Elf is a musical based on the motion picture of the same name, with a score by Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin. The book is adapted by Bob Martin and Thomas Meehan from the 2003 film. The musical ran on Broadway in the Christmas seasons of 2010–11 and 2012–13, in the West End in the 2015–16 season, and has also toured extensively, often during the Christmas holiday season.
Plot
Buddy Hobbs, a young orphan child, mistakenly crawls into Santa Claus' bag of gifts and is transported back to the North Pole. After discovering the baby, Santa and his elves decide to raise the child as an elf. Years later, Buddy finds out that he's actually a human being and, at Santa's prompting, heads off to New York City in search of his father, Walter Hobbs.
Faced with the harsh reality that Walter is on the naughty list and his son, Michael, doesn't even believe in Santa, Buddy is determined to win over his birth family and help New York City remember the true meaning of Christmas.
Differences from the film
The story is narrated by Santa Claus rather than Papa Elf, the latter character not even appearing in the musical. The story in the musical is said to have begun three years ago, rather than thirty years ago in the movie, so that there's no age limit on the actor playing Buddy. Minor changes from the movie to the musical include Santa Claus using an iPhone instead of a list of names while delivering gifts, Buddy and Jovie's child being changed from a girl to a boy, the department store scenes taking place at Macy's instead of Gimbels, and Buddy being dropped off at the Hobbs house instead of being bailed out of jail by Walter. The musical also adds a subplot about Michael and Emily Hobbs' disbelief in Santa Claus. And instead of having an elf named Ming Ming, they changed the name to Charlie and had a girl elf named Shwanda. Several notable scenes from the film are also absent, including Buddy's visit to the mail room of the Empire State Building and Buddy rescuing Michael from school bullies in a Central Park snowball fight. The entire character of Miles Finch is cut. In its place, Walter's staff writers happen upon the only copy of an unpublished manuscript for a Christmas story by deceased famous author Chris Smith. Buddy shreds the document, not understanding the significance. This is when Walter angrily says he wishes Buddy wasn't his son, instead of the aftermath of the Miles Finch scene.
The film and musical also strongly deviate in the character of Walter Hobbs. In the film, Walter is portrayed as greedy, obsessed with his work, and deliberately neglectful of his family duties. In the musical, he is shown as more bumbling, forgetful, and overworked. It is also explained by Santa Claus in the film that Walter is on the "Naughty List" because of his greed and general meanness, whereas in the musical it is because he doesn't believe in Santa. And in the conference room, Buddy pitches the idea of making the book about how he came to the North Pole (leading to the song, "The Story of Buddy the Elf") and Mr. Greenway loves the story, but Walter quits after Mr. Greenway wants to change the main character in the story from an elf to a horse, instead of Walter going with Michael to bring Buddy back home with Mr. Greenway firing Walter.
Musical numbers
The musical numbers in the original Broadway production were as follows:
Act I
Overture — Orchestra
Christmastown — Santa, Buddy, Company
World's Greatest Dad — Buddy
In the Way — Deb, Walter, Emily, Company
Sparklejollytwinklejingley — Buddy, Store Manager, Company
I'll Believe in You — Michael and Emily
In the Way (reprise) — Emily and Walter
Just Like Him — Buddy, Deb, Company
A Christmas Song — Buddy, Jovie, Company
I'll Believe in You (reprise) — Buddy and Company
Act II
Entr'acte — Orchestra
Nobody Cares About Santa — Fake Santas, Store Manager, Buddy
Never Fall in Love — Jovie
There Is a Santa Claus — Michael and Emily
The Story of Buddy the Elf — Buddy, Michael, Walter, Emily, Deb, Chadwick, Matthews, Mr. Greenway, Company Nobody Cares About Santa (reprise) — Santa A Christmas Song (reprise) — Jovie, Buddy, Emily, Michael, Walter, Company Finale — Company
Notes
Subsequent productions including the Broadway revival and West End production replaced "Christmastown" with "Happy All the Time" and "I'll Believe in You (Reprise)" with "World's Greatest Dad (Reprise)".
Casts
The original principal casts of major productions.