Elf: The Musical

Elf the Musical

Broadway Playbill
Music Matthew Sklar
Lyrics Chad Beguelin
Book Bob Martin
Thomas Meehan
Basis 2003 film Elf
Productions 2010 Broadway
2012 Non-Equity tour
2012 Broadway revival
2013 National tour
2014 Non-Equity tour
2015 West End

Elf is a musical based on the motion picture of the same name, with a score by Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin. The book is adapted by Bob Martin and Thomas Meehan from the 2003 film. The musical ran on Broadway in the Christmas seasons of 2010-11 and 2012–13, and also toured the U.S. in 2012. A new tour launched in 2014.

Plot

William "Buddy" Hobbs, a young orphan child, mistakenly crawls into Santa’s bag of gifts and is transported back to the North Pole. Years later, Buddy finds out that he's an ordinary human being and heads off to New York City in search of his father, Walter Hobbs.

He finds him, but Walter doesn't believe in the spirit of Christmas, nor do many other New Yorkers. This is a problem, because Santa's sleigh is powered by the people's belief in Christmas.

Faced with the harsh reality that Walter is on the naughty list and his half-brother, Michael, doesn’t even believe in Santa, Buddy is determined to win over his birth family and help New York City remember the true meaning of Christmas.

Differences from the film

The story is narrated by Santa Claus rather than Papa Elf. The story in the musical is said to have begun three years ago - rather than thirty years ago, like in the movie - so that there's no age limit on the actor playing Buddy. The musical also adds a subplot about Michael's disbelief in Santa.

Musical numbers

The musical numbers in the original Broadway production were as follows:[1]

Act I[2]

  1. Overture — Orchestra
  2. Christmastown — Buddy and Company
  3. World's Greatest Dad — Buddy
  4. In the Way — Deb, Walter, Emily, Michael and Company
  5. Sparklejollytwinklejingley — Buddy, Store Manager, and Company
  6. I'll Believe in You — Michael and Emily
  7. In the Way (Reprise) — Emily and Walter
  8. Just Like Him — Buddy, Deb, and Company
  9. A Christmas Song — Buddy, Jovie, and Company
  10. I'll Believe in You (Reprise)  — Buddy and Company

Act II[2]

  1. Entr'acte — Orchestra
  2. Nobody Cares About Santa — Fake Santas, Store Manager, and Buddy
  3. Never Fall in Love — Jovie
  4. There Is a Santa Claus — Michael and Emily
  5. The Story of Buddy the Elf — Buddy, Michael, Walter, and Company
  6. Nobody Cares About Santa (Reprise) — Santa
  7. A Christmas Song (Reprise) — Jovie, Buddy, Emily, Michael, Walter, and Company
  8. Finale — All

Notes

Casts

The original principal casts of all major productions.

Character Original Broadway Cast (2010) Second Broadway Cast (2012) Original US National Tour Cast (2012) Original West End Cast (2015)[5]
William "Buddy" Hobbs Sebastian Arcelus Jordan Gelber Matt Kopec Ben Forster
Jovie Amy Spanger Leslie Kritzer Kate Hennies Kimberley Walsh
Emily Hobbs Beth Leavel Julia Louise Hosack Jessica Martin
Walter Hobbs Mark Jacoby Drew Pulver Joe McGann
Santa Claus George Wendt Wayne Knight Gordon Gray Mark McKerracher
Michael Hobbs Matthew Gumley
Matthew Schechter		 Mitchell Sink Connor Barth Ilan Galkoff Harry Collett Noah Key
Ewan Rutherford
Deb Valerie Wright Jen Bechter Jennie Dale
Mr Greenway Michael McCormick Adam Heller Royce McIntosh Mark McKerracher
Store Manager Michael Mandell Clyde Voce Graham Lappin

Production history

2010 Broadway cast

Broadway (2010-11)

After a 2009 workshop, the musical officially opened for a limited holiday engagement at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on Broadway on November 14, 2010, following previews from November 2, 2010. Casey Nicholaw directed.[6][7][8][9] The final performance took place January 2, 2011 after a run of 15 preview and 57 regular performances.[10] A Broadway cast recording was released on November 1, 2011.[11] Leading the original cast was Wicked and Jersey Boys star Sebastian Arcelus, who was joined by Broadway alums Amy Spanger and Beth Leavel.[12]

North American tours (2012, 2013, 2014)

Presented by NETworks, a mini-tour of the musical featuring a non-equity cast played select cities across North America for the 2012 holiday season. Stops include Providence, RI (Nov. 4-10), Appleton, WI (Nov. 13-18), Tampa, FL (Nov. 20-25), Fort Myers, FL (Nov. 27-Dec. 2) and St. Paul, MN (Dec. 5-30). Two separate tours began in 2013, one equity and one non-equity. Two non-equity tours began in November 2014.

Broadway revival (2012-13)

Following the success of the 2010 production, the musical returned to the Al Hirschfeld for a second holiday season beginning November 9, 2012, on a run through January 6, 2013.[13] This new production featured a revised book and a brand new opening number "Happy All the Time."

