The three performances of "Elf the Musical Jr." by the Boothbay Region Y-Arts ensemble Dec. 16 and 17 at Lincoln Theater in Damariscotta were just the right recipe for putting people in the Christmas spirit.

The cast of 52 young performers danced to and sang some memorable songs during the hour-long shows. And Spencer Pottle, playing the main character, Buddy, was brilliant, funny and gave one of his best performances during his many years as a Y-Arts member.

For those who don't know the story, director Emily Mirabile wrote "Buddy, a young orphan, mistakenly crawls into Santa's bag of gifts and is transported to the North Pole. The would-be elf is raised, 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 that his half-sister doesn't even believe in Santa, Buddy is determined to win over his new family and help New York remember the true meaning of Christmas."

Besides Pottle, the other main characters included Santa (Ford Harris), Buddy's dad Walter Hobbs (Finn Sullivan), Buddy's love interest Jovie (Sophia Mansfield), Buddy's stepmother Emily (Natalie Flagg), Buddy's half sister Michaela (Fiona Bishop) and Walter Hobbs' boss Mr. Greenway (Jeffery Buck).

The rest of the cast (with many playing different roles as elves, Macy's workers, Hobbs' office staff and more) included: Imij Armstead, Violet Baldwin, Norah Ballard, Lily Billings, Cairine Blackman Morehouse, Jackie Branch, Enilea Burns, Collin Cantillo, Skyla Carrier, Adira Delisle, Vivian Flagg, George Graham, Agatha Harris, Lucie Holton, Maddox Hutchinson, Adeline Inman, Gannon Inman, Maya Rhys Jacobs, Mabel Kaler, Laila Lufkin, Anastasia Martin, Scout Martin, Meara McManus, Evelyn Michaud, Sofia Michaud, Andrew Minzner, Lina Minzner, Oscar Mirabile, Alice Morier, Reese Nelson, Sloan Nelson, Avery Peck, Olive Pine, Corinne Rogers, Josephine Shea, Isla Shepard, Allison Smart, Emily Smart, Isla Sullivan, Ireland Teele, Olivia Tindal, Jessie Ullo, Rory Vaudreuil and Kayla Watts.