounded in Central Park due to the lack of Christmas spirit.  He’s talking to Buddy, and says, “Oh, it’s not enough (Christmas Spirit).  Sure could use a few magic reindeer about now.  Thank …”.   When out in the darkness of the audience, a lone voice shouts, “I believe!”  Then, the kids join in, shouting.  Then the whole audience is shouting, “I believe!” at Santa and Buddy.  It went on for around 30 seconds … an eternity on stage … when I improved: put my hand up, thanked them for their contribution to Christmas, but Santa had to get back to work.  It was unbelievably touching and terrifying at the same time!