Elf: The Musical (Marquis Theatre, to Jan. 4) passes an important test of a seasonal Broadway show. It passes the wide smile/slightly moistened eyes/ridiculous amount of falling snow test, and—more significantly—passes the far more difficult actually-not-annoying-for-kids-and-adults test.
All the major elements of Will Ferrell’s hit 2003 movie remain in place in the stage musical directed by Philip WM. McKinley. Buddy the elf (Grey Henson) heads to New York City from the North Pole in search of his real family, having found out that he has human parents—a mother who died and a father, Walter Hobbs (Michael Hayden, with maximum growl and scowl), who is far too busy with his publishing job to care about Christmas and the family he has (an excellent Ashley Brown and Kai Edgar as wife Emily and son Michael) even before Buddy’s arrival.
Buddy never tells a lie, although no one believes him to be an elf. They think he’s just crazy. No matter: he leads great song and dance sequences in the department store he ends up, even though he causes chaos when he identifies the store’s Santa as fake—he knows the real one (Sean Astin in his Broadway debut, who has a good Lord of the Rings joke waiting for fans of his character).
Further comic muddle and more excellent song and dance numbers (crafted by choreographer Liam Steel) await at the publishing office, and on the streets of New York, as Buddy falls in love with a store colleague, Jovie (Kayla Davion, excellent, even if her role is never allowed as much fun as the others—and all Jovie’s early spikiness is too easily planed off). Jovie is cynical about men and life in general—and, from California, has never seen snow. You know all where this is going, especially in a show with a number called “Sparklejollytwinklejingley.”
Can Buddy make Walter realize the truth about himself, and get him to loosen up and love Christmas? (You’ve seen A Christmas Carol, right?) Will Walter save his publishing firm from a Christmas Eve corporate disaster? Will Jovie see snow, and see Buddy for the good and truth elf that he is? And when Santa’s sleigh crash-lands in Central Park, can New Yorkers make it fly again by generating pure spirit of Christmas as fuel? (Hmm, OK, that’s actually a tough one).
Matthew Sklar’s music and Chad Beguelin’s lyrics are a rousing standout, particularly when a café full of depressed Santas let us know how they feel about having to work around a difficult public; mother and son’s “There Is a Santa Claus” is a cheering dual recognition of that just that. Nate Patten conducts a percussively perfect orchestra through all numbers, whether humorous or earnest.
Tim Goodchild’s costumes and design are sprightly and glittery. Thomas Meehan and Bob Martin write a smart book, with lots of tangy local humor: a downcast hot dog vendor who haplessly wanders among the on-stage chaos having his iconic foodstuff insulted, and a cheeky biff on the nose for New Jersey. Video animations of the Empire State, vertiginous cityscapes, Chinatown cafe, and a twinkling Central Park leave you in no doubt of home turf.
Henson (who earned Tony and Drama Desk nominations as Damian in Mean Girls) is very funny—just like Ferrell very much an adult, whose constant boyishness, and puppyish innocence still comes with an edge of him being an adult and a whiff of the genuinely weird and sinister as he scrambles between the two modes. His nods to the audience can sometimes last a moment too long; and he also appears genuinely nervous (at first anyway) with what a cuddle that isn’t of the purely chaste kind might mean. With his new-found stepbrother he enjoys breakfasts of unrestrained syrup on everything.
The show itself also has lots of syrup, but that sweetness is smartly undercut by knowing humor (for all the adults in the audience). As a tribune for the kids in the audience, Kai Edgar, in his Broadway debut as son Michael, is a steady engine of the narrative himself, and more impatient with the lacking adults around him than waiting passively for their love or discipline. Kalen Allen provides broad-comic support as a store manager and the hot dog vendor.
There is much snow to fall before the evening is out, and there is a fun final surprise for Santa’s newly ready-to-fly sleigh. If you and any children you know are planning a trip to New York this festive season, the show is a very “Sparklejollytwinklejingley” night out.