West End production (2015-16)

A new production of the musical opened at the Dominion Theatre on October 24, 2015, for a 10-week run until January 2, 2016. This production features Ben Forster as Buddy and Kimberley Walsh as Jovie.[14] This production was received with mixed reviews.[15][16][17][18] As of December 2015, it was announced that Elf the Musical had officially become the fastest selling show since the Dominion Theatre opened in 1929.[19]

Subsequent Productions

A separate production ran at The 5th Avenue Theatre for a limited engagement in Seattle beginning November 30, 2012, on a run through December 31.[20]

The Canadian premiere of the production ran from November 20, 2012 to January 6, 2013 at Neptune Theatre in Halifax, Nova Scotia.[21]

A production of the musical is currently running at the Paper Mill Playhouse. The run started on Nov 26, 2014 and is scheduled to run until Jan 4, 2015.

TV adaptation

On December 16, 2014, NBC broadcast a stop-motion animated adaptation of the musical entitled Elf: Buddy's Musical Christmas. It featured the voices of Jim Parsons as Buddy, Mark Hamill as Walter, Ed Asner reprising his film role as Santa, Garfunkel and Oates' Kate Micucci as Jovie, Rachael MacFarlane as Emily, Max Charles as Michael, Gilbert Gottfried as Mr. Greenway, and Jay Leno as the lead of the fake Santas. The screenplay was written by Andrew Horvath, Michael Jelenic with Martin and Meehan. It also contained Guardino, Sklar, and Beguelin's songs from this musical.[22][23]

Response

Critical reception

Mark Kennedy called the production "a tight, polished, expensive-looking affair that has enough jokes for adults and enough special effects for kids."[24]

Box office

The musical broke records at the Hirschfeld box office three times,[25][26][27] grossing over a million dollars in one week, and being the third best-grossing show in the 2010 Thanksgiving weekend, behind Wicked and The Lion King.[28][29]

Awards and honors

Year Award Category Outcome
2011 Drama League Awards[30] Distinguished Production of a Musical Nominated

References

Notes

  1. ↑ "Elf 2010 Songs". ibdb.com. Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Inside the Playbill: Elf - Opening Night at Al Hirschfeld Theatre". playbillvault.com. Playbill Vault. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
  3. ↑ "Elf 2012 Production". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
  4. ↑ "ELF". Dominion Theatre programme: 22–23. November 2015.
  5. ↑ "Full casting announced for Elf at Dominion". whatsonstage.com. Whats On Stage. 18 August 2015. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  6. ↑ Broadway News Report. "Elf: new family musical for the winter holidays". New York Theatre Guide.
  7. ↑ The Broadway League. Elf the Musical. Internet Broadway Database.
  8. ↑ Healy, Patrick. "Musical Version of 'Elf' Heading to Broadway". The New York Times, June 11, 2010
  9. ↑ Andrew Gans. "Nicholaw to Direct Workshop of Elf—The Musical". Playbill.com, September 3, 2009
  10. ↑ " 'Elf: The Musical' Unwraps Broadway Christmas Bow Nov. 2 at the Hirschfeld", playbill.com
  11. ↑ Recording Amazon.com
  12. ↑ Hetrick, Adam. "Sebastian Arcelus Will Be Broadway's Buddy; Elf – The Musical Completes Casting". Playbill
  13. ↑ Hetrick, Adam. "'Elf The Musical' Will Return to Broadway's Al Hirschfeld Theatre in November" playbill.com, August 9, 2012
  14. ↑ "Elf Musical" londonboxoffice.co.uk, February 21, 2015
  15. ↑ "Elf the Musical review – don't come, all ye faithful" theguardian.com, November 6, 2015
  16. ↑ "Elf, Dominion Theatre, review: 'Magic, for a steep price'" telegraph.co.uk, November 6, 2015
  17. ↑ "Elf, Dominion Theatre, London, review: Absurdly expensive musical is a ridiculous hoot" independent.co.uk, November 9, 2015
  18. ↑ "Review: ELF at the Dominion Theatre" londonboxoffice.co.uk, November 12, 2015
  19. ↑ " Elf The Musical Breaks Records at London’s Dominion Theatre"
  20. ↑ http://playbill.com/news/article/171813-Seattle-Elf-to-Feature-Matt-Owen-Kendra-Kassebaum-and-Kim-Huber-Complete-Cast-Announced
  21. ↑ http://www.neptunetheatre.com/default.asp?mn=1.22.211
  22. ↑ Ostrow, Joanne. "Ostrow: Jim Parsons, "Elf" will fulfill your holiday TV special requirements" Denver Post, December 12, 2014
  23. ↑ Weinstein, Shelli. "Jim Parsons To Star in NBC’s ‘Elf’ Animated Holiday Special" Variety, October 24, 2014
  24. ↑ 'Elf' on Broadway; Who Needs Will Ferrell? - ABC News
  25. ↑ BWW Newsdesk. "ELF Breaks Box Office Record at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre" broadwayworld.com, November 29, 2010.
  26. ↑ Hetrick, Adam. "Elf – The Musical Ends Broadway Holiday Run Jan. 2". Playbill. January 2, 2011.
  27. ↑ "ELF Breaks B.O. Record Again at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre". Broadway World. December 27, 2010.
  28. ↑ nytimes.com
  29. ↑ "Broadway Grosses: Wicked, The Lion King & Elf Set Records in Smashing Holiday Week" Broadway.com, November 29, 2010.
  30. ↑ Gans, Andrew (April 25, 2011). "Book of Mormon, Priscilla, Sister Act, War Horse, Good People and More Are Drama League Nominees". Playbill.com. Retrieved 25 April 2011.

External links

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