Tony Award nominee Casey Nicholaw directs and choreographs the musical that began previews Nov. 2 and will continue through Jan. 2, 2011. Elf – The Musical has a book by Tony Award winners Bob Martin (The Drowsy Chaperone) and Thomas Meehan (Annie, Hairspray, The Producers). Wedding Singer songwriters Matthew Sklar (music) and Chad Beguelin (lyrics) penned the score.

Sebastian Arcelus (Jersey Boys, Wicked) stars in the title role of the musical based on the film of the same name. The musical and its source center on a human orphan, who steals away in Santa's sack one Christmas Eve and is raised as an elf in the North Pole. He soon learns the truth of his heritage when he outgrows his fellow toy makers. Will Ferrell originated the role on screen.

The cast also features Amy Spanger (Rock of Ages, The Wedding Singer) as Buddy's love interest Jovie, Beth Leavel (The Drowsy Chaperone, Mamma Mia!) as Emily, Mark Jacoby (Sweeney Todd, Show Boat) as Walter and George Wendt ("Cheers," Hairspray) as Santa. The principal cast also includes Matthew Gumley (Addams Family) as Michael, Valerie Wright (Steel Pier) as Deb, Michael McCormick (Curtains) as Mr. Greenway and Michael Mandell (Big River) as the Store Manager.

The Elf ensemble includes Timothy J. Alex, Callie Carter, Cara Cooper, Lisa Gadja, Asmeret Ghebremichael, Blake Hammond, Emily Hsu, Jenny Hill, Nancy Johnston, Marc Kessler, Matt Loehr, Lee Wilkins, Kirsten Wyatt, Noah Weisberg, Stacey Todd Holt and Michael James Scott.

Designing Elf are Tony winners David Rockwell (scenic design), Gregg Barnes (costume design) and Natasha Katz (lighting design), and Tony nominee Peter Hylenski (sound design), Josh Marquette (hair and wig design) and Zachary Borovay (projections). Tony winner Doug Besterman provides orchestrations. According to producers, "Elf is the hilarious tale of Buddy, a young orphan child who mistakenly crawls into Santa’s bag of gifts and is transported back to the North Pole. Buddy 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 his step-brother 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. This modern day Christmas classic is sure to make everyone embrace their inner Elf."

For tickets phone (212) 239-6200 or visit Telecharge.

The Al Hirschfeld Theatre is located at 302 West 45th Street.