Image Credit: Carol Rosegg
The best way to spread holiday cheer, Will Ferrell instructed us in the 2003 movie Elf, is singing loud for all to hear. And what better place to sing than on Broadway? Now the stage musical version of Elf is back on Broadway after a one-year hiatus. And it’s joined by a new stage version of the 1983 yuletide movie fave A Christmas Story (pictured above) — that naturally features a leg-lamp kickline and a tap-dancing fantasy number called “You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out.” Both shows opened this week for limited runs, and here are excerpts of our reviews (as well as those of other new productions):
A Christmas Story: The Musical EW’s Tanner Stransky writes that “the stage adaptation plays like a heart-tugging, best-of version of the movie, with a saccharine score by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul and a book by Joseph Robinette that desperately panders for laughs.” Still, he writes, “the musical’s pleasures are far and wide.” EW grade: B+
Elf The musical version of the 2003 Will Ferrell movie returns to Broadway two years after its debut with a new opening number and new leads, including Jordan Gelber as a “softer, more childlike” Buddy the elf. “Elf won’t change your life,” Tanner Stransky writes, “but it will brighten your holiday season a little bit.” EW grade: B+ READ FULL STORY »
