South H.S. grad takes center stage in musical ‘Elf’

A new theatrical production of the Will Ferrel film “Elf” opens at the Theater at Madison Square Garden next week, and one if its stars credits his days in South High School’s theater department with giving his career its start.

“I did shows in high school, but I never knew it could be a professional choice,” said Paul Ianniello, 29, who plays Charlie, the head elf, in a musical rendition of the 2003 comedy.

Ianniello graduated from South in 2004, and went on to study musical theater at Nazareth College, in Rochester, where he was the new program’s first student, and the only one in its first class.

After graduation, Ianniello secured a variety of gigs, on cruise ships, at theme parks and in shows at malls. “A lot has centered around Christmas,” he said. “The spirit of Christmas — that magic is possible if you believe that it is.”

Ianniello did his first national tour with “Elf” in 2012. This is his third year with the show, and he said it has given him the opportunity to act in a variety of featured roles, including the chance to play the main character, Buddy. The mixed roles have allowed him to explore the production’s “amazing” set, which he said he “feeds off of,” and the different elements of each role.

As he prepares for the show’s Big Apple run, which lasts from Dec. 9 to 27, Ianniello said that teachers at South sewed the seeds of his success. He mentioned instructor Don Kott, who he said molded his view of the theater world — “Anything is possible, is what he instilled in me,” Ianniello said — and Kim Alvarez, who “was a huge supporter of us theater geeks in high school.”

His parents still live near the Gibson train station. His childhood home’s proximity to New York City is something he looks back on gratefully, crediting it with being “close enough to the city to see my dreams come true.”

While his time at South taught him to pursue those dreams, achieving them taught him to recognize the innate value of his talents.

“My biggest thing is to be yourself,” Ianniello said. “You’re the only version of yourself in the world, and that is good enough — and you just have to work hard.”