Elf: complete cast announced

The complete cast has been announced for the winter holiday family show Elf - the musical, directed and choreographed by Tony Award-winner Casey Nicholaw, playing a limited return engagement of 9 weeks at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre from 9 Nov 2012 - 6 Jan 2013.

Jordan Gelber ('Avenue Q,' 'All My Sons') will play the lead role of 'Buddy,' Leslie Kritzer ('Sondheim on Sondheim,' 'A Catered Affair') will play 'Jovie'and Mitchell Sink will make his Broadway debut as 'Michael.'

They join the previously announced "Seinfeld" star Wayne Knight (Santa), Tony Award-winner Beth Leavel (Emily), Tony Award nominee Mark Jacoby (Walter), Valerie Wright (Deb), Adam Heller (Mr. Greenway) and Michael Mandell (Store Manager). Leavel, Jacoby, Wright and Mandell are reprising the roles they originated in the 2010 production of Elf - the musical.

The company will also include Rory Donovan, Jason Eric Testa, Timothy J. Alex, Catherine Brunell, Callie Carter, Andrea Chamberlain, Jay Douglas, David Hibbard, Jenny Hill, Stacey Todd Holt, Emily Hsu, Nancy Johnston, Josh Lamon, Ariel Reid, Jonathan Schwartz, Eric LaJuan Summers, Jen Taylor and Lee Wilkins.

Leavel, Jacoby, Wright and Mandell are reprising the roles they originated in the 2010 production of Elf - the musical.

Based on the 2003 New Line Cinema movie which starred Will Ferrell in the title role, Elf features music by Tony Award nominees Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin ('The Wedding Singer'), with a book by Tony Award winners Thomas Meehan ('The Producers,' 'Hairspray') and Bob Martin ('The Drowsy Chaperone'). Elf will be directed and choreographed by Tony nominee Casey Nicholaw ('The Drowsy Chaperone,' 'Monty Python's Spamalot').

Elf tells the tale of 'Buddy,' a young orphan child who mistakenly crawls into Santa's bag of gifts and is transported back 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. The musical is based on the 2003 New Line Cinema film 'Elf,' which starred Will Ferrell as 'Buddy.'

Scenic design for Elf is by David Rockwell, costume design is by Gregg Barnes, lighting design is by Natasha Katz and sound design is by Peter Hylenski. The show will feature orchestrations by Doug Besterman.

The show is being produced on Broadway by Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures in association with Unique Features.

Elf played a successful 9-week Broadway engagement in 2010, breaking the Al Hirschfeld Theatre's box office record three times during its run. Previews began on 2 Nov 2010 and the production opened on 14 Nov and played through to 2 Jan 2011.

Jordan GelberLeslie Kritzer

Originally published on

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