Theatre Press Releases Based on the beloved 2003 New Line Cinema hit which starred Will Ferrell in the title role, ELF features a score by Tony Award nominees Matthew Sklar (Music)and Chad Beguelin (Lyrics)with a book by Tony Award winners Thomas Meehan (The Producers, Hairspray) and Bob Martin (The Drowsy Chaperone). ELF is directed and choreographed by Tony Award winner Casey Nicholaw (The Book of Mormon, Monty Python’s Spamalot).
Scenic design for ELF is by Tony nominee David Rockwell (Hairspray, Catch Me if You Can), costume design is by Tony Award winner Gregg Barnes (Follies, The Drowsy Chaperone), lighting design is by three-time Tony Award-winner Natasha Katz (Once, The Coast of Utopia) and sound design is by Tony nominee Peter Hylenski (Rock of Ages, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever). ELF features orchestrations by three-time Tony Award-winner Doug Besterman (The Producers, Thoroughly Modern Millie). Hair and Wig Design is by Josh Marquette (The Book of Mormon, Gore Vidal’s The Best Man)and Projection Design is by Zachary Borovay (Evita, Rock of Ages).
ELF played a successful 9-week Broadway engagement in 2010, breaking the Al Hirschfeld Theatre’s box office record three times during its run. Previews began on November 2nd, and the production opened on November 14th and played through January 2nd. The New York Times called ELF “A splashy, peppy, sugar-sprinkled holiday entertainment.” USA Today thinks ELF is “Endearingly goofy,” and New Jersey News Room finds ELF to be “Jolly holiday entertainment, decked out with a bunch of crowd-rousing songs.” Variety declares “ELFis happy enough for families, savvy enough for city kids and plenty smart for adults!”
Performance schedule and ticket information to be announced soon.
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. Buddy is raised unaware that he is actually a human, until his enormous 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 find his birth father and discover his true identity. Faced with the harsh reality that his father is on the naughty list and his step-brother doesn’t even believe in Santa, Buddy is determined to win over his new family and help New York remember the true meaning of Christmas. This modern day Christmas classic is sure to make everyone embrace their inner ELF.
BIOS:
WARNER BROS. THEATRE VENTURES (Producer) is the live stage play division of Warner Bros. Entertainment responsible for developing and producing world-class musicals and other stage productions for the Studio. WBTV has numerous productions in various stages of development, including co-productions with award-winning Broadway and film producers. In June 2013, the division will premiere the highly anticipated musical adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, with Sam Mendes directing, in London. WBTV also licenses third-party stage rights to the various properties held within the Studio’s vast media library, including such recent stage productions as Light in the Piazza, The Wizard of Oz, Singin’ in the Rain, The Color Purple and 42nd Street as well as the upcoming Diner and Bridges of Madison County. WBTV’s parent company, WARNER BROS. ENTERTAINMENT, a Time Warner Company, is a fully integrated, broad-based entertainment company and a global leader in the creation, production, distribution, licensing and marketing of all forms of creative content and their related businesses, across all current and emerging media and platforms. The company stands at the forefront of every aspect of the entertainment industry from feature film, TV and home entertainment production and worldwide distribution to DVD and Blu-ray, digital distribution, animation, comic books, licensing and broadcasting.
UNIQUE FEATURES (Producer) is an independent company that was launched in 2008 by Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne, who together built New Line Cinema into an industry powerhouse. The company is currently developing and producing several film and television projects, including “The Mortal Instruments” with Constantin Film, starting production this month with director Harald Zwart; an animated adaptation of Paul McCartney’s illustrated book “High in the Clouds” to be directed by Rob Minkoff, written by Josh Klausner with original music by McCartney; “Sailing to Byzantium,” based on the award-winning novella by Robert Silverberg; “French Lessons,” based on the successful novel written by Ellen Sussman. In television, the company is developing an original television series with Bennett Miller and Kristen Gore, and developing the reality series “Dude, That’s My Sister” for MTV with Bunim-Murray.
