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ELF – The Musical Flies Festively high into the Central Park Sky on Broadway

THIS WAS MY FAVORITE REVIEW OF ELF THE MUSCIAL!

I try not to make it a habit to read reviews from my shows. (We all try – how often do we succeed?) My sister sent me this review of ELf the Musical and I have to say it’s my absolute favorite review. The writer (Ross) starts out his article by saying he’s miserable and really didn’t want to go to the theater. I wish all reviewers started their columns with their mindset and mood. If you don’t have time, read the two bold sections at the top and the bottom of the article. My kudos to Mr. Ross for his honesty! It speaks to how theater can change a person’s outlook. Enjoy!!

November 24, 2024 By Ross 

I think my heart grew a few sizes larger the other night while watching Elf – the Musical at Broadway’s Marquis Theatre. And I’m not kidding. I walked into the theatre a big grouch. I’ve had a hard busy work day, all the while navigating a pulled muscle in my lower back and a sore shoulder muscle that never stopped aching all day. I was tired, cranky, and basically thinking I would be much better off in bed on painkillers drinking a hot toddy. Happy Holidays everyone, but within minutes of the most surprisingly sweet and festive two and a half hours on Broadway, my discomfort was gone. Just from watching this charmingly funny tale of a very tall elf who learns just days before Christmas that he isn’t actually an elf, but a human, who, a long time ago crawled into Santa’s sack when he was just a wee infant. And instead of Santa returning him to his momma (a question that never crossed my mind until now), Buddy the Elf was raised by the happiest of happy elves who dance and sing up a storm and make toys at record speed. Now that’s a wonderful life, I’m thinking.

Grey Hensen, Sean Astin Photo by Evan Zimmerman for Murphy Made

Now one might call me a Classic Christmas enthusiast, who can not make it through the holiday season without watching: “It’s a Wonderful Life“, “Love, Actually“, “A Christmas Story“, and the one and only original animated “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas“. Never ever the live-action film. I avoid films like that, and “Elf”, the 2003 film that starred Will Ferrell, and I really had no intention of watching it. Pretty much ever (I still believe that to be true). But I have to say, the musical version, brought to magical life by the talented team that delivered The Prom to Broadway, with music by Matthew Sklar, lyrics by Chad Beguelin, and a book by Thomas Meehan & Bob Martin, is just what the holiday doctor ordered, or should have, as I totally forgot about my aches and pains (and my hard day) for the entirety of the show.

Kalen Allen, Grey Henson, and The Cast of Broadway’s Elf the Musical. Photo by Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade.

Perfectly embodied and sung by the gem, Grey Henson (Broadway’s Mean GirlsShucked), Buddy the Elf is, like his familial elves, “Happy All the Time“, until it slips out that he is not like all the other elves. He’s special, they tell him. And by special, they mean human, and not at all an elf. So with a little holiday push by Santa, played lovingly by Sean Astin (“Lord of the Rings” trilogy), Buddy is off to New York City to find his father and, in turn, help him, who Santa states is firmly stamped on the naughty list, rediscover his holiday spirit and reconnect with his family. His journey is long, assisted by the somewhat straightforward heavily projected set and costuming by Tim Goodchild (West End’s Strangers on a Train), with festive lighting by Patrick Woodroffe (Jim Steinman’s Bat Out of Hell), and sound design by Gareth Owen (Broadway’s Hell’s Kitchen) & Peter Fitzgerald (Broadway’s Purlie Victorious..), that feels somewhat more like a touring production, rather than a planted Broadway show, but it really doesn’t effect his “sparklyjollytwinklejingley” spirit that never fades, even when he finally comes face to face with his overworked and overwhelmed Daddy (Walter) Hobbs, played gloriously sour by Michael Hayden (Broadway’s Judgment at Nuremberg).

He tries to follow Santa’s sage advice, “ask first, then hug” but Buddy’s enthusiasm doesn’t do the festive family trick. It only engages and enlists boss Hobbs’ staff, led by the fabulously talented Jennifer Sánchez (Red Bull Theater’s The Alchemist) as office assistant Deb, who initially mistakes Buddy for a singing telegram entertainer. This mismatch doesn’t go well, as expected, and Buddy finds himself escorted out into the street, and pointed towards the ‘North Pole’ village at the nearby Macy’s Department Store. In some way, this is the Christmas match he needs, filling the standoffish employees there with his happy elfin spirit, promoted by the anxious store manager played hilariously well by Kalen Allen (Netflix’s “Meet Me Next Christmas“). Who also can sell you the greatest hotdogs in town, depending on your mood or taste buds.

