Ben Forster to Search for His Dad in West End ELF; Other Cast Members Announced

Ben Forster, Kimberley Walsh, Joe McGann and Jessica Martin will star in the London premiere of ELF the smash hit musical at the Dominion Theatre from 24 October 2015 for a strictly limited 10-week season, ending on 2 January 2016, with a press night on Thursday 5 November.

Ben Forster, Joe McGann and Jessica Martin all starred in the sold-out UK and Ireland premieres of ELF in Plymouth and Dublin in December 2014, playing the roles of Buddy, Walter Hobbs and Emily Hobbs respectively. Kimberley Walsh will be making her debut in ELF as Jovie. They will be joined by Jennie Dale as Deb, Mark McKerracher as Santa and Graham Lappin as Store Manager, with further casting to be announced.

Based on the beloved 2003 New Line Cinema hit starring Will Ferrell, ELF is the hilarious tale of Buddy, a young orphan child who mistakenly crawls into Santa's bag of gifts and is transported back to the North Pole. Unaware that he is actually human, Buddy's enormous size and poor toy-making abilities cause him to face the truth. With Santa's permission, Buddy embarks on a journey to New York City to find his birth father, discover his true identity, and help New York remember the true meaning of Christmas.

Ben Forster won the 2012 ITV 1 show Superstar, Andrew Lloyd Webber's TV talent search for the rock musical Jesus Christ Superstar, and went on to play the title role, starring alongside Melanie C, Tim Minchin and Chris Moyles in the UK arena tour. Other recent theatre roles include starring as Brad Majors in the reinvented 40th anniversary production of Richard O'Brien's The Rocky Horror Show and Magaldi in Evita at the Dominion Theatre. Kimberley Walsh first rose to fame as one fifth of the award-winning pop group Girls Aloud. She released a solo album Centre Stage on Decca Records. Her acting career includes the films Horrid Henry: The Movie and All Stars, and she made her West End theatre debut playing Princess Fiona in the London production of Shrek the Musical. She was a finalist in the 2012 Strictly Come Dancing. Joe McGann is probably best known for his role as Charlie Burrows in the TV comedy series The Upper Hand. His West End credits include The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, Of Mice and Men at the Old Vic and Oliver! at the London Palladium. Jessica Martin's career began as an impressionist on television shows such as Copycats and Spitting Images. Jessica's West End credits include Sally Smith in Me and My Girl, Sunset Boulevard, Mack and Mabel and The Card and Babes in Arms at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre.

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). The production will feature direction and choreography by Morgan Young (Irving Berlin's White Christmas, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang), set design and costumes by Olivier Award winner Tim Goodchild, lighting design by Olivier Award winner Tim Lutkin, vocal arrangements by Phil Reno, dance arrangements by David Chase, orchestrations by Doug Besterman, video design by Ian William Galloway and sound design by Clement Rawling. Musical direction and supervision will be by Stuart Morley.

Michael Rose and U-Live in association with the Bord Gais Energy Theatre, Dublin present the Theatre Royal Plymouth production of ELF at the Dominion Theatre, London.

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