Watch Buddy the Elf enjoy OKC ahead of ‘Elf the Musical’ premiere
Buddy the Elf has spent a while exploring Oklahoma City ahead of the debut of “Elf the Musical.” We caught up with him and his festivities!
- “Elf the Musical” is a stage adaptation of the popular 2003 Christmas movie starring Will Ferrell.
- The musical follows Buddy the Elf as he travels from the North Pole to New York City to find his biological father.
- While the show’s plot differs from the film, it includes new songs and keeps the story’s heartwarming and humorous tone.
Although it doesn’t quite capture the distinctly quirky humor of the beloved Christmas movie, you’d have to be a cotton-headed ninny-muggins — or at least a real Scrooge — not to at least smile at the seasonal antics of “Elf the Musical.”
And as Buddy the Elf says, “I just like to smile, smiling’s my favorite.”
The crowd-pleasing, family-friendly stage adaptation of the hit 2003 yuletide film is playing through Sunday, Nov. 23, at Civic Center Music Hall as part of the 10th anniversary 2025-2026 season for OKC Broadway, the local presenter of nationally touring Broadway shows.
Even if you feel like “I know him!,” here’s what you need to know about “Elf the Musical:”
What can fans of the film expect from ‘Elf the Musical?’
“Elf the Musical” tells the hilarious and heartwarming tale of Buddy, an orphaned baby who crawls into Santa’s (Andrew Hendrick) sack of toys one Christmas Eve and is spirited back to the North Pole.
Raised by Santa’s elves, Buddy (Jack Ducat) embraces the chipper outlook and love of the holidays that permeates the North Pole, even as his relatively towering size and limited toy-making skills leave him struggling to fit in around Christmastown.
When one of the elves accidentally reveals to Buddy that he’s actually a human, Santa belatedly gives the 30-year-old man raised by elves the lowdown on his biological family: Buddy’s mother died not long after he was born, but his father, Walter Hobbs (Jeff Brooks), lives in New York City and works in the Empire State Building.
Even though Buddy’s dad is on the naughty list for no longer believing in him, Santa encourages Buddy to make the long journey to NYC — partially by ice floe and ultimately through the Lincoln Tunnel — to meet his father.
A grumpy, overly serious executive at a children’s book publishing company, Walter works way too many hours, terrorizes his staff and neglects his wife, Emily (Yara Martin), and preteen son, Michael (played at the Nov. 19 OKC performance by Ryan Duck, who shares the role with Camden Kwok). At the same time, he doesn’t have enough of either a sense of humor or childlike wonder to be particularly good at his job overseeing the creation of kids’ books.
When Buddy arrives in his father’s office still dressed in his elf outfit — a bright green, snowflake-adorned suit with curly-toed shoes, a matching hat and striped stockings — Walter’s long-suffering assistant Deb (Katelyn Lauria) mistakes her boss’ long-lost son for a seasonal singing telegram performer. But when Buddy warbles an improvised tune about being Walter’s son, his dad thinks he’s crazy and coldly instructs building security to haul Buddy out of the building.
The security guards escort Buddy to the next best thing to his elfin home: The North Pole village at the nearby Macy’s Department Store, where Buddy’s effusive Christmas spirit charms the employees preparing for the store Santa to start seeing children the next day.
Buddy quickly falls head over heels for Jovie (Felicia Martis), a relentlessly practical Macy’s seasonal “elf” employee who has learned not to get her hopes up about anything or anybody — including Christmas — to keep from being disappointed.
As Buddy struggles to understand human ways in a New York City coming up short on Christmas spirit, he also tries to please his unpleasant father and get to know his more open-hearted stepmom and younger brother.
Naturally, seasonal shenanigans ensue.
Who turned the iconic holiday movie into ‘Elf the Musical?’
The song-and-dance version of the iconic holiday film features a book by Tony Award winners Thomas Meehan (“Annie”) and Bob Martin (“The Drowsy Chaperone”), with songs by Tony nominees Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin (“The Prom”).
Considering that the main character’s personal mantra is “the best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear,” “Elf” seems more suited than many movies to a musical theater treatment. Sung with polished professionalism and great feeling by the cast, several of the numbers seem right at home in Buddy’s story, particularly his flashy decorating anthem “Sparklejollytwinklejingley” and his naively optimistic anthem “World’s Greatest Dad,” where he voices his Christmassy hopes for his first meeting with Walter.
Walter’s impatient, sternly self-serious demeanor is showcased in his anti-Christmas carol “In the Way,” while Michael and Emily’s longing for a happier home, family and holiday is poignantly encapsulated in “I’ll Believe in You,” as they accept Buddy’s challenge to write a letter to Santa.
“Elf the Musical” debuted on Broadway in 2010, and a previous North American tour stopped in OKC in 2016. Following successful seasons on London’s West End in 2022 and 2023, the Christmastime crowd-pleaser returned to Broadway for the first time in more than a decade in 2024. During the holiday show’s limited eight-week run, it made the season merry and bright for more than 94,000 guests and broke two box-office records at New York City’s Marquis Theatre.
Last year’s celebrated Broadway production was directed by Philip Wm. McKinley (“The Boy From Oz”) and choreographed by Olivier and Drama Desk nominee Liam Steel (“Company”). The choreography is particularly delightful and impressive, with the ensemble members who play Santa’s elves energetically dancing on their knees in special costumes meant to make them look like they’re on their feet and frolicking with the much taller Buddy.
The Broadway production featured set and costume designs by multi-Olivier Award winner Tim Goodchild (“Strangers on a Train”), and his outstanding outfits have yuletide joy and beauty veritably bursting out of the seams.
Although some of the set pieces are clever and fun, the musical leans heavily on the video design by Ian William Galloway (“The Audience”). The high-definition backdrop is able to move the story from the North Pole to Rockefeller Center to Central Park almost instantaneously, but it’s fairly flat and cartoonish. And when some of the spaces on the massive video grid go black or start to flicker, it’s a big distraction.
The musical stays faithful to the overarching story from the comedic holiday blockbuster, which was directed by Jon Favreau (“Iron Man”) and written by David Berenbaum (“The Haunted Mansion”). It even manages to sneak in a flurry of quick-witted, borderline naughty jokes that capture some of the zany tone of the Will Ferrell film.
But the creative team has made many changes to the storytelling, including eliminating movie characters like Papa Elf (Bob Newhart), Miles Finch (Peter Dinklage) and Leon the Snowman (an animated character voiced by Leon Redbone). Thankfully, the musical cannily keeps the cameo by Mr. Narwhal — with an assist from Charlie Yokom, the conductor in the pit — or my daughters might have led a riot.
The stage version of “Elf” also swaps out key cinematic scenes like the tipsy dance in the publishing company mailroom and the snowball fight in the park for entertaining if largely unfamiliar musical numbers like “Nobody Cares About Santa Claus,” featuring several now-unemployed store Santas who have gathered in solidarity at a Chinese restaurant on Christmas Eve.
Still, between the thrilling tap-dance finale and the bubbly snow that falls on the audience by the end, “Elf the Musical” easily musters up enough Christmas cheer to make it a worthwhile watch.
‘Elf the Musical’
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