Kayla Davion and Grey Henson in Broadway’s Elf the Musical. Photo by Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade.

But the main event of that short overnight stay is when Buddy the Elf falls quickly and hopelessly in love with the pretty Jovie, a determined-to-be practical store-elf-for-hire, who doesn’t believe in all that joyful, hopeful magic of Christmas, vowing to “Never Fall in Love (With and Elf)” or so she states. Powerhouse Kayla Davion (Off-Broadway’s White Girl in Danger) as Jovie knocks down that gingerbread house (not literally) with her killer vocals and sweet straightforward charm, pulling us in with ease to her wishful thinking and romantic ideals. We can’t help but fall for her as quickly as Buddy does, but his forgetfulness at crucial moments places a few obstacles for this sleigh ride to continue down its non-snowy path. But we are very forgiving for the lovable Buddy, and we hold onto our festive hearts hoping (and knowing) she will be forgiving too.

You see, Walter Hobbs, the unknown father of Buddy, works long hard hours as a publisher of children’s books in an Empire State Building office. He’s far too busy and stressed to go Christmas shopping with his wife, Emily, gloriously well-played by lovely-voiced Ashley Brown (Encores’ The Golden Apple), and their son, Michael, delightfully portrayed by Kai Edgar (Ahmanson’s A Christmas Story). But after an altercation with Macy’s fake Santa, Buddy is dropped off at the Hobbs’ door by a couple of jolly policemen, and a bond begins to form with his newfound family, one that we know will benefit them all, once they embrace his joyful soul.

Michael Hayden, Ashley Brown, Kai Edgar, Grey Henson, and Kayla Davion Photo by Evan Zimmerman for Murphy Made

His new stepmom can’t help herself but giggle along with all of us as we watch Henson’s Buddy drive the story forward as only he can, giving us “A Christmas Song” and energy that can’t be denied. With Buddy decked out in human work clothes whispering “Dad” until he can’t help but yell it out, Elf never stops for a second, completely captivating us all in its holiday cheer and goodwill. The songs, particularly the lyrics, are impossible not to love, especially “The Story of Buddy the Elf” sung with such cheer, and backed up by the effervescent choreography of Liam Steel (West End/Broadway’s Company) layered like icing on top of the orchestrations cake by music supervisor Alan Williams (Broadway’s Funny Girl). It could make anyone believe in Santa, even the grouchy Mr. Greenway (Astin) who demands everyone work through Christmas just so he can publish a new children’s Christmas storybook.

Naturally, everything comes together in the end, energizing the New York City Christmas spirit in ways that will make you smile stupidly from ear to ear and send a sleigh soaring. As directed with a heartful of joy and love by Philip Wm. McKinley (Broadway’s The Boy From Oz), Elf flies high into the Central Park sky, and I can’t begin to tell you just how much this production cured my rainy workday Thursday night blues, ushering me into Christmas, before sending me out into the difficult streets of New York City with the happiest of elvish steps, humming the music and singing “Buddy the Elf” as I made my way home. Hensen’s Buddy certainly knows how to play those Christmas bells in a way that lifted the weight off my shoulders, reducing my achy muscles, and giving me a little lump in my throat. And I’m sure it did the same to all those enthralled kids around me, including the adult-plus-one I brought with me that night. Don’t miss your chance to care about Santa once again with Broadway’s Elf the Musical.

Grey Henson and Jennifer Sanchez (center) with The Cast of Broadway’s Elf the Musical. Photo by Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade.


ELF THE MUSICAL grosses over $1 million week of 11/24

This past week Elf the Musical outsold the following shows grossing over $1 million.    

&Juliet, A Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong, Back to the Future, Cabaret, Chicago, Death Becomes Her, Gypsy (only three performances), Hadestown, Harry Potter, Maybe Happy Ending, Moulin Rouge, Once Upon a Mattress, Our Town, Six, Stereophonic, Suffs, Swept Away, Tammy Faye, The Book of Mormon, The Notebook, Water for Elephants.

