"I said 'Come on this sleigh ride with me!' - and whatever I've thrown at them, they've totally embraced it and gone along with it!"

Louise Travis is paying tribute to the cast and crew of Elf the Musical, which is she is directing and choreographing for BATS at the Haymarket in November.

"We lost a few weeks at the start because covid restrictions were still in place," she explains. "But when we could get together, we became a tight team very quickly. Everyone was so excited to get out of their homes and into a rehearsal space and be with people again, singing and performing. Every change I make, every time I suddenly announce there's a tap dance in this scene, they don't question it, they just get on with it!"

Elf is the first show Louise has directed for BATS and she brings a wealth of experience to the role.

"I was very lucky to start assisting a director at the age of 15, at the Crucible Youth Theatre in Sheffield. They could probably see how bossy I was! I had some incredible directors to work alongside and look up to. I then directed my first professional show at the age of 19."

That launched Louise's career in the entertainment industry which has taken her around the world. Among the highlights are performing Off-Broadway, modelling in Hong Kong, and touring the UK in the show Stepping Out. "It was an exciting life! I've juggled lots of different jobs and mixed in a lot of directing and choreographing too."

After taking a break for family reasons, Louise had been looking forward to performing again - she was due to play Velma Kelly in BATS' production of Chicago last year, which sadly had to be cancelled because of the pandemic.

But after that 18 month hiatus, she's loving being at the helm for Elf, which she believes is the perfect musical to show BATS are back with a bang.

It's the story of a young orphan, Buddy, who mistakenly crawls into Santa's bag of gifts and is transported to the North Pole. The would-be elf is raised unaware he's actually a human, until his enormous size and poor toy-making abilities make it obvious. He then travels to New York to try to find his birth family - and sprinkle some festive magic on the city via some spectacular song and dance numbers.

"It's such a beautiful and happy story," says Louise. "If you love Christmas and sparkle, and you like to put up your Christmas tree as early as Hallowe'en, then you need to come and see it! And if you don't, you still need to come and see it so we can change your mind!"

"We defy you not to be smiling at the end."

Elf - The Musical runs at the Haymarket from 9-13 November. Buy tickets online.