Too much treacle, and the adults will be retching. Too many wink-wink wisecracks, and the kids will switch off. It’s hard getting a Christmas show right.A new London production of the 2010 Broadway musical “Elf” balances the syrup and cynicism with joyous panache, and it sent this surprised old Scrooge skipping and humming into the night. It’s a Santa-sackload of fun.Based on the 2003 hit movie, the show tells the story of Buddy (Ben Forster), a goofy and good-natured human who has been brought up by Santa Claus and his elves at the North Pole. Buddy discovers that he has a father living in New York, so sets off to find him. Dad (an excellent Joe McGann) turns out to be a grumpy old stick who is underwhelmed to meet a son he never knew he had. But in proper musical-theatre fashion, he eventually succumbs to Buddy’s bungling big-hearted warmth. Group hug! In Central Park! In the snow!Ben Forster holds it together with megawatt energy, and does a remarkable job at keeping the klutzy and childish Buddy entirely sympathetic and funny. Girls Aloud star Kimberley Walsh is terrific too as the prickly and cynical love-interest Jovie, and her dark, throaty mezzo is a treat.The book, by Bob Martin and Thomas Meehan (“Hairspray”, “Annie”), has a lot of fun with the classic fish-out-of-water scenario, and provides an efficient framework for the silliness. Matthew Sklar’s toe-tapping score has plenty of hummable ear-worms. Just try and dislodge the little falling arpeggio which accompanies “Budd-yyyy the Elf!”: it’s impossible.Chad Beguelin’s witty lyrics are crammed full of internal rhymes and deliciously awful puns. “To thine own elf be true” and “From head to mistle-toe” had me groaning and grinning.Director/choreographer Morgan Young’s slick staging is entirely new for the UK, and comes to the Dominion Theatre after try-outs in Plymouth and Dublin. The lavish sets whizz on and off just as they should, and the set-pieces – including a skating scene at Rockefeller Center, and a blues number for dispirited department-store Santas – all go with va-va-voom.It comes at a price: the best stalls tickets are an eye-watering £150 (though the cheapest are £28.50). But when you see Santa’s sleigh flying away into the auditorium in a climactic and jaw-dropping final coup de théâtre, you can see where the money went. A tinsel-wrapped treat.www.elfthemusical.co.uk
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