Looks like Broadway audiences are looking for a fun, joyful, high spirited holiday show.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE ENTIRE CAST, STAFF, and CREW! One of the absolute best companies on Broadway.


THE NEW YORK TIMES: Theater to See in N.Y.C. This Holiday Season

“Elf the Musical,” inventive spins on “A Christmas Carol” and classic family fare:

The end of the year marks the return of eggnog and latkes, gifting and regifting — and holiday-themed shows to bask in tradition, communal spirit and, yes, fun. In New York, we can always count on well-timed offerings on stages of all sizes.

One of the biggest, the Marquis Theater, is hosting “Elf the Musical” (through Jan. 4) in which Grey Henson gets the title role “delightfully, entirely right,” according to Laura Collins-Hughes’s review for The New York Times.


BUDDY is COMING SOON!!!!

BUDDY IS BACK and on BROADWAY!!!!

PREVIEWS BEGIN NOVEMBER 9, 2024

OPENING NIGHT NOVEMBER 17, 2024 *** AT THE MARQUIS THEATRE

TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW AT ELFONBROADWAY.COM

  ★★★★! A SLICKLY IRRESISTIBLE and FIZZILY ENJOYABLE confection of a show. This fantasia whirls you up in a Technicolor dream of Christmas.” – Time Out  “★★★★! THIS SHOW SLEIGHS! A smashing night out.” What’s On Stage    ★★★★! ROUSING and FESTIVE FUN – this show is a real cracker!” Daily Mail      ELF HAS THE MAGIC that sends you out of the theatre SMILING AND SINGING. Truly the Christmas Cake of Musicals!” The Times of London

(New York, NY – September 10, 2024) Temple Live Entertainment and Crossroads Live North America have announced a limited holiday engagement of Elf The Musical, beginning this November on Broadway at The Marquis Theatre. Following two hugely successful, record-breaking seasons in London’s West End in 2022 and 2023, this production of Elf The Musical will be new to Broadway and will mark the musical’s return for the first time in over a decade. The musical will star Tony Award nominee Grey Henson (Mean Girls, Shucked) as Buddy the Elf.  Broadway previews begin Saturday, November 9, 2024, with an official Opening Night of Sunday, November 17, 2024, for the limited engagement through Saturday, January 4, 2025. Tickets are available now, at www.elfonbroadway.com.

Elf The Musical features a book by Tony Award winners Thomas Meehan (Annie, The Producers, Hairspray) and Bob Martin (The Drowsy Chaperone, Smash, Boop! The Musical), with songs by Tony nominees Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin (The Prom, The Wedding Singer). The musical returns to Broadway in an acclaimed production directed by Philip Wm. McKinley (Boy From Oz, Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark), first staged at the Dominion Theatre in London’s West End. It became the venue’s fastest-selling show in nearly a century and became a firm holiday favorite for London audiences, breaking its own Box Office records during last year’s run. The production features Choreography by Olivier and Drama Desk nominee Liam Steel (Company), Set and Costume Design by multi-Olivier Award winner Tim Goodchild (Strangers on a Train, We Will Rock You, numerous productions at Royal Shakespeare Company), Lighting Design by Patrick Woodroffe (Bat Out of Hell, Mamma Mia! The Party), Sound Design by Tony Award winner Gareth Owen (MJ the Musical, Hell’s Kitchen) and Video Design by Ian William Galloway (The Audience, The Light Princess), with music supervision by Olivier Award winner Alan Williams (Sunset Boulevard). Casting is by Rachel Hoffman / The Telsey Office.

Elf The Musical is the hilarious and heartwarming tale of Buddy, a young orphan child whose life is changed forever when he mistakenly crawls into Santa’s sack of toys one Christmas Eve. Raised by elves in the North Pole, Buddy’s enormous size and poor toy-making abilities make him realize he doesn’t quite fit in. When he discovers he is human, Buddy embarks on a journey to New York City to find his birth father, and in turn, helps the Big Apple rediscover the true meaning of Christmas. Hailed by Time Out as “a slickly irresistible and fizzily enjoyable confection of a show” that will “whirl you up in a technicolor dream of Christmas,” this modern-day holiday classic returns home to New York in an acclaimed West End production that “has the magic to send you out of the theatre smiling and singing” (The Times of London).


