#1
Posted: 11/15/10 at 2:19pm
The New York Daily News:
'Elf-The Musical'
by Joe Dziemianowicz
** 1/2 (out of four)
If you've unwrapped a present hoping to find the coolest new plaything and
instead found -- darn! -- gloves inside, you'll appreciate my reaction to
the Broadway musical "Elf," which opened Sunday night at the Al Hirschfeld
Theatre.
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.
The show is drawn from the 2003 movie starring Will Ferrell as Buddy, an
orphan who's grown up mistakenly thinking he's one of Santa's elves.
Ferrell's lovably overgrown goofiness fit this custom-built comedy to a T,
and his shadow looms large. The short-lived musical version of Tom Hanks'
"Big" had the same issue.
The talented and likable Sebastian Arcelus ("Good Vibrations," "Happiness")
summons bottomless cheer and does his best to fill Buddy's curly-toes shoes,
but the show actually works against him. In the overlong first act, Buddy
sings one so-so solo after another. Result: You can have too much elf in
"Elf."
Other characters are little more than window dressing: Buddy's workaholic
dad, Walter (Mark Jacoby); his young son, Sam (a cute Matthew Gumley) and
his wife, Emily (Beth Leavel, who has an oddly chewy way with a song).
George Wendt spends a few minutes onstage as Santa, primarily in a corny
framing device. Amy Spanger adds a needed jolt of acid as Buddy's crush.
Songs by Matthew Sklar (music) and Chad Beguelin (lyrics) fit the tone of
the story. As in their earlier collaboration "The Wedding Singer," they've
come up with a couple of very catchy tunes, including a lively production
number, "The Story of Buddy the Elf." The score is fine, with enough sass
and brass to make you wish it was better.
Same goes for the adaptation by Thomas Meehan ("Annie") and Bob Martin ("The
Drowsy Chaperone"), which leads to a sort of no-man's-land. Kids won't get
the PETA, Charlie Sheen and New Jersey-bashing jokes. Adults will tip toward
a sugar coma. Neither leave with much of a takeaway.
Which is too bad. The creators might have told a story of fathers and sons
from different worlds who find a way to connect. That's a theme worth
exploring and singing about, but remains undeveloped. Instead, energies go
into the now-obligatory, all-flashy, all-dancing finale. It's like putting
shiny ribbons on a bland package.
Warner Bros., last represented on Broadway with the disastrous "Lestat,"
fares better in this sophomore effort. If you read every letter to Santa,
though, odds are you wouldn't find one wishing to be simply okay.
x x x x x
The New Jersey Record:
'Elf-The Musical'
by Robert Feldberg
"Elf," the holiday musical that opened Sunday at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre,
is generic, dramatically flat and as predictable as they come, right down to
the final big tap dance number and the "snow" descending on the audience.
But its producers were obviously busy little bees in the matter of selling
product placements, and trying to spot them all becomes something to focus
on.
The first one pops up almost as soon as you're seated - a shiny bag of
chips, name posed for maximum exposure, at Santa's elbow, as he prepares to
watch a college football game. (One of the schools, Boise State, has its
logo displayed on the wall, but I don't know if that counts.)
Later, a coffee cart is wheeled out, and you can't miss the brand of
artificial sweetener.
The name of a well-known men's store is dropped, along with those of a
fast-food chain, a cable channel and a TV series. A well-known writing toy
keeps popping up, and an entire scene is set in the holiday section of a
department store, whose name is displayed above the stage.
The Salvation Army shield is also on prominent view, but I don't want to go
there.
The most curious brand-name flaunting involves the Tavern on the Green in
Central Park.
Buddy (Sebastian Arcelus), the title character, invites his girlfriend,
Jovie (Amy Spanger), to dine at the famous restaurant in the first act, and
then meets her outside the establishment in the second. It's mentioned that
it was closed for several months, but has reopened and "now it's even harder
to get in."
What they - and the writers - apparently didn't notice is that the place
closed for good almost a year ago.
The musical is based on the 2003 Will Ferrell film about a tall man who was
raised by Santa from infancy at the North Pole, and has always believed he
was an elf.
Advised that he's a regular human being, he heads to New York in search of
his father. He finds him, but, wouldn't you know it, the older man doesn't
believe in the spirit of Christmas, nor, apparently, do many other New
Yorkers, which is a problem, because, we learn, Santa's sleigh is no longer
schlepped by reindeer, the animals having been replaced by the power of
people's belief in Christmas.
I won't go on, except to note that the innocent, sweet-natured elf-man has
an instant transformative impact on the jaded urban dwellers.
The problem with "Elf" - which at least tries to keep the commercialism in
Christmas - isn't the story, though. It's the mechanical, unfelt, poky way
it's presented by book writers Thomas Meehan and Bob Martin, with
forgettable songs added by Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin. (Authors who
think equipping Santa with an iPad - another plug - is really clever aren't
giving the assignment their A effort.)
Director-choreographer Casey Nicholaw seems to have operated on auto-pilot.
(Didn't he see how strange it looks to have Jovie hanging around outdoors
for hours in the middle of winter without a coat?) The cheesy sets were
designed by David Rockwell.
Arcelus is an appealing performer, but he doesn't have the comic
distinctiveness to rise above his drippy lines.
In addition to Spanger, the excellent performers who are wasted include Mark
Jacoby as Buddy's father and Beth Leavel as his stepmother. Santa is played,
capably, by George Wendt.
"Elf" is so out of touch, it has Buddy's father, in a demonstration of
backbone and family commitment, tell off his mean boss and quit on Christmas
Eve. Someone without a job for the holidays - that should give the audience
a warm and cozy feeling.
