Elf - The Musical Broadway Reviews

The score is generic, true, but it is also polished, hummable-tune laden and professional. Mr. Beguelin's lyrics, at their best, have a bright comic zest and are well-matched to Mr. Sklar's gently swinging music. The boogie-woogie 'Nobody Cares About...

The score is generic, true, but it is also polished, hummable-tune laden and professional. Mr. Beguelin's lyrics, at their best, have a bright comic zest and are well-matched to Mr. Sklar's gently swinging music. The boogie-woogie 'Nobody Cares About Santa,' featuring a chorus line of professional Santas sharing a Christmas Eve meal at a Chinese restaurant, is a rowdy parody of the rival Rockettes show at Radio City.

Every year seems to bring at least one entry, snowing banal good cheer on theatergoers (sometimes literally, as anyone who has walked out with a head full of confetti knows). In this year's model, Elf (* *½ out of four), which opened Sunday at the A...

Every year seems to bring at least one entry, snowing banal good cheer on theatergoers (sometimes literally, as anyone who has walked out with a head full of confetti knows). In this year's model, Elf (* *½ out of four), which opened Sunday at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, that cheer is at least served with a light heart and endearingly goofy humor.

The sugarplummy supporting cast includes Cheers veteran George Wendt (as a wizened, wisecracking Santa), a nicely sarcastic Amy Spanger (as Buddy's unlikely and underdeveloped love interest), and a strong-voiced Matthew Gumley (as Buddy's much younge...

The sugarplummy supporting cast includes Cheers veteran George Wendt (as a wizened, wisecracking Santa), a nicely sarcastic Amy Spanger (as Buddy's unlikely and underdeveloped love interest), and a strong-voiced Matthew Gumley (as Buddy's much younger half-brother). Elf is a modest show with modest charms, but director-choreographer Casey Nicholaw keeps the production humming along, particularly in the fleeter second act. One can imagine the show having a second life in high schools and regional theaters (visions of licensing fees will no doubt be dancing in the creators' heads). For now, though, Buddy and his pals seem very much at home on Broadway.

Who needs Will? That might be the typical reaction from theatergoers after seeing the Broadway musical 'Elf,' a show that remains true to the 2003 Will Ferrell movie but stands on its own with great sets and design, a funny adapted script and a colle...

Who needs Will? That might be the typical reaction from theatergoers after seeing the Broadway musical 'Elf,' a show that remains true to the 2003 Will Ferrell movie but stands on its own with great sets and design, a funny adapted script and a collection of hardworking actors. It simply doesn't need Ferrell in tights.

Raiding the New Line vaults for stage musical material has so far yielded a hit in 'Hairspray' and a miss in 'The Wedding Singer.' Where 'Elf,' an underpowered Broadway Christmas attraction adapted from the Will Ferrell screen comedy, falls in that c...

Raiding the New Line vaults for stage musical material has so far yielded a hit in 'Hairspray' and a miss in 'The Wedding Singer.' Where 'Elf,' an underpowered Broadway Christmas attraction adapted from the Will Ferrell screen comedy, falls in that commercial spectrum will depend on its holiday box-office pull. But as theatrical entertainment, it's flavorless candy.

The mischievous wit for which Thomas Meehan ('The Producers' and 'Hairspray') is known seems to have been rubbed too smooth by his co-writer, Bob Martin, the nostalgist behind the musical 'The Drowsy Chaperone.' The songs are by Matthew Sklar (music)...

The mischievous wit for which Thomas Meehan ('The Producers' and 'Hairspray') is known seems to have been rubbed too smooth by his co-writer, Bob Martin, the nostalgist behind the musical 'The Drowsy Chaperone.' The songs are by Matthew Sklar (music) and Chad Beguelin (lyrics), the team behind the awful 'The Wedding Singer,' and they hardly do better here; the tunes are instantly forgettable and you can predict every rhyme a mile away.

Meant to be the season's big happy hummable holiday event, the show never gets there; it feels unfinished and unready for New York. Director-choreographer Casey Nicholaw's resolutely middling production didn't have a regional tryout, but it could be ...

Meant to be the season's big happy hummable holiday event, the show never gets there; it feels unfinished and unready for New York. Director-choreographer Casey Nicholaw's resolutely middling production didn't have a regional tryout, but it could be a touring company that shuffled into town.

