★★☆☆☆
Elf is one of the most iconic Christmas movies – heck, movies period – of all time. Adapting a much-loved movie to the stage is a lot of pressure. The previous production looked like a fitting festive tribute to the fabulous film, but this redesigned production lacks “the Christmas Spirit” (or perhaps just a big budget).
There was a brief pre-show in which a member of the cast warmed the audience up and told us to throw snowballs (soft plastic balls) at the stage during a specific moment. Then the show begun and Santa Claus (played by an actor who looked far too young) did his own prologue, introducing us to the story of Buddy the Elf. There was no need for two prologues. Santa could have just told us about the “snowballs”. It was clear, from the first proper scene / second prologue, that this production was not going to be as polished as one might hope for an adaptation of a blockbuster film.
Whilst a lot of redesigned productions opt for screens instead of actual sets, Elf fortunately uses both. Some of the graphics enhance scenes whilst others are poorly designed and some plain creepy. The set, itself, is quite basic and pantomime-y, but it works for a show that is, essentially, a glorified panto, with lots of hilarious fourth-wall breaking.
There are some nice camp costumes. The creative team surely had fun raiding drag queen’s closets for the show.
The star of the show is the circus tricks but they’re repeated so often that they lose impact and effect. They’re also sometimes a bit random – why was there a woman on ropes during the fake Santa number?
Elf is billed as a musical – and, ironically, “The Christmas Spectacular” – but the songs are few and far between (thankfully – it’s a poor score).
There are some great actors in the cast but a good actor can only do so much with a bad script, and these seasoned stars seem to have been directed to overact, à la a pantomime. There’s some lovely singing, particularly from Kelly Banlaki and the mother and son, but not even Adele could bring these dull songs to life.
The music, itself, was quite nice, and the band did a wonderful job of playing it, but it was so loud that it overpowered the actors and made it difficult to hear them at times. This was the second performance of the second week so the tech problems should have been fixed.
However, Jordan Conway (a charismatic performer who plays Buddy and has produced and directed the musical alongside his father, Jon) was an absolute pro at rolling with it. At one point, the voiceover went off before he put the mic to his mouth. “In my spare time, I’m a ventriloquist,” he said, causing the audience to burst into hysterics, before handing the mic to a co-star and warning him, “Careful – it goes off.”
There were several other tech issues, and each time, the cast couldn’t help themselves from laughing, which was funny, yes, but one expects seasoned actors to be able to recover and compose themselves more easily. The cynic in me wonders if these issues were planned, or perhaps there is a consensus that, like in a pantomime, when something goes wrong, you find the humour in it – which was hilarious at first but eventually felt at best repetitive and at worst unprofessional (for a musical).
Elf is most certainly targeted towards children, and they loved it. But this is not just a case of “The show was not made for me” (à la Dirty Dancing being made for drunk, horny, middle-aged White ladies, not yours truly). This show should have been for me. I grew up with the film. It means more to adults than it does kids who weren’t even thought of when the film came out (or even when the film turned 15). Yet, beyond some crude adult humour – “I’d stick you on top of my Christmas tree” – it offers little to keep childless adults entertained.
There’s the nostalgia factor, sure, but with this show, it has the opposite effect. It feels less like a musical adaptation of Elf, brought to life onstage, and more a family-focused tribute to it, made on a budget.
Still, families leaped to their feet at the end, so I guess the show did its job. But my job is to objectively review shows and tell you which ones to spend your well-earned money on in this cost-of-living crisis. I’d stick to Wicked.
Elf: The Musical runs at Palace Theatre Manchester until November 17 2024 and tours the UK until January 5 2025.
JADAR 