‘Sparklejollytwinklejingley’ – Elf the Musical. Dominon Theatre, London 23.12.2015

So when I discovered that a brilliant cult Christmas film was a Broadway musical I laughed, but then it came to England in 2014 on a small tour, and then the announcement was made it would be hitting the West End the following year n a limited run from November to January and the Dominion Theatre.

Elf the Musical based as on the film staring Will Ferrell is a live action Christmas Jolly new musical, and when I heard it was coming to West End I was very interested in maybe getting the chance to see it, as I am a huge fan of the film, and will always make sure its watched at least once around the holiday period! However as much as I did want to see it, the prices were enough to put me off, selling at £120 top price to £50 for lowest it was a laugh out are you joking situation, and I did not wish to spend that much on tickets.  Then in August it was announce that for a limited time Dominion would be selling tickets for £30 on a first come first serve basis, which I believe came about after so many complaining about the ridiculous prices.  But I was a sucker and after getting the numbers of who would like to attend tickets were purchased 2 days before Christmas day! The £30 tickets issues were allocated for the last 2 rows at the back of the circles, but knowing the Dominion (having been part of the audience in this theatre 5 times, yes it was hard for me to go back knowing it wouldn’t be WWRY I was going to see) I knew it wouldn’t be a problem as I wasn’t wrong. Our view was perfectly fine, and ok maybe facial were not exactly clear but you could see the full stage and not miss a thing. So it makes me realise that in the future, if there is a production being shown at this theatre I know not to worry about where I sit cause I will be happy no matter what!

Now onto the show as already discussed it is based on the Film of the same name, it’s ‘The Story of Buddy the Elf’ a Baby who living in an orphanage stowed away in Santa’s sleigh one Christmas eve, and when the elves find him decided to adopt and look after Buddy and raise him as an elf. He then goes on to learn that he has a father in New York, and leaves Christmas Town to find him, and on the way learns a lot more about himself. I could go into the story, but I would be surprised if you didn’t know the story. However I can say that its not to a tee the story of the film, and in Act two especially and finale which completely steered away from the the classic film which left me and my friends who came confused and a little disappointed. The ending just seemed like a Cop out and didn’t really show the true meaning of film. But Act One minus Papa Elf was quite spot on even to the classic moment of ‘SANTA!!! I know him!’ which had the audience laughing throughout.

the Cast tonight we were lucky to have no understudies and all the main cast were fit and performing:

Santa/Mr Greenway – Mark Mckerracher

Buddy – Ben Forster

Walter Hobbs – Joe McGann

Deb – Jennie Dale

Emily Hobbs – Jessica Martin

Michael Hobbs – Ilan Galkoff

Jovie- Kimberley Walsh

Now out of the cast above I have only had the chance to see one perform before at that was Kimberley Walsh who I saw as Princess Fiona in Shrek the Musical when it was performing at the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane. I know that that Kimberley has always loved the West End when I watched a documentary on E4 once where she performed in Les Miserables and got the chance to sing as Eponie to the audience after the show had finished, she then went on to perform as Fiona. Now I do think that Kimberley can sing, but its her acting that lets her down and sometimes I feel she can be wooden when she performs so when I saw she was playing Jovie I was intrigued to see how she performed the role, and again her acting was what let her down and it just looked to act, so I was disappointed. But that’s to say all the acting wasn’t up to scratch.

I was really excited about seeing Ben Forster the winner of Jesus Christ Superstar which although I didn’t see live I do have the DVD filming of the arena tour and I thought he was brilliant and a deserved winner. But Buddy the Elf is a complete opposite to Jesus. Ben made Buddy his own, and although he had the famous lines that first were brought to life by Will Ferrell, Ben gave his own take on them to show that he does not copy anyone, and it did work and he had the audience laughing. His voice also was brilliant and I loved every time he sang, and there is no wonder why he has been now cast as the Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webbers Phantom of the Opera which may just be on my list now to go and see!

As for the rest of the cast I must mention the Jennie Dale who played Deb, Walter Hobbs’s assistant who when performing reminded me of Melissa McCarthy when she was on stage, as she had the same comic presence when on, and she made you smile.  Joe McGann as Walter Hobbs was very much perfect for the role as the strict business man, and I loved Mark Mckerrachers performance as a quite laid back Santa.

The Chorus was strong, and were great as all the many characters that Buddy met on his travels and it all felt magical on stage.

I am glad that I got to see this show, as running only a limited amount of time being a holiday musical that could really only be viewed around the time it was on. it was just sad that it charged so much for tickets which with its limited run came one of the top grossing shows of 2015. Im glad that I only paid £30 to see this show, as although I did enjoy watching it, and it did get me into the Christmas spirit with all my friends but if it was to come back to the West End or on tour for that matter I wouldn’t rush to buy tickets. But if the tickets are reasonably priced then I do recommend it, and it is one for all ages so one to bring your children if Pantomime is not something you enjoy then this is the one to go and see!

But it was a lovely theatrical end to 2015 and to now bring on 2016 with already two shows lined up and ready to blog about!! keep your eyes posted!