Just a Kid Putting on a Show!

“Voyage de la Vie” – Singapore

The saying goes: “There’s a broken heart for every light on Broadway.”   My feeling is for every light on Broadway there’s a kid with a dream. Somewhere along the way the kid stopped living his/her dream and started to live someone else’s and that’s where the broken hearts come from. I’ve always said be careful who you stand next to, you don’t want to catch their dream. Live your own dream. I’m a kid that lived my dream and I’m fortunate enough to still be living it.

I suppose I’m too old to be called a kid anymore. But I’ve always thought of everyone in the theater as a kid. To me it’s not a sign of age, it’s an indication of your spirit. The colleagues I’ve worked with whom I’ve admired the most had that “can-do” spirit that we all have as children. There are no boundaries, no restrictions, only hope and the belief if I dream harder it will come true. I worked with George Abbott who is often referred to as the “Father of American Theater.”   Mr. Abbott was the biggest kid in the neighborhood. At one hundred years old he still had that gleam of adventure in his eye you only find in the undying spirit of a child with a dream and a purpose.

There are people I’ve worked with who have taken offense to me calling them “kids.”  They find it demeaning in some form or other. It’s as if I’m indicating their lack of knowledge or education. But for me, we’re all a bunch of “kids” just putting together a show in the backyard. The same way we put on shows when we were growing up in all those small towns across the country before we packed up and moved to the big city to find our dreams. I use “kid” as a term of endearment to illustrate the person has not lost their inner child, the kid that allowed us to search for the dream.

The difference for me now? Not much. I’m still that “kid” putting on shows in the back yard. The shows just got bigger and a lot more expensive. 


BUDDY IS BAAAAACKKK!!!

Elf the Musical with book by Thomas Meehan & Bob Martin, Music by Matthew Sklar and Lyrics by Chad Beguelin has opened at the Dominion Theater in London for the 2023-24 holiday season. The production stars Matthew Wolfenden, Georgina Castle, Tom Chambers and Rebecca Lock. Produced by Ingrid Sutej and Miguel Esteban, this joyful and spirited musical is playing to sold out houses again this year. It seems London can’t get enough of Buddy the Elf!!!

Georgina Castle, Tom Chambers, Rebecca Lock, Nicholas Pound and Mathew Wolfenden star in Elf the Musical.

Matthew Wolfenden and Georgina Castle

The 2023 Cast of Elf the Musical at the Dominion Theater, London


BROADWAY WORLD Review: DIRTY BLONDE At CV Rep

William Ryall, Cady Huffman & Joshua Morgan

by Kay Kudukis Jan. 19, 2023  

Adam Karsten took the helm at CV Rep in the summer of 2022. His season opener was the quirky and rather perplexing The Humans which he followed up with Fun Home, an unconventional musical, which hit me extremely hard in the feels.

“And now,” as Monty Python would say, “for something completely different” he has brought us Claudia Shear‘s Tony-nominated Dirty Blonde, a fun, sexy, ribald romp of a story within a story chronicling the life of Mae West through two rather ordinary people with an extraordinary love of all things Mae.

If you aren’t familiar with Mae West let me tell you about the time she played The Chi Chi Club in Palm Springs. It was in the 1950s, and Mae was in her late fifties. Her act consisted of six bulging muscle men dressed in loincloths parading around her while she reclined on an eiderdown chaise drinking tea served by a black maid, comedienne Louise Beavers. It was the ultimate in camp. When a writer from Playboy asked Mae to define “camp,” she didn’t miss a beat, “Camp is the kinda comedy where they imitate me.” Oh.

Cady Huffman shines as both Mae West and as Jo, an unrealized actress, who meets Charlie (Joshua Morgan), a film archivist, at Mae West‘s crypt. They’re both there to wish Mae a posthumous happy birthday.             

Cady Huffman and Joshua Morgan

Jo loves Mae’s wit, she was a take-no-prisoners woman in a time when woman were more often the prisoners than the warden. Her love of Mae is dwarfed only by Charlie’s. Like Mae, Jo shares a healthy outlook toward sex (or so she tells us).

Charlie has been fascinated by Mae since he was a young boy. When he was seventeen, he would stand outside Mae’s front door with hopes of meeting her. And one day, he does. He shares those stories, photos, and all things Mae with Jo. It’s a “will they or won’t they situation” with the prerequisite wrench thrown in. But I’ll admit, it’s a pretty good wrench.

