Emmerdale favourite Matthew Wolfenden will leave the Yorkshire Dales and head for the North Pole when he takes to the stage of London’s Dominion Theatre as Buddy the Elf when festive family favourite ELF: The Musical returns for its second consecutive Christmas season.
After playing village shopkeeper David Metcalfe for nearly two decades, the actor who appeared in a UK touring production of Saturday Night Fever before joining the ITV soap will return to stage to play the human who thinks he’s one of Santa’s elves, with Tom Chambers (Top Hat, Aldwych Theatre, White Christmas, Dominion Theatre) reprising his performance as Buddy’s father Walter Hobbs.
As previously announced, the strictly limited season which will run from 15 November 2023 until 6 January 2024 will feature a number of cast members from last Christmas’s sold-out season which marked the musical’s triumphant return to the West End after a seven-year absence.
Along with Chambers, returning cast members include Rebecca Lock (School of Rock, UK tour, Mary Poppins, Prince Edward Theatre) as Emily Hobbs, Georgina Castle (Cinderella, Gillian Lynne Theatre, 9 to 5: The Musical, Savoy Theatre/UK and Ireland tour) as Jovie, Kim Ismay (Wicked, West End, Mamma Mia! West End) as Debs, Nicholas Pound (Les Misérables, UK tour, Evita, UK tour) as Santa and Dermot Canavan (Hairspray, London Coliseum, Fiddler on the Roof, Menier Chocolate Factory and West End) as Store Manager.
With Ben Lancaster (POLICE COPS: The Musical, Edinburgh Fringe and Southwark Playhouse) alternating the role of Buddy at certain scheduled performances, the cast will also include Rhys Batten (The SpongeBob Musical, UK tour), Evonnee Bentley-Holder (Ain’t Too Proud, Prince Edward Theatre), Marie Finlayson (TINA – The Tina Turner Musical , West End), Aimée Fisher (Groundhog Day, The Old Vic), Farirayi Garaba (The SpongeBob Musical, UK tour), Alex Given (The Book of Mormon, West End), Morgan Gregory (Disney’s Newsies, Troubadour Wembley Park), Samuel John-Humphreys (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, UK tour/Toronto), Keir Hylands (Frozen, Theater an der Elbe, Hamburg), Dominic Lamb (Legally Blonde, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), Ellis Linford-Pill (We Will Rock You, London Coliseum), Theo Reece (The SpongeBob Musical, UK tour), Chloe Saunders (Grease, West End), Heather Scott-Martin (Singin’ in the Rain, Sadler’s Wells London, Japan and UK Tour), Jessica Spalis (Mamma Mia! The Party, O2 London), Katie Warsop (Annie, West End and Toronto) and Natalie Woods (Wind in the Willows, London Palladium).
Jude Farrant (Matilda the Musical, West End), Daniel Lee (Glory Ride, West End), Oliver Ravelini (Winnie the Pooh, Riverside Studios) and Austin Riley (The Osmonds, UK tour) will alternate the role of Michael.
Produced by Temple Live Entertainment, the production will once again be directed by Philip Wm McKinley, with choreography by Liam Steel, original set and costume design by Tim Goodchild, lighting design by Patrick Woodroffe, sound by Gareth Owen, video design by Ian William Galloway and casting by Grindod Burton Casting.
Based on the instant Christmas classic film which celebrates its 2oth anniversary this year, the feel-good family favourite features a book by Thomas Meehan and Bob Martin (The Drowsy Chaperone), with songs by Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin (The Wedding Singer).
The musical debuted on Broadway in 2010 and played a second Christmas season on Broadway two years later. Buddy first took up a festive residence at the Dominion Theatre in 2014 with Ben Forster starring as Buddy opposite Kimberley Walsh as Jovie. Forster returned as Buddy for the 2017 tour. Last year’s Dominion run starred Simon Lipkin as Buddy.
Angela Thomas
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