13 Feb CASTING: Elf the Musical at the Dominion Theatre
Book – Thomas Meehan and Bob Martin
Songs – Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin
Direction and choreography – Morgan Young
Set design and costumes – Tim Goodchild
Lighting design – Tim Lutkin
Vocal arrangements – Phil Reno
Dance arrangements – David Chase
Orchestrations – Doug Besterman
Video design – Ian William Galloway
Sound design – Clement Rawling
Musical direction and supervision – Stuart Morley
It has been announced that Ben Forster, Kimberley Walsh, Joe McGann and Jessica Martin will star in the London premiere of Elf the smash hit musical at the Dominion Theatre from 24 October 2015 for a strictly limited 10-week season, ending on 2 January 2016.
Ben Forster, Joe McGann and Jessica Martin all starred in the sold-out UK and Ireland premieres of Elf in Plymouth and Dublin in December 2014, playing the roles of Buddy, Walter Hobbs and Emily Hobbs respectively. Kimberley Walsh will be making her debut in Elf as Jovie. They will be joined by Jennie Dale as Deb, Mark McKerracher as Santa and Graham Lappin as Store Manager, with further casting to be announced.
Based on the beloved 2003 New Line Cinema hit starring Will Ferrell, Elf is the hilarious tale of Buddy, a young orphan child who mistakenly crawls into Santa’s bag of gifts and is transported back to the North Pole. Unaware that he is actually human, Buddy’s 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, discover his true identity, and help New York remember the true meaning of Christmas.
Having shot to fame in 2012 when he won the show Superstar, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s TV talent search for the rock musical Jesus Christ Superstar, Ben Forster went on to play the title role, starring alongside Melanie C, Tim Minchin and Chris Moyles in the UK arena tour. Most recently, he featured as Magaldi in Evita, in a “sublime” performance that left us raving about him.
Kimberley Walsh was one fifth of the award-winning pop group Girls Aloud, making her West End theatre debut playing Princess Fiona in the London production of Shrek the Musical.
An incredibly exciting casting, but we’ve got our fingers (and our toes) crossed that they’ve cast based on merit rather than pulling power.
Venue: The Dominion Theatre
Dates: 24 October 2015 – 2 January 2016
For tickets and information: elfthemusical.co.uk
Image: Alastair Muir