Interspersed with that, is a light-hearted romp through Mae’s past – the long vaudevillian road to her success on stage, and eventually film, is chronicled with Morgan and Broadway veteran Wiliam Ryall playing the characters that come and go in her life.

William Ryall and Cady Huffman

This production is all pro. All three actors can belt out a song (did I mention it’s a musical? It’s a musical), and all three have superior comic timing.

Huffman delivers all of Mae’s zingers with the appropriate sass and sexual innuendo. Her first appearance as Mae she had the house eating out of the palm of her hand.

Her Jo is fun, and although she seems to know herself well, she finds out she might have a little more to know.

Ryall has the lion’s share of the side characters, from Mae’s husband, to her companion, to her maid. He reminds me of John Malkovich and not just in looks; some of his characters have that dry delivery Malkovich does so well. On the other hand, some of his characterizations are intensely vaudevillian, but all of them are highly entertaining.

Joshua Morgan and Cady Huffman

While all of the actors are terrific, there is usually one that I can’t stop watching.  In this production it is Joshua Morgan.   His Charlie is a sympathetic nerd, a guy who lives in the past every day, bu finally begins to enjoy his present as his relationship with Jo grows.  He also plays a few side characters including W.C. Fields and a hilarious turn as a drag queen.  Twice, Morgan steps to the piano and plays it brilliantly.

Director Philip Wm. McKinley has an impressive directing resume including hi-octane Broadway productions Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark and five-time Tony nominated The Boy From Oz with Hugh Jackman. He gives no less to this show. The direction is crisp, and the pace is quick keeping all eyes on the stage at all times.

Cady Huffman

Production values were also top-notch with special shout outs to Frank Cazaras’ costume design and Emma Bibo on wardrobe with additional thumbs up to Lynda Shaeps hair and makeup design.  Moria Wilke’s lighting was spot-on as usual, and he sound design by Joshua Adams with Kiki Roller on audio did a great job of enhancing the action. 


ELF the Musical – The Dominion Theater/London

Who needs Will Ferrell? This show is a real cracker: VERONICA LEE reviews Elf The Musical 

By Veronica Lee For The Daily Mail02:03 25 Nov 2022, updated 06:53 25 Nov 2022
Rating: ****

Verdict: Slick festive fun

Rating: ****

Verdict: Fantastic fever dream

The 2003 film Elf is an established seasonal favourite and, inevitably, audiences will have Will Ferrell lodged in their heads when they think of Santa’s hapless ‘little’ helper Buddy.

Thankfully, Simon Lipkin in Elf The Musical overcomes any comparisons (and a dreadful wig) to make a convincing lead.

The story, should you need reminding, is about the naive Buddy, who at the age of 30 discovers he’s not an elf at all, but a large human who, as a baby, crawled into Santa’s sack and was then brought up by his elves at the North Pole.

Buddy goes to New York to find his father, frazzled businessman Walter Hobbs (Tom Chambers), who is too busy for his wife, Emily (Rebecca Lock), and son Michael, let alone for this weird manboy who wants to hug him all the time.

The 2003 film Elf is an established seasonal favourite and, inevitably, audiences will have Will Ferrell lodged in their heads when they think of Santa’s hapless little helper Buddy. 

To make matters worse, Hobbs is on the Naughty List because — oh, the horror — he doesn’t believe Santa exists.

Philip McKinley’s classy revival — the scenes in Macy’s look particularly gorgeous in Tim Goodchild’s design — has some rousing song-and-dance numbers (the book is by Thomas Meehan and Bob Martin, with songs by Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin, choreography by Liam Steel).


TIME OUT – “ELF the Musical” Review

Photo by Mark Senior

Time Out says

4 out of 5 stars

The stage adaptation of the beloved Will Ferrell film bounds joyously back into town

‘Elf the Musical’ rolls back into the West End with the same blunt-force charm as Buddy, its star. The last time this production was at the Dominion Theatre, in 2015, it was the venue’s fastest-selling show in nearly a century. It’d be a huuuge surprise if it’s not a success this time either.

