SIMON LIPKIN TO STAR AS BUDDY & GEORGINA CASTLE TO STAR AS JOVIE IN ELF THE MUSICAL AT LONDON’S DOMINION THEATRE FOR A STRICTLY LIMITED 8-WEEK SEASON FROM 14 NOVEMBER 2022

Simon Lipkin and Georgina Castle will be playing the much loved characters Buddy and Jovie in ELF, the smash hit musical, which returns to London in a new production at the Dominion Theatre for a strictly limited 8-week season. ELF will begin previews on 14 November and open on 24 November 2022, with the season finishing on 7 January 2023.
Based on the beloved 2003 New Line Cinema hit starring Will Ferrell, ELF features a book by Tony Award-winners Thomas Meehan (Annie, The Producers, Hairspray) and Bob Martin (The Drowsy Chaperone), with songs by Tony Award nominees Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin (The Wedding Singer).
Simon Lipkin’s theatre credits include Brian & Roger(Menier Chocolate Factory), Nativity! (Eventim Apollo), The Wind in the Willows (West End), Guys and Dolls (West End), The Lorax (Old Vic Theatre), Assassins (Menier Chocolate Factory), Rock of Ages (West End), Spamalot(Original UK Tour), Avenue Q (West End) and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (West End). His television and film credits include The Beaker Girls (CBBC), Unforgotten (ITV), Christmas on Mistletoe Farm, Silent Witness (BBC), Almost Never (CBBC) Nativity Rocks!, Show Dogs, Muppets Most Wanted, The Harry Hill Movie, The Puppet Game Show (BBC) and Nativity 3: Dude, Where’s My Donkey?!.
Georgina Castle’s theatre credits include Marie in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s recent production of Cinderella (Gillian Lynne Theatre), Doralee Rhodes in 9 to 5: The Musical(Savoy Theatre and UK & Ireland Tour), Sophie Sheridan in Mamma Mia! (Novello Theatre) and Lisa Houseman in Dirty Dancing (UK Tour).
The new production will be directed by Philip Wm. McKinley, with original set and costume design by Tim Goodchild, choreography by Liam Steel, lighting design by Patrick Woodroffe, sound by Gareth Owen, video design by Ian William Galloway and wig and hair design by Richard Mawbey. Casting is by Grindrod Burton Casting.
ELF is the funny and charming tale of Buddy, who mistakenly crawls into Santa’s bag of gifts as a baby and is transported back to the North Pole and raised as an elf! Unaware that he is actually human, Buddy’s enormous size and poor toy-making abilities finally cause him to face the truth and realise he’ll never belong in the North Pole. With Santa’s permission, Buddy embarks on a journey to New York to find his birth father, discover his true identity and help New York remember the true meaning of Christmas.
Further casting is to be announced.
- A CHRISTMAS CAROL – REVIEW – ALEXANDRA PALACESpine-tingling yet heart-warming, Mark Gatiss’s retelling of A Christmas Carol truly encapsulates the haunting atmosphere of a Victorian ghost story, balanced out with enough humour so as to capture the festive season. Led by Keith Allen as Scrooge, with Peter Forbes as Marley, this show is perfect for Christmas viewing. The set design by Paul Wills is instantly captivating, … More A CHRISTMAS CAROL – REVIEW – ALEXANDRA PALACE
- A WOMAN WALKS INTO A BANK – REVIEW – THEATRE503The title of this winner of Theatre 503’s 2023 International Playwriting Award by Roxy Cook may seem like the set-up to a joke, but the narrative that unspools is instead an affectionate, gently barbed and at base quite sobering portrait of three ordinary souls (and one restless feline) adrift in modern Moscow. There is much … More A WOMAN WALKS INTO A BANK – REVIEW – THEATRE503
- PETER PAN GOES WRONG – REVIEW – LYRIC THEATREPeter Pan Goes Wrong first premiered in London at the Pleasance Theatre in 2013, and earlier this year the show made its Broadway debut. Now the production is back in the West End for the Christmas season. Following on from The Play That Goes Wrong, in this production, J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan is staged by … More PETER PAN GOES WRONG – REVIEW – LYRIC THEATRE
- GHOST STORIES BY CANDLELIGHT – REVIEW – SAM WANAMAKER PLAYHOUSEDrawing heavily from the classic canon of the British supernatural, High Tide’s trio of contemporary Gothic narratives uses traditional storytelling formats to address contemporary themes. Directed by Elayce Ismail, reverent musical interludes accompany tales of apparitions and nighttime conjurings that speak of women from the East of England. Unfortunately, the effect is less chilling and … More GHOST STORIES BY CANDLELIGHT – REVIEW – SAM WANAMAKER PLAYHOUSE
- CINDERELLA – REVIEW – LYRIC HAMMERSMITHDrum roll please…(Cue a literal drum rolling across the stage.) The Lyric pantomime is one of traditions with the return of many well-loved jokes and skits. Costumes and sets are all made at the Lyric itself by Good Teeth, with set pieces being reused year on year. This year Cinderella gets the Hammersmith makeover, with … More CINDERELLA – REVIEW – LYRIC HAMMERSMITH