Grey Henson is currently living his dream right now. He's wanted to play Buddy the Elf in Elf the musical for over a decade, and on November 17 he got his wish. He opened Elf as Buddy in a new revival at the Marquis Theatre.

"It's the hardest thing I've ever done and will ever do. But it is also the most rewarding," he told Playbill on the opening night red carpet. Indeed, in the show, Henson is on stage almost the entire time, and has to roller skate and tap dance. And, two days prior, Henson dislocated his thumb, which he showed Playbill.

"You can see how it's purple. Broadway's hard," he said deadpan. "I dislocated it, and it popped right back in. We were in the middle of a dance number, and the adrenaline of doing the show and being Buddy, I barely felt anything." While Henson admits it does hurt when he's offstage, he still maintained that getting to be an "elf traveling through New York City at Christmas time, this is, like, the ultimate for me. So I'm so happy."

The musical, based on the 2003 film starring Will Ferrell, features a book by Thomas Meehan and Bob Martin and songs by Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin. The story follows Buddy, an orphaned human child raised by Santa's elves, who travels to NYC in search of his biological family and spread holiday cheer. The stage musical premiered on Broadway in 2010 and returned in 2012. Read the reviews for Elf here.

Below, see photos from the red carpet, which included Jessica Vosk and Ingrid Michaelson dressed like elves, Sara Bareilles, and Celia Keenan-Bolger. And scroll down for more opening night coverage.

close gallery

0 of

Photos: Opening Night of Elf on Broadway

Next Slide  

You may also like

• 
  Photos: The Stars of Irish Repertory Theatre's The Dead, 1904
• 
  Photos: Eureka Day Opening Night
• 
  Photos:Bianca Marroquín, Robyn Hurder, More Perform at ARC's Open House

While Henson is no stranger to a Broadway musical (having memorably starred in Mean Girls and Shucked), some of his co-stars are newbies. Kalen Allen plays a disgruntled Macy's employee, and though he is known as a social media personality, he actually has a degree in theatre. He admits, however, that Elf is on a whole other level from when he did community theatre in Kansas City, Missouri. 

"I haven't performed on stage since college, and it was amazing that first day of rehearsal, just like Celine Dion, it all just started coming back to me," exclaimed Allen. "The cast, we all have been so supportive of each other. Like, there's a tap finale. Lot of us didn't know how to tap, so me and Kayla [Davion], we'd be in the practice room, and I'd be like, 'Girl, I gotta get this together. I can't be looking crazy.'"

Davion, who has been on Broadway before, points out that Elf was more challenging than other shows she's done, since she had to learn new skills, like roller skating. Davion plays Jovie, Buddy's love interest and Macy's employee. Because the show is a limited run, she says, "We had to put this thing on the street fast. And I'm talking about learning how to roller blade, and bringing tap back into my life has been an experience." Though on opening night, she was all smiles, saying, "It's Christmas Eve. It's Christmas morning. It's all the things."

For Sean Astin, formerly of Lord of the Rings but now playing Santa Claus in Elf, this show marks his Broadway debut. He admitted that he was having a hard time not crying on the red carpet, saying that what's been most meaningful to him has been performing to the kids in the audience. "A couple of times during previews when I'm sitting in Santa's chair and looking out, I can see little kids, and you can see they're sitting on the edge of their seat. They're not blinking; they don't want to blink, they don't want to miss anything. You just want to communicate—to that kid."

In Elf, Buddy spreads Christmas cheer for all to hear, including to some very cynical New Yorkers. For actor Michael Hayden—who plays Buddy's biological father, Walter—he hopes the show will bring the same cheer in these gloomy times.

"I'm excited to be in this piece, given the times we're living in right now. There's a lot of challenge out there, a lot of unhappy people. That's an understatement," Hayden remarked. "For two-and-a-half hours, people get to laugh, they get to forget, they get to watch something beautiful and something extraordinarily human, and I'm very happy to be part of telling that story."

Below, see Henson and Astin play a game of "Christmas movie showdown" where they have to decide what is the greatest Christmas movie of all time (that is not Elf).

The principal cast for Elf also includes Ashley Brown as Emily Hobbs, Kai Edgar as Michael, Jennifer Sánchez as Deb, and Michael Deaner as Little Boy.

The ensemble includes Bronwyn Tarboton, Sydni Moon, Rodney Thompson, Clifton Samuels, Michael Milkanin, David Paul Kidder, J Savage, Corinne C. Broadbent, Halli Toland, Cameron Anika Hill, Peli Naomi Woods, and DeMarius R. Copes. Swings Colin Bradbury, Lizz Picini, Austin Schulte, Asten Stewart, and Maria Briggs round out the company. Casting is by The Telsey Office's Rachel Hoffman.

This revival is not a restaging of the show's earlier Broadway bows, instead bringing over a 2015 production directed by Philip Wm. McKinley from London's West End. This version features choreography by Liam Steel, set and costume design by Tim Goodchild, lighting design by Patrick Woodroffe, sound design by Gareth Owen and Peter Fitzgerald, video design by Ian William Galloway and Mesmer Studios, and hair and wig design by Sam Cox. Alan Williams is music supervisor, with orchestrations by Doug Besterman, dance arrangements by David Chase, vocal arrangements by Phil Reno, and music direction by Nate Patten. Karen Moore is production stage manager.

Temple Live Entertainment North America, Crossroads Live North America, and Nederlander Presentations are producing.

Visit ElfOnBroadway.com.