Elf: The Musical at Aldwych Theatre
Debuting on Broadway in November 2010, it’s been a long road for Elf, the musical adaptation of Jon Favreau and David Berenbaum’s hit 2003 Will Ferrell vehicle. Since its premiere, the show has made two further returns to Broadway and three stopovers in London (in 2015, 2022 and 2023, respectively, all concluding their runs shortly after the New Year) as well as multiple US-Canadian tours. Now, the musical commences a new run – its first at the Aldwych Theatre – set to end on January 3rd, and the effusive audience response on press night suggests a warm familiarity with the show from the prior runs.
The production marks the return of director Philip William McKinley (a veteran of such varied productions as Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark and the 2006 revival of The Most Happy Fella) but touts notable new additions in the casting department. Stepping in for the previous leading duo, Matthew Wolfenden and Georgina Castle, are “theatrical power couple” Joel Montague (Urinetown) and Carrie Hope Fletcher (Cinderella), in the first production in which the two have co-starred. They play Buddy and Jovie, the North Pole-raised manchild seeking his real father in New York and the jaded Gimbels employee he seeks to woo.
However, their romance storyline runs parallel with the story of Buddy’s reconnection with his two families: Walter Hobbs, the embittered businessman who will not claim him as his own, and Father Christmas himself, who fears his job may be at risk from lack of belief in him. They are played, respectively, by Aled Jones and Martyn Ellis (who also plays the former’s bullying boss, Mr Greenway). Filling out the remainder of the core cast are Rosanna Hyland as Buddy’s unofficial stepmother, Emily, Lucinda Lawrence as the battle-hardened commander of Walter’s office, and Dermot Canavan as the harried Gimbels manager wholly unprepared for the injection of Christmas spirit Buddy will bring to his store.
Throughout, the songs created by the composer-lyricist duo of Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin provide ample showcases for them all. An especially dizzying highlight is Sparklejollytinklejingley, with Buddy’s ebullient Christmas mall makeover a prime opportunity for Liam Steel’s manic choreography to coalesce with Tim Goodchild’s glitter explosion of a set. The rubber-faced guilelessness Montague brings to the role is at its peak here, and come its conclusion, this number elicited a chef’s kiss from a young audience member. Elsewhere, Jones’s party-pooping curmudgeon is at the forefront of In the Way, a bustling office-set number illustrating Walter’s workaholism, while Nobody Cares About Santa cedes the floor to the ensemble (among them Zack Guest, Kyle Cox, Ryan Jupp and Dominic Lamb), as an assortment of despondent mall Santas decrying their falling standing in the world.
There is ample applause for Fletcher’s spotlight moment with the sardonic solo Never Fall in Love (With an Elf), but the night’s most thunderous reception was held for There is a Santa Claus, a mother-son duet with a sterling vocal performance from Samuel Sturge as Buddy’s child half-brother Michael. Sturge is one of four young actors who will play Michael over the course of the show’s run (Ayrton English, Harry Georgiou and Max Garlick will also be seen in the role), and, despite the modest size of his role, many audience members were heard enthusing about the performance while exiting the theatre.
Rousing appreciation was once again inspired by the climactic pyrotechnics, in which a final surge of belief powers Santa’s sleigh into life, soaring overhead, while snowflakes appear to cascade down on attendees, who accordingly reach out to grab it. Be they fans of the show, fans solely of the film that inspired it (who will find a largely faithful adaptation, save for the plot-essential addition of an iPad and accompanying TikTok joke) or total newcomers, the crowd at the Aldwych Theatre appeared to take in stride the production’s message of holiday togetherness.
Thomas Messner
Photo: Mark Senior
Elf: The Musical is at Aldwych Theatre from 28th October 2025 until 3rd January 2026. For further information or to book, visit the theatre’s website here.
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