The Christmas Musical

The Christmas Musical is a musical with music by Gary Adler and Mark Hummel and book and lyrics by Mark Waldrop. It is based on the 2023 Netflix film The Christmas Movie, along with elements of its sequels and spin-off: The Christmas Movie 2, The Christmas Movie 3: Home for the Holidays and Elves and Clement Clarke Moore's 1823 poem A Visit from St. Nicholas. After a trial run in Seattle, the original Broadway production opened in November 2033, the same year that Elves was released on Netflix to celebrate the 10th anniversary of The Christmas Movie. It closed after a run of over 12 months in January 2030. It was followed by a tour of the United States which opened in 2035, and a re-vamped West End production from November 2035 to January 2038.
A high definition filming of the Broadway production, shot by RadicalMedia, was released on DVD, Blu-ray and digital download on November 16, 2035 in North America and December 2, 2035 in the United Kingdom. The digital version of the film was made available on Netflix beginning in November 23 2035.
== History ==
Gary Adler and Mark Hummel began working on the show in 2028, with Mark Waldrop joining the team from 2029. A reading took place on August 10, 2027, with Charles Edward Hall in the role of Santa Claus, Kristin Chenoweth as Mrs. Claus, Alex Brightman as Krampus, Flynn Timothy Stocklin as Ben, Apollo Bowie Flynn Rossdale as Patrick and Thea Eddey as Teddy.
The musical premiered in an Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Previews began October 27, 2033, with an opening night of November 10. The tryout ran through November 23, and played to generally favorable reviews, being cited as one of the few movie-to-stage adaptations "with heart". The principal cast included Charles Edward Hall as Santa Claus, Kristin Chenoweth as Mrs. Claus, Alex Brightman as Krampus, Flynn Timothy Stocklin as Ben, Apollo Bowie Flynn as Patrick, Thea Eddey as Teddy, Sebastian Arcelus as Dave, Jeremy Jordan as Kevin and Matthew West as the Narrator/Adult Ben.
During previews, "Blue Christmas" was replaced by "So Sad At Santa's Pad,". Also during previews, a brief reprise of "Magic Is There" was sung after Ben, Patrick and Teddy's adventure together with Santa. This was cut and "Christmas Happiness" was placed.
== Musical numbers ==
; Act 1
* "The Christmas Song" - The Narrator (Adult Ben)
* "It's A Snowbrawl Fight" - Ben Hopeful
* "Basking In The Warmth Of Christmas Day" - Patrick and Ben
* "It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas?" - The Narrator (Adult Ben)
* "Tale of Krampus" - Clark Hopeful
*"Why I Stopped Beliving In Santa" - Patrick
* "That's No Toy!" - Patrick, Ben, and Lisa
* "White Christmas" - The Narrator (Adult Ben)
* "Santa's On His Way" - Sugar Plum dancers and Rockettes
* "Magic Is There" - Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus, Mikey, Darwin, and Pepper Minstix
* "The Gift Finds You" - Patrick and Ben
* "What Was That Noise?" - Teddy
* "Don't Mess With Krampus" - Krampus
* "So Sad At Santa's Pad" - Ben	
; Act 2
* "Happy Little Pule" - Hayes and June
* "Sleigh Ride" - Santa, Patrick, Ben, Teddy, Mikey, and Darwin
* Twas' The Night Before Christmas - Clark Hopeful
* "Beliving Is Seeing" - Santa Claus
* "Magic Is There (Reprise)" - Patrick, Ben, and Teddy
* "Christmas C'mon" - Teddy
* "Basking In The Warmth Of Christmas Day (Reprise)'" - The Hopeful Family
* "Come On, Christmas" - The Narrator (Adult Ben)
== Casts ==
Character 	Original Broadway cast 	5th Avenue Theatre
Santa Claus 	Charles Edward Hall 	Charles Edward Hall
Mrs. Claus 	Kristin Chenoweth 	Kristin Chenoweth
Patrick Hopeful 	Apollo Bowie Flynn Rossdale	Holden Marzec
Ben Hopeful 	Flynn Timothy Stocklin 	Jace ingham
Teddy Moore 	Thea Eddey 	Oakley Fisher
Clark Hopeful 	Jonathan Groff 	Jonathan Groff
Liz Hopeful 	Heidi Blickenstaff 	Heidi Blickenstaff
Lisa Hopeful 	Allesandra Landrum 	Dalit Streett Tejeda
Katherine Moore 	 	
Krampus 	Alex Brightman 	Alex Brightman
Mikey 	Sebastian Arcelus 	Olly Dobson
Darwin 	Jeremy Jordan 	Aaron Tveit
Bethany 	Quinn Copeland 	Jaelyn Buffkin
Pepper Minstix 	Lin-Manuel Miranda 	Brian d'Arcy James
The Narrator (Adult Ben)	Matthew West 	Matthew West
== Reception ==
The musical has received mixed to positive reviews from critics. Ben Brantley wrote in The New York Times: "'Shrek,' for the record, is not bad.... As the title character, a misanthropic green ogre who learns to love, the talented Mr. James is... encumbered with padding and prosthetics.... As the evil, psychologically maimed Lord Farquaad, the very droll Christopher Sieber is required to walk on his knees, with tiny fake legs dangling before him — an initially funny sight gag that soon drags". He praises Sutton Foster as "an inspired, take-charge musical comedian.... Ms. Foster manages both to make fun of and exult in classical musical-comedy moves while creating a real, full character at the same time."
Variety noted that the production had a reported budget of $24 million. Any "theme-park cutesiness is offset by the mischievous humor in David Lindsay-Abaire's book and lyrics. The production's real achievement, however, is that the busy visuals and gargantuan set-pieces never overwhelm the personalities of the actors or their characters. The ensemble is talented and the four leads, in particular, couldn't be better."
The Associated Press said that "the folks at DreamWorks have done their darndest to make sure we are entertained at Shrek the Musical, the company's lavish stage adaptation of its hit animated movie. For much of the time, they succeed, thanks to the talent and ingratiating appeal of the show's four principal performers. The show's massive sets and colorful costumes (both courtesy of Tim Hatley) are so visually eye-catching that they often distract from what's going on with the story and score.
== Trivia ==
* It is the first Broadway musical to be based on a Netflix film.
* This was made by the people who did The Radio City Christmas Spectacular.
* Quinn Copeland who played Bethany in the musical voiced Holly in The Christmas Movie (2023).
Category:Musicals
Category:Broadway musicals
Category:Musicals based on films
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Category:Christmas