Apart from a few tweaks and a couple of excised characters, the story largely follows the smash-hit 2003 Will Ferrell movie vehicle that’s now a perennial Christmas favourite. Titular hero Buddy’s Teflon-coated cheer can’t disguise the fact that he’s suspiciously tall for an elf. When Santa Claus breaks the news to him that he is, in fact, a human, Buddy sets out from the North Pole to find his real father in New York City.   

The influences on the film and this show are legion, particularly ’80s fish-out-of-water classics like ‘Big’. Buddy arrives to find a fraught New York, full of Christmas as a sales pitch, but not with its spirit. His father, Walter Hobbes, is a harried, snappy publisher of kids’ books with no time for the young son he actually knows he has. (Buddy was the result of a college romance, whose mother died without ever telling Walter.) From initially stumbling onto the shop floor of department store Macy’s, to inveigling his way into Walter’s office and then his home, Buddy’s open-handed, child-like joy shows everyone he meets the true meaning of Christmas.

This show lives or dies depending on its Buddy. Thankfully, Simon Lipkin knocks it out of the park. There are shades of Will Ferrell in his performance, but he brings an innocence that feels distinct. He tempers what could easily be an annoyingly consistent optimism with some killer line deliveries. He never descends into saccharine. Meanwhile, as Walter, Tom Chambers is grumpy and overworked rather than a full Scrooge. It lends a welcome trace of reality to the show’s otherwise cartoon altitude. Elsewhere, in a show largely focused on male relationships, Rebecca Lock and Georgina Castle still make their characters spark as Walter’s wife, Emily, and Buddy’s would-be girlfriend, Jovie, respectively.  And Kim Ismay, as Walter’s assistant, Deb, pretty much steals every scene she’s in.   

Philip Wm McKinley’s production is a fast-paced, Tim Burton-esque visual feast, full of exaggerated angles, art deco stylings and slick projections. There are throwaway references to modern tech – and some jarringly attempts to crowbar in some British-isms – but this is really a fantasia. It whirls you up in a Technicolor dream of Christmas, with Liam Steel’s choreography rarely giving you time for breath. Thomas Meehan and Bob Martin’s script is quippy and witty, while Chad Beguelin’s knowing lyrics stay on the right side of affectionate rather than arch. There are a couple of subplot cul-de-sacs and a few dodgy moments (particularly the initial presentation of a Chinese restaurant). But propelled by Matthew Sklar’s score – which hits all the right joyful/bittersweet notes – this is a slickly irresistible and fizzily enjoyable confection of a show. You may find yourself feeling festive even before Santa makes his final act appearance.


Review: At the Big Apple Circus, It’s a Family Affair

Veranica and her trained poodles making the most of their time in the spotlight.
(Photo by Seth Caplan for New York Times)

CRITIC’S PICK

Though smaller and less glitzy than extravaganzas of years past, “Dream Big” is a brisk, welcoming, back-to-basics experience brimming with pizazz.

Big Apple Circus

NYT Critic’s Pick

By Alexis Soloski

Photographs by Seth Caplan

  • Nov. 25, 2022

Nepotism babies, performers who were launched into the entertainment industry with a boost from a family member or two, have a bad reputation. Maybe they deserve a better one. During the Big Apple Circus’s “Dream Big,” the latest splendid show to alight beneath its lavish tent in a corner of Lincoln Center’s plaza, second-, third- and fourth-generation performers swoop, swing, somersault and traverse a high wire 20 feet in the air. In the short videos that precede the acts, each credits their success to the mothers, fathers, uncles or grandparents who went into the ring before them. Nik Wallenda, the headliner, can trace his big top lineage back nearly 250 years, as can his 69-year-old mother, Delilah Wallenda, who helps him onto that wire.

The Wallenda family executes a truncated version of their signature pyramid tightrope trick.
(Photo by Seth Caplan for The New York Times)

Rokardy Rodriguez performing a precarious balancing act.
(Photo by Seth Caplan for The New York Times)

Irina Akimova twirls the hula hoops.
(Photo by Seth Caplan for The New York Times)

Sure, these performers started their careers a couple of rungs up the ladder. Then again, that ladder is unstable and balanced atop a tottering platform. So who’s complaining? And who has time to complain when one’s mouth is too busy shrieking in terror and delight?

