ELF Heads To Broadway

It’s quickly approaching that time of year when all our favorite holiday movies hit the small screen. From all-day marathons of “A Christmas Story” (1983) to the Rankin/Bass claymation favorites such as “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer” (1963), it’s one of the best times of year to watch TV. There are so many classic holiday movies that never get stale, among them “White Christmas” (1954), “It’s a Wonderful Life” (1946), and “Christmas Vacation” (1989).

Quickly joining that list is “Elf” (2003) starring Will Ferrell, James Caan, Ed Asner and Mary Steenburgen. This is one of the best and definitely funniest holiday movies to come along in quite awhile. Largely due to the comic genius of Will Ferrell, you just can’t watch this movie without laughing out loud.

So it’s no surprise that its family-friendly holiday themes make it perfect for the musical theater treatment. Applying this treatment is Warner Brothers (the producers behind the project) and creative minds Thomas Meehan and Bob Martin who brought us Hairspray and The Producers – two of Broadway’s biggest hits.

Among the cast is George Wendt (Norm! from Cheers) as Santa. Wendt is no stranger to the New York stage, having taken a turn playing Edna Turnblad in Hairspray back in 2007. Meet the cast here!

ELF is the hilarious tale of Buddy, a young orphan who mistakenly crawls into Santa’s bag of gifts and is transported 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.

ELF the Musical hits Broadway for the holiday season, opening at the Al Hirschfeld Theater in November and running through New Years.

Visit the musical on their official site here, on Facebook here and on Twitter here.