The Elf Who Stole Christmas

Maybe I shouldn't have seen ELF so early in the holiday season. It is, on paper,  a great musical. Adapted with music by Matthew Sklar and Bob Martin, and book by Thomas Meehan and Bob Martin, it's a gem of a musical. The music was fantastic, and of the right genre. I can't remember the last time I heard such a tuneful "traditional" musical, and you will be humming the songs as you leave the theater. (I hope it gets recorded - the cast recording would be sensational) However, I didn't really feel it, and I think it may have to do with the fact that I am nowhere near close to the Christmas spirit. Imagine if it were December, and the temperature would be cold, and you were to see this show, then it would really sparkle and shine. On this mid-November night, it just seemed too...forced.  


Plus, the cast seemed...serviceable, yet no one truly signed. This would have been a perfect star vehicle for someone. Nathan Lane, perhaps? Matthew Broderick even. I am even thinking Jonathan Groff. Heck, Gavin Creel would have been just as good. But playing Buddy the Elf, Sebastian Arcelus sang well, danced well, acted well... yet  I didn't really remember him after the show. There is such a thing as "star power," and Mr. Arcelus just didn't have it. It's hard to explain what "it" really is, but if you don't have "it," there's just nothing you can do about it. And its not like the ghost of Will Ferrell (who originated the role of the Elf in the film) haunted me, since I never saw the movie.


So it just didn't work for me. I hate to be Bah Humbug, but maybe with Christmas cheer this show would work better.