Review: Elf the Musical at Palace Theatre is ‘pure holiday fun for the whole family’

From the silver screen to grand stage, World’s Biggest Productions present Elf the Musical as it rides into Manchester Palace Theatre for a musical night of festive fun for all the family.

Jordan Conway stars as Buddy, a 30 year old hapless human man with a good heart who was raised as an elf in Santa’s workshop after accidentally climbing in Santa’s toy sack one Christmas Eve as a child.

Elf the Musical at Palace Theatre

Fast forward to present day and Buddy is now an elf worker at Santa’s workshop when he accidentally overhears elves discussing his hidden human heritage. Santa (Philip Day) reveals to Buddy he has a father but his name is on the naughty list!

Unperturbed, Buddy sets off to find his biological father, Walter Hobbs (Barry Bloxham) who works in New York City as a book publisher in the Empire State Building. Hilarity soon ensues, as Buddy’s innocent holiday loving nature collides with a harsh city that has forgotten the meaning of Christmas.

Jordan Conway stars as Buddy

Jordan Conway brings a stellar performance as he delivers impressive singing, dancing and comedic chops as he not only matches the wildness of Will Ferrell’s portrayal in the original film but leaves his own impression on the character.

Everything he does always manages to entertain as he gets audiences of all ages to laugh along throughout the show, and he even manages to keep a cool head when the show goes off the rails to keep things on track.

Barry Bloxham is impressive as Walter Hobbs, the stern workaholic patriarch who always chooses his job and pleasing his boss Mr Greenway (Sam Fogell) over spending time with his family, wife Emily (Charlotte Dalton) and son Michael (Indy). Bloxham matches up well when he clashes with Buddy’s chaotic energy that always threatens to cause havoc.

Kelly Banlaki plays Jovie, who works at Macy’s as an elf that Buddy soon finds a connection with. Banlaki delivers a strong performance displaying both great singing and comedic timing and good chemistry with Conway.

Dafydd Lansley and Natalie Grey

Dafydd Lansley and Natalie Grey also shine as Matthews and Debs respectively, office workers in Walter’s publishing house. And Joe Speare makes a great impression as the Macy’s store manager who always makes his short comedic scenes with Buddy memorable.

The show is two hours long and split into two acts via a 20 minute interval, the first act is much longer than the second and could have been slightly better paced to provide some balance between the acts. The scenic design (by Diego Pitarch) is excellent as various locations are brought to life from Santa’s Workshop, Macy’s and Greenway’s Publishing House and many more, while the production also makes use of a VFX screen that completes the scene with 3D animations.

Costumes (supervised by Regina Coulson) are also impressive and really help to set the scene.

With impressive songs (music by Matthew Skylar, lyrics by Chad Beguelin), entertaining ensemble dances (choreographed by Chris Baldock) and a variety of laughs, from slapstick comedy, astounding swinging trapeze acts and a snowball fight with an acrobatic Cop (Nathan Paul) with encouraged audience participation.

Produced and directed by Jon and Jordan Conway, Elf the Musical has something for everyone in this fresh take on a classic Christmas film. Fans of the film may find some minor storyline changes in this adaptation but the true spirit of the original remains for a fun theatrical outing that both old and new fans can enjoy.

Tickets for Elf the Musical at Palace Theatre

Elf The Musical is currently showing at Manchester Palace Theatre until Sunday 17th November.

Tickets can be bought here.