ELF 2024 Reviews

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

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

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.

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

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 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.

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?

I haven't seen it yet but I plan to

Might this get a best musical revival Tony nom?

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.

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.