Festive findings: ELF the musical

The London premiere of ELF is set to take the West End by storm at the Dominion Theatre from 24 October 2015 for a strictly limited 10-week season, starring Ben Forster, Kimberley Walsh, Joe McGann and Jessica Martin as Buddy, Jovie, Walter Hobbs and Emily Hobbs respectively. Based on the 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 human, Buddy’s 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 ultimately help New York remember the true meaning of Christmas. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rILZbEQmqmI Forster won the 2012 ITV 1 show Superstar, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s search for the rock musical Jesus Christ Superstar, and went on to play the title role, starring alongside Melanie C, Tim Minchin and Chris Moyles in the UK arena tour. Other recent theatre roles include starring in the reinvented 40th anniversary production of The Rocky Horror Show and as Magaldi in Evita. Walsh first rose to fame as one fifth of the award-winning pop group Girls Aloud. Her acting career includes the films Horrid Henry: The Movie and All Stars, and she made her West End theatre debut playing Princess Fiona in the London production of Shrek the Musical. McGann is best known for his role as Charlie Burrows in the TV comedy series The Upper Hand. His West End credits include The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, Of Mice and Men at the Old Vic and Oliver! at the London Palladium. Martin’s career began as an impressionist on television shows such as Copycats and Spitting Images, and West End credits include Sally Smith in Me and My Girl, Sunset Boulevard, Mack and Mabel, and Babes in Arms at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre. What a magical show to see over the Christmas period.