A new Broadway revival of Elf the Musical officially opened a limited holiday engagement at the Marquis Theatre November 17 after beginning previews November 9, and the reviews are rolling in. Performances will continue through January 4, 2025.
Mean Girls and Shucked star Grey Henson is leading the company as Buddy the Elf, opposite Lord of the Rings and Stranger Things star Sean Astin as Santa. The principal cast also includes Ashley Brown (Mary Poppins) as Emily Hobbs, Kayla Davion (Tina: The Tina Turner Musical) as Jovie, Kalen Allen (The Ellen DeGeneres Show) as Store Manager, Michael Hayden (Carousel) as Walter Hobbs, Kai Edgar (Charlie & The Chocolate Factory) as Michael, Jennifer Sánchez (Pretty Woman) as Deb, and Michael Deaner (Leopoldstadt) as Little Boy.
Read the reviews below.
CitiTour NYC (Brian Scott Lipton)
New York Magazine/Vulture (Jackson McHenry)*
New York Stage Review (Steven Suskin, Bob Verini)
New York Theater (Jonathan Mandell)
New York Theatre Guide (Caroline Cao)
The New York Times (Laura Collins-Hughes)*
*This review may require creating a free account or a paid subscription.
Playbill will continue to update this list as reviews come in.
The ensemble includes Bronwyn Tarboton (Harmony), Sydni Moon, Rodney Thompson (Funny Girl), Clifton Samuels (Amazing Grace), Michael Milkanin (Lempicka), David Paul Kidder (The Who’s Tommy), J Savage (Bad Cinderella), Corinne C. Broadbent, Halli Toland (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), Cameron Anika Hill (Oklahoma!), Peli Naomi Woods (Frozen), and DeMarius R. Copes (Mean Girls). Swings Colin Bradbury, Lizz Picini, Austin Schulte, Asten Stewart (Aladdin), and Maria Briggs (Spamalot) round out the company. Casting is by The Telsey Office's Rachel Hoffman.
The musical, based on the 2003 film starring Will Ferrell, features a book by Thomas Meehan and Bob Martin and songs by Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin. The story follows Buddy, an orphaned human child raised by Santa's elves who travels to NYC in search of his biological family. The stage musical premiered on Broadway in 2010 and returned in 2012. A stop-motion animation film version of the musical was released in 2014 as Elf: Buddy's Musical Christmas.
This revival is not a restaging of the show's earlier Broadway bows, instead bringing over a 2015 production directed by Philip Wm. McKinley from London's West End. This version features choreography by Liam Steel, set and costume design by Tim Goodchild, lighting design by Patrick Woodroffe, sound design by Gareth Owen and Peter Fitzgerald, video design by Ian William Galloway and Mesmer Studios, and hair and wig design by Sam Cox. Alan Williams is music supervisor, with orchestrations by Doug Besterman, dance arrangements by David Chase, vocal arrangements by Phil Reno, and music direction by Nate Patten. Karen Moore is production stage manager.
Temple Live Entertainment North America, Crossroads Live North America, and Nederlander Presentations are producing.
Visit ElfOnBroadway.com.
The cast of Elf the Musical
Grey Henson and Jennifer Sanchez
Michael Hayden and the cast of Elf the Musical
Kayla Davion and Grey Henson
Kai Edgar and Grey Henson
Grey Henson and Kayla Davion
Kalen Allen, Grey Henson, and the cast of Elf the Musical
Michael Hayden, Ashley Brown, Kai Edgar, Grey Henson, and Kayla Davion
Sean Astin
Sean Astin
Grey Henson
The cast of Elf the Musical
The cast of Elf the Musical
Sean Astin and the cast of Elf the Musical
Grey Henson and the cast of Elf the Musical
Grey Henson and Sean Astin
Grey Henson and Kayla Davion
The cast of Elf the Musical
