Sebastian Arcelus and Amy Spanger to Headline Elf

Broadway has found its Buddy the Elf! Sebastian Arcelus will take on the wide-eyed title character in the upcoming holiday musical alongside Amy Spanger as his love interest Jovie, roles created onscreen by Will Ferrell and Zooey Deschanel. Arcelus and Spanger join previously cast stars Beth Leavel, Mark Jacoby and George Wendt. Based on the popular 2003 film, Elf begins performances November 2 with an opening night set for November 10 at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre. Casey Nicholaw will direct.

Arcelus' Broadway credits include Jersey Boys, Rent, Good Vibrations and Wicked. Off-Broadway, he starred in Happiness. Spanger originated the role of Sherrie in Rock of Ages and has also appeared on Broadway in The Wedding Singer, Urinetown, Kiss Me Kate, Chicago and Sunset Boulevard.

Elf will also star Matthew Gumley as Michael, Valerie Wright as Deb, Michael McCormick as Mr. Greenway and Michael Mandell as store manager. The company will include Timothy J. Alex, Callie Carter, Cara Cooper, Lisa Gajda, Asmeret Ghebremichael, Blake Hammond, Emily Hsu, Jenny Hill, Nancy Johnston, Marc Kessler, Matt Loehr, Lee Wilkins, Noah Weisberg, Stacey Todd Holt, Michael James Scott and Kirsten Wyatt.

The new musical  has a score by Tony nominees Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin (The Wedding Singer) and a book by Tony winners Thomas Meehan (The Producers) and Bob Martin (The Drowsy Chaperone). Elf follows the adventure of a young man named Buddy who grew up at the North Pole believing he is one of Santa's Christmas elves. When his adoptive father reveals he is actually human, Buddy heads to New York City to find his real family.