THOMAS MEEHAN (Book) will be represented by three shows on Broadway this fall (Elf, Annie and Chaplin). He won the 2003 Tony Award for co-writing, with Mark O'Donnell, the book for Hairspray after having won the 2001 Tony Award for co-writing the book, with Mel Brooks, of The Producers. He received his first Tony Award in 1977 for writing the book of Annie, which was his first Broadway show, and he has since written books for the musicals I Remember Mam; Ain’t Broadway Grand; Annie Warbucks and the American version of Bombay Dreams. His most recent works are the Broadway musicals Young Frankenstein, for which he co-wrote the book with Mel Brooks, and Cry-Baby, co-written with Mark O’Donnell. In addition, he is a long-time contributor of humor pieces, including Yma Dream, to The New Yorker; an Emmy Award-winning writer of television comedy; and a collaborator on a number of screenplays, including Mel Brooks’ Spaceballs; To Be or Not to Be and the film version of The Producers. He is also, with the poet J.D. McClatchy, the co-author of the libretto of 1984, an opera composed by Lorin Maazel, based on George Orwell’s classic novel, which had its world premiere in the spring of 2005 at London’s Royal Opera House and was performed last year at La Scala, in Milan. Mr. Meehan is a member of the Council of the Dramatists Guild.
BOB MARTIN (Book) has been working as an actor and writer in Canadian theatre, film and television for 3 decades. He has had a long association with the Toronto Second City, where he co-wrote and performed in four Second City revues, directed three, and had a stint as Artistic Director. He is a co-creator of The Drowsy Chaperone, and has performed in many of its incarnations: Toronto Fringe, Theatre Passe Muraille (Toronto), Winter Garden (Toronto), Ahmanson Theatre (Los Angeles), Marquis Theatre (Broadway), Novello (London). Bob won a number of awards for his work on Drowsy including an LA Drama Critics Circle Award, an L.A. Stage Alliance Ovation Award, a Drama Desk Award, a Theatre World Award, and a Tony Award. He is also co-creator of Slings & Arrows, a critically acclaimed dramatic series about life at a large not for profit theatre company, which was recently named one of the ten best TV shows of the decade by a number of publications including New York Magazine.Recent TV projects include Michael: Tuesdays and Thursdays (Rhombus Media/CBC) and Sensitive Skin (in dev -Rhombus Media/Shaw). Recent theatre projects include Minsky’s (Ahmanson), Wynn Follies (Las Vegas) and Gotta Dance (in dev - Dreamworks).
MATTHEW SKLAR (Music) received a Tony Award nomination (Best Original Score) and a Drama Desk nomination (Outstanding Music) for his work on The Wedding Singer. He co-produced the show’s original Broadway cast recording for Sony/BMG Masterworks Broadway. Matthew is a recipient of the ASCAP Richard Rodgers New Horizons Award, the Gilman & Gonzalez-Falla Musical Theatre Award, and the Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation Award. In addition to his work as a composer, Matthew has been a pianist, conductor, and/or arranger for more than a dozen Broadway productions includingShrek; Caroline, or Change; Nine; 42nd Street; Titanic; Miss Saigon; and Les Misérables. He has also contributed original music to the hit Nickelodeon television series “Wonder Pets.”
CHAD BEGUELIN (Lyrics) Chad Beguelin is a two-time Tony Nominee for his work on the Broadway musical The Wedding Singer (Tony Award Nomination for Best Book and Best Original Score, Drama Desk Award Nomination for Outstanding Lyrics). Chad also wrote the book and lyrics for Judas & Me (NYMF Award for Excellence in Lyric Writing), The Rhythm Club (Signature Theater), Wicked City (American Stage Company, Mason Street Warehouse) and wrote the book for Disney’s stage version of Aladdin (The Fifth Avenue Theater, Hyperion Theater). His play Harbor is currently in production at The Westport Country Playhouse. He is the recipient of the Edward Kleban Award for Outstanding Lyric Writing, the Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation Award, the Gilman & Gonzalez-Falla Musical Theater Award and the ASCAP Foundation Richard Rodgers New Horizons Award. Chad is a graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts Graduate Dramatic Writing Program.
CASEY NICHOLAW (Director/Choreographer) co-directed and choreographed The Book of Mormon and won 2011 Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for his work as co-director. Other Broadway credits: Elf: The Musical, The Drowsy Chaperone (2006 Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations) and Monty Python's Spamalot, directed by Mike Nichols (2005 Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations for Best Choreography). Additional New York credits: for City Center Encores! – the highly acclaimed productions of Anyone Can Whistle and Follies (direction and choreography), Bye Bye Birdie (choreography) and Can-Can (musical staging); for NY Philharmonic – Candide; South Pacific at Carnegie Hall (also on PBS "Great Performances"), Sinatra: His Voice, His World, His Way at Radio City Music Hall starring the world-famous Rockettes. He directed and choreographed the world premieres of Minsky's at Center Theatre Group, Robin and the 7 Hoods at the Old Globe and Disney's Aladdin at the 5th Avenue in Seattle.
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