'Elf-The Musical'
by Joe Dziemianowicz
** 1/2 (out of four)
If you've unwrapped a present hoping to find the coolest new plaything and
instead found -- darn! -- gloves inside, you'll appreciate my reaction to
the Broadway musical "Elf," which opened Sunday night at the Al Hirschfeld
Theatre.
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.
The show is drawn from the 2003 movie starring Will Ferrell as Buddy, an
orphan who's grown up mistakenly thinking he's one of Santa's elves.
Ferrell's lovably overgrown goofiness fit this custom-built comedy to a T,
and his shadow looms large. The short-lived musical version of Tom Hanks'
"Big" had the same issue.
The talented and likable Sebastian Arcelus ("Good Vibrations," "Happiness")
summons bottomless cheer and does his best to fill Buddy's curly-toes shoes,
but the show actually works against him. In the overlong first act, Buddy
sings one so-so solo after another. Result: You can have too much elf in
"Elf."
Other characters are little more than window dressing: Buddy's workaholic
dad, Walter (Mark Jacoby); his young son, Sam (a cute Matthew Gumley) and
his wife, Emily (Beth Leavel, who has an oddly chewy way with a song).
George Wendt spends a few minutes onstage as Santa, primarily in a corny
framing device. Amy Spanger adds a needed jolt of acid as Buddy's crush.
Songs by Matthew Sklar (music) and Chad Beguelin (lyrics) fit the tone of
the story. As in their earlier collaboration "The Wedding Singer," they've
come up with a couple of very catchy tunes, including a lively production
number, "The Story of Buddy the Elf." The score is fine, with enough sass
and brass to make you wish it was better.
Same goes for the adaptation by Thomas Meehan ("Annie") and Bob Martin ("The
Drowsy Chaperone"), which leads to a sort of no-man's-land. Kids won't get
the PETA, Charlie Sheen and New Jersey-bashing jokes. Adults will tip toward
a sugar coma. Neither leave with much of a takeaway.
Which is too bad. The creators might have told a story of fathers and sons
from different worlds who find a way to connect. That's a theme worth
exploring and singing about, but remains undeveloped. Instead, energies go
into the now-obligatory, all-flashy, all-dancing finale. It's like putting
shiny ribbons on a bland package.
Warner Bros., last represented on Broadway with the disastrous "Lestat,"
fares better in this sophomore effort. If you read every letter to Santa,
though, odds are you wouldn't find one wishing to be simply okay.
x x x x x
The New Jersey Record:
'Elf-The Musical'
by Robert Feldberg
"Elf," the holiday musical that opened Sunday at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre,
is generic, dramatically flat and as predictable as they come, right down to
the final big tap dance number and the "snow" descending on the audience.
But its producers were obviously busy little bees in the matter of selling
product placements, and trying to spot them all becomes something to focus
on.
The first one pops up almost as soon as you're seated - a shiny bag of
chips, name posed for maximum exposure, at Santa's elbow, as he prepares to
watch a college football game. (One of the schools, Boise State, has its
logo displayed on the wall, but I don't know if that counts.)
Later, a coffee cart is wheeled out, and you can't miss the brand of
artificial sweetener.
The name of a well-known men's store is dropped, along with those of a
fast-food chain, a cable channel and a TV series. A well-known writing toy
keeps popping up, and an entire scene is set in the holiday section of a
department store, whose name is displayed above the stage.
The Salvation Army shield is also on prominent view, but I don't want to go
there.
The most curious brand-name flaunting involves the Tavern on the Green in
Central Park.
Buddy (Sebastian Arcelus), the title character, invites his girlfriend,
Jovie (Amy Spanger), to dine at the famous restaurant in the first act, and
then meets her outside the establishment in the second. It's mentioned that
it was closed for several months, but has reopened and "now it's even harder
to get in."
What they - and the writers - apparently didn't notice is that the place
closed for good almost a year ago.
The musical is based on the 2003 Will Ferrell film about a tall man who was
raised by Santa from infancy at the North Pole, and has always believed he
was an elf.
Advised that he's a regular human being, he heads to New York in search of
his father. He finds him, but, wouldn't you know it, the older man doesn't
believe in the spirit of Christmas, nor, apparently, do many other New
Yorkers, which is a problem, because, we learn, Santa's sleigh is no longer
schlepped by reindeer, the animals having been replaced by the power of
people's belief in Christmas.
I won't go on, except to note that the innocent, sweet-natured elf-man has
an instant transformative impact on the jaded urban dwellers.
The problem with "Elf" - which at least tries to keep the commercialism in
Christmas - isn't the story, though. It's the mechanical, unfelt, poky way
it's presented by book writers Thomas Meehan and Bob Martin, with
forgettable songs added by Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin. (Authors who
think equipping Santa with an iPad - another plug - is really clever aren't
giving the assignment their A effort.)
Director-choreographer Casey Nicholaw seems to have operated on auto-pilot.
(Didn't he see how strange it looks to have Jovie hanging around outdoors
for hours in the middle of winter without a coat?) The cheesy sets were
designed by David Rockwell.
Arcelus is an appealing performer, but he doesn't have the comic
distinctiveness to rise above his drippy lines.
In addition to Spanger, the excellent performers who are wasted include Mark
Jacoby as Buddy's father and Beth Leavel as his stepmother. Santa is played,
capably, by George Wendt.
"Elf" is so out of touch, it has Buddy's father, in a demonstration of
backbone and family commitment, tell off his mean boss and quit on Christmas
Eve. Someone without a job for the holidays - that should give the audience
a warm and cozy feeling.
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