ELF

"Elf" at the Marquis Theatre is the best show on Broadway this season! Although the plot has varied a little from the movie, the laughs and thrills remain the same. What makes this show so great is the blend between the music, songs and the pace of the musical. "Elf" is never slow and the songs only enhance this raucous comedy. The musical entertains the adults and the children alike; it never favors one age group or the other.

Grey Henson as Buddy the elf has such a great presence on stage, his delivery and energy is very much a main attraction onstage; in fact, all of the characters in this two hour show are fantastic. This falls squarely on superb direction by Philip WM. McKinley and brilliant choreography by Liam Steel. The combination of the two keep the audience locked in tight throughout the evening, and makes the entire production fun to watch!

"Elf" is what a big musical should look like. With its massive staging (Tim Goodchild- he also did the costumes), great glam lighting by Patrick Woodroffe, resonating and booming sound by Gareth Owen/ Peter Fitzgerald and wonderful orchestration by Doug Besterman. Bob Martin for the most part did an excellent job with the book; Matthew Sklar's music and lyrics by Chad Beguelin complemented this behemoth musical.

The only problem with "Elf" was the projection at times. In the many backdrops of the production, the projection was out of focus leaving us to try to focus in on the different parts of the north pole as well as various parts of New York City. The story too had some different spins from the movie, sometimes the changes were engrossing, and sometimes they didn't work so well. Even with these mild flaws, "Elf" is a must see for children of all ages.

As Buddy goes through his blissful life like Will Ferrell did in the movie, Henson too spreads his goodwill on his fellow man. Realizing he is not an elf, but a human, he seeks out for his natural father (his mother died after he was born). His innocence makes even the hardest of New Yorker's soften their tone around him. From the comical store manager (Kalen Allen) to the no non-sense Mr. Greenway (Sean Astin), who owns Greenway publications, (Astin also plays Santa) they are all either put-off by Buddy at first sight, or they think he is mentally unfit. His father, Walter Hobbs (Michael Hayden) wants him out of his families life.

Whereas the movie focused more on Buddy and his half brother, the musical brought the many great actors here to the forefront. To me, this was brilliant because it opened the show up for more comedy options... the store manager, the hot dog vendor and the policemen. Henson had a great blend with all the characters, but I thought that he was at his best with Santa, his new found love, Tiara, the store manager, the saleswoman and the fake Santa.

Like "Music Man", "Back to The Future", "Elf" is a pleasant show, one that the audience can sit back and escape too. With the shows pleasant music, easy to watch dance moves and the great direction that went behind this show, it too will be one that you will remember for a very long time!

"Elf", Broadway, Tony Awards, Hollywood, Will Ferrell, Sean Astin, Grey Henson, Marquis Theatre, Alladin, Harry Potter, Hamilton, Hadestown, Wicked, The Great White Way, The Lion King, Once Upon A Mattress, A Funny Thing Happened on The Way To The Forum, Left On Tenth, The Roommate, Patti Lupone, The Oscars, James Caan.