In the past decade, the Big Apple Circus has undergone a few contortions of its own. It filed for bankruptcy in 2016 and re-emerged a year later as a for-profit enterprise. The 2019 show delivered a more grown-up experience, with a ringmistress imported from the adults-only Bindlestiff Family Cirkus and the introduction of some sexed-up acts. The Covid-19 pandemic foreclosed the 2020 season. And though the tent opened again in November 2021, this was weeks before anyone in the 5-to-12 crowd could have been considered fully vaccinated. But now vaccines are available to all, making the one-ring a more comfortable space, and the lineup is meaningfully similar to last year’s, a gesture that assuages any feelings of having missed out.

The Big Top
(Photo by Seth Caplan for The New York Times)

The circus reopened in November 2021, before young children could be considered fully vaccinated. This year’s show is more family-friendly.

My family is among those who gave the circus a pass last year. And I had wondered how it would feel to be back — at close quarters, with no masking or vaccine requirements — at the big top again. Would a modifier like “death-defying” mean less when everyone in the tent — performers, spectators — had lived through a global pandemic? Shouldn’t we get spangled costumes, too? And in truth, the evening didn’t begin especially well. There were long lines — in the rain — to walk through metal detectors, and the promised preshow performances never materialized. The main event started 20 minutes late, 15 minutes after an $8 bag of cotton candy had been consumed.

But as soon as the curtain opens, wonder makes a swift return. “Dream Big,” directed by Philip Wm. McKinley, is a brisk, back-to-basics experience, smaller and less glitzy than the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey extravaganzas of years past, but brimming with pizazz. There is no Wheel of Death this time, and even the Wallendas seem to fly with just a bit more care. If the show doesn’t tell a story — “Dream Big” is the organizing theme in only the loosest sense — it suggests, welcomingly, that anyone might want to grow up and join the circus, particularly those performers who grew up in it.

Johnny Rocket the clown.
(Photo by Seth Caplan for The New York Times.)
Elli Huber on the trapeze.
Johnny Rocket up to his antics.
(Photo by Seth Caplan for The New York Times.)

After the opening song and dance, the performers desert the petite, red-curtained ring and Elli Huber rises above it, spinning atop a trapeze. The safety wire strapped to her waist is clearly visible, but those, like me, who run a little anxious, may consider that a relief. She is followed by Veranica, a cheerful tween who leads a quintet of trained dogs through a frolicsome routine. Two of her poodles can pilot scooters. Bliss. Gena Cristiani juggles pin upon pin; Rokardy Rodríguez performs a precarious balancing act. Axel Perez, his nephew, swings and sways atop the rolla bola, a platform balanced atop one or more rolling cylinders. TanBA, a magician who had surprising success on “Britain’s Got Talent,” presents a frantic, pop-eyed act in which he swallows a dozen or more razor blades. (“DO NOT EVER TRY THIS,” I whispered to my children.) After the intermission, Irina Akimova performs a hoop act, and Nik Wallenda and his family perform a truncated version of their famous pyramid act, in which two of them traverse the wire while balancing a third Wallenda — without nets. Truncated is fine!

The Ringmaster, Alan Silva
(Photo by Seth Caplan for The New York Times)

In between the defter displays, Johnny Rockett, the clown, lampoons various circus skills. His character is a janitor and general roustabout, angling for a spot in the show. Rockett is of course a third-generation clown and a practiced comedian. But his routine pokes fun at a popular alternative to the nepo baby route — the overconfidence of the mediocre white man. The character he plays can’t do handstands or hula hoop or train dogs with any dexterity. (At the performance I attended, the dog in his act defecated on the stage, an apparent improvisation.) But the show keeps giving him the space to try. Arguably too much space. Three appearances might have been enough. Then again, he dropped a prop light bulb on me to general laughter. So maybe that’s just my wounded dignity talking.

The most extraordinary act is among the simplest, an unpretentious silks routine performed by the ringmaster, Alan Silva, a sixth-generation circus performer. Silva is a little person, standing at 3 feet 10 inches. In his early life, as he says in the video that precedes his act, he was bullied for his height and urged toward clowning. But he dreamed of an aerial act instead. When he removes his frock coat and abandons himself to the silks, he really seems to fly. It’s a dream come true, through practice and audacity. And it’s as big as anything.

Big Apple Circus
Through Jan. 1 at Lincoln Center, Manhattan; bigapplecircus.com.