Originally Published On Playbill.com/News
Lord of the Rings and Stranger Things star Sean Astin has joined Broadway’s upcoming return holiday engagement of Elf The Musical, co-starring as Santa in his Broadway debut. Performances are set to begin November 9 at the Marquis Theatre with a November 17 opening night. The limited engagement will continue through January 4, 2025.
As previously announced, Mean Girls and Shucked star Grey Henson will lead the company as Buddy the Elf.
The musical, based on the 2003 film starring Will Ferrell, features a book by Thomas Meehan and Bob Martin and songs by Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin. The story follows Buddy, an orphaned human child raised by Santa’s elves who travels to NYC in search of his biological family. The stage musical premiered on Broadway in 2010 and returned in 2012. A stop-motion animation film version of the musical was released in 2014 as Elf: Buddy’s Musical Christmas.
The upcoming Broadway run will not be a restaging of the earlier runs, instead bringing over a 2015 production directed by Philip Wm. McKinley from London’s West End. This version features choreography by Liam Steel, set and costume design by Tim Goodchild, lighting design by Patrick Woodroffe, sound design by Gareth Owen, and video design by Ian William Galloway. Alan Williams will be music supervisor.
Further casting, by The Telsey Office’s Rachel Hoffman, is to be announced.
Temple Live Entertainment and Crossroads Live North America are producing.
Tickets are available at ElfOnBroadway.com.
