ELF 2024 Reviews

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 11/17/24 at 2:29pm

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 11/17/24 at 7:10pm

TIME OUT NY 
Broadway review: Elf The Musical is a Christmas gift (★★★★)

Grey Henson twinkles up a storm in a joyful revival of an old-fashioned musical comedy for the holidays.

"Christmas has come early to Broadway this year. Previous productions of the family-friendly comedic yuletide fable Elf The Musical, though pleasant enough, have seemed short on the very Christmas spirit—an ineffable sense of animating joy—that the musical is about. Its current revival, however, is another story entirely. To be honest, I wasn’t eager to see Elf get taken down from the shelf yet again. But my grinchiness soon vanished, to be replaced with a big wide grin. For the first time in my experience, this show is really elfin’ good. 

Elf’s third time is the charm. The most obvious change is the bright new star at the top of the tree: Grey Henson, who has also given Broadway the giggles with his special brand of confident comic insouciance in Mean Girlsand Shucked. Henson’s guileless Buddy is a creature of twinkle from his eyes down to his toes: an overgrown sweetie with a gentle heart and penchant for mild mischief. You can’t help rooting for him on his journey of elf-discovery, elf-esteem and elf-actualization,...

Well, count me now among the believers, at least when it comes to this show. Broadway needs a little Christmas, right this very minute, and it’s a pleasure to take off for a while on Elf’s magic ride. "

Updated On: 11/17/24 at 07:10 PM

[KevinKlawitter]

Posted: 11/17/24 at 8:06pm

Theatremania is positive

[Fordham2015]

Posted: 11/17/24 at 8:11pm

Laura Collins-Hughes in the Times loves Henson, not so much the show. Gift link:

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/17/theater/elf-review-broadway.html?unlocked_article_code=1.a04.jyA5.M_smOfXE-TN4&smid=url-share

Updated On: 11/17/24 at 08:11 PM

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 11/17/24 at 8:22pm

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Review-Roundup-ELF-THE-MUSICAL-Opens-on-Broadway-Updating-Live-20241117

Updated On: 11/17/24 at 08:22 PM

[ACL2006]

Posted: 11/17/24 at 8:24pm

The show is just good, holiday fluff. It's a simple, heartwarming story. The songs are nothing great. But there's also a reason it's toured almost every year since 2012. Reviews won't matter.

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 11/17/24 at 9:08pm

DTLI Consensus: Singing loud for all to hear, an ebullient Grey Henson fronts Elf’s most convincing Broadway staging yet. 

5 positive (including the NYT), 3 mixed.

https://didtheylikeit.com/shows/elf-the-musical/

Updated On: 11/17/24 at 09:08 PM

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 11/17/24 at 9:35pm

McHenry in Vulture has surprisingly nice things to say about the musical itself, but not this production. At least the first aside here made me laugh:
 

"This Elf comes to us from London (maybe an early warning sign, musicalwise), where its director Philip Wm. McKinley has stripped things down to their most basic, though not in any avant-garde fashion. Tim Goodchild’s rather thin set pieces are usually overshadowed, yet again, by a giant screen (the videos are by Ian William Galloway), giving you that sinking feeling of watching people try to act in front of a product display at Best Buy—a sensation that’s unfortunately become Marquis Theatre house style."

https://www.vulture.com/article/theater-review-elf-musical-broadway-return.html

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 12/4/24 at 3:46pm

The company will perform from the musical tomorrow morning on The View.

[quizking101]

Posted: 12/4/24 at 11:49pm

I saw this tonight and even I, a well-seasoned, exacting, and sometimes cynical theatregoer, was won over by how utterly charming and funny this was.

My friend and I went just to cross this off our list for the fall season and, although it took a little bit to get off the ground, it eventually made us laugh and feel that Christmas cheer in the deep recesses of our cold dead millennial hearts. I will say that the prices are insane at face value, so if you can get a TDF (which we got - Orch T for $59), lotto, or rush, it will be well worth your while.

Grey was absolutely effervescent in the role and his Buddy definitely had that same type of “innocent” dirty humor that his Storyteller in SHUCKED had, and I found him moreso sweet and endearing naive as opposed to grating and annoying. Also, for it being his Broadway debut, Sean Astin did a really great job in the dual role. Granted, it is a bit of a princess track, but I would love this to be an entry for him into more theatrical endeavors. Frankly, after this, I would LOVE to see him do Mushnik in Little Shop of Horrors

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 12/5/24 at 1:05am

EDSOSLO858 said: "The company will perform from the musical tomorrow morning on The View."

Did they already shoot the segment or is it shot tomorrow?  Anyone know?

[quizking101]

Posted: 12/5/24 at 7:29am

CoffeeBreak said: "EDSOSLO858 said: "The company will perform from the musical tomorrow morning on The View."

Did they already shoot the segment or is it shot tomorrow? Anyone know?"

Usually with THE VIEW, it’s pretaped the day of (since it cannot be live-to-air logistically), unless the segment is planned for the Friday show - which would tape on Thursday afternoon.

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 12/5/24 at 3:02pm

Kai Edgar, Ashley Brown, Grey Henson, Kayla Davion, and the company performing "There Is a Santa Claus / A Christmas Song":

 

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 12/5/24 at 3:08pm

Odd choice not to perform a song that features Buddy. Was that a recording of the full cast singing but only 7 actors present for the broadcast?

[kurtal]

Posted: 12/5/24 at 3:48pm

quizking101 said: "...Frankly, after this, I would LOVE to see him do Mushnik in Little Shop of Horrors"

For that matter, let's get Grey in as Seymour.

 

[nocek]

Posted: 12/7/24 at 12:23pm

I haven't seen it yet but I plan to

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 12/14/24 at 4:15pm

Grey is the PERFECT buddy! He made it look so easy and his comic timing, voice and dance top notch!   go see him do this.   A Tony nom worthy performance 

[ACL2006]

Posted: 12/14/24 at 5:45pm

Might this get a best musical revival Tony nom?

[willep]

Posted: 12/14/24 at 6:04pm

I really wanted to like Grey more than I did. Maybe it was an off night when I was there, but he didn’t seem at all committed to the wide-eyed wonder of Buddy, and so at times it felt like he was rolling his eyes at himself. I enjoyed the second act more overall.

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 12/15/24 at 8:36pm

He's great.   Having seen the previous incarnations he played it spot on with just the right mix of wonder and honesty, for us.  The voice and dancing was fantastic too.  It felt like the role was made for him.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 12/16/24 at 11:55am

I feel the same way, he is so well suited for Buddy. Obnoxious audience but that's to be expected with this show and this time of year. He also joins Audra McDonald and Jane Krakowski in dedicating his performance to Gavin Creel. What an absolute legend he will forever be. 

 

[willep]

Posted: 12/16/24 at 2:05pm

As I said, it could’ve been an off night. Because I do think he’s perfectly suited for the role, he just didn’t seem there in the moments he wasn’t speaking.