Broadway producers have been trying for years to come up with durable seasonal programming: family-suitable musicals that can be pulled out of the warehouse every November, recast as necessary, and play two sold-out months with minimal effort. This b...

Broadway producers have been trying for years to come up with durable seasonal programming: family-suitable musicals that can be pulled out of the warehouse every November, recast as necessary, and play two sold-out months with minimal effort. This biz plan hasn't quite worked for such efforts as 'White Christmas' and 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas,' but the producers of 'Elf' just might have found the key. Based on the 2003 New Line comedy starring Will Ferrell (which grossed some $220 million), this tuner is happy enough for families, savvy enough for city kids and plenty smart for adults.

Too bad they all feel underused. The show looks good, thanks to Gregg Barnes' colorful costumes -- the elf outfits are particularly snazzy -- and David Rockwell's evocative sets. But Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin's score, while efficient, lacks the...

Too bad they all feel underused. The show looks good, thanks to Gregg Barnes' colorful costumes -- the elf outfits are particularly snazzy -- and David Rockwell's evocative sets. But Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin's score, while efficient, lacks the juice they brought to the underrated 'The Wedding Singer.' Casey Nicholaw's direction and choreography are similarly restrained, and only rarely summon the inspired mayhem the show needs.

Spanger and the rest of the cast do their level best to nake up for the deficiencies of the script and score. Arcelus is an ideal Buddy. He doesn't attempt to imitate Ferrell but provides his own winning and sunny presence, without going overboard in...

Spanger and the rest of the cast do their level best to nake up for the deficiencies of the script and score. Arcelus is an ideal Buddy. He doesn't attempt to imitate Ferrell but provides his own winning and sunny presence, without going overboard into sugary sweetness. George Wendt plays Santa with the understated dryness he gave to Norm on 'Cheers.' Mark Jacoby can't do very much with the one-dimensional role of Walter, Buddy's all-business father, but he turns in his usual professional job. As Walter's wry wife, Emily, Beth Leavel deserves a medal for lending much-needed depth and spark to the bland proceedings. In supporting roles, Michael Mandell as a grumpy store manager and Valerie Wright as a sarcastic secretary stand out. But even the most fantastic cast possible couldn't rescue this mediocre show.

'Sometimes I get the feeling that New York is jaded,' sings Buddy in the second-act opener, 'Nobody Cares About Santa.' Can he blame us? Even with a chorus line of dancing Kris Kringles, that number, like the show as a whole, earns dutiful applause b...

'Sometimes I get the feeling that New York is jaded,' sings Buddy in the second-act opener, 'Nobody Cares About Santa.' Can he blame us? Even with a chorus line of dancing Kris Kringles, that number, like the show as a whole, earns dutiful applause but no Christmas cheers.

Instead of droll and charming, alas, Elf is mostly sticky and cloying, with bits of wit but derivative plot and generic music...Where Elf, the 2003 movie, played on the surface blandness and subversive underpinnings of Will Ferrell, our Buddy (Sebast...

Instead of droll and charming, alas, Elf is mostly sticky and cloying, with bits of wit but derivative plot and generic music...Where Elf, the 2003 movie, played on the surface blandness and subversive underpinnings of Will Ferrell, our Buddy (Sebastian Arcelus) is just a pleasant fellow who sings, dances and smiles a lot...Everyone ends up in Central Park, trying to work up enough enthusiasm to fuel the sleigh. They are outside of Tavern on the Green, which obviously hadn't yet closed and had its bathroom fixtures auctioned off. What a metaphor. A timeless story that's already yesterday's news.

Elf's tone can shift wildly, from naïve kids' humor to knowingly grown-up material. Many of the jokes don't land, whether dated ('Who's Billy Crystal? He sounds magical!') or just awkward, like Santa's line when he rushes in late for Act II ('Sorry,...

Elf's tone can shift wildly, from naïve kids' humor to knowingly grown-up material. Many of the jokes don't land, whether dated ('Who's Billy Crystal? He sounds magical!') or just awkward, like Santa's line when he rushes in late for Act II ('Sorry, sorry, just made a quick trip to the cocoa cart, if you know what I mean,' which is either scatological or nonsensical but either way not funny). Everything seems flat, except a few production numbers and the show's one redeeming feature: Its star, Sebastian Arcelus, who manages to be the only one onstage having the consistently high-energy good time a show like this would seem to require. It's a Christmas miracle.