Further casting announced for Elf

Atomic Kitten popstar Liz McClarnon and Louis Emerick will join the previously announced Ben Forster in Elf: The Musical later this year.

McClarnon will play the role of Jovie, played by Girls Aloud singer Kimberley Walsh in the show's West End run in 2015. Her stage credits include Legally Blonde, War of the Worlds and Shout.

Best known for playing Mick Johnson in Brookside, Emerick, who will play Santa Claus, has stage credits including The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui alongside Mark Rylance (Contact Theatre, Manchester), and the national tour of The Full Monty.

The cast, directed and choreographed by Morgan Young, will also include former West End cast members Joe McGann as Walter and Jessica Martin as Emily Hobbs.

Based on the 2003 film starring Will Ferrell, Elf tells of an orphan who learns his real dad lives in New York and not the North Pole. It features a book by Thomas Meehan and Bob Martin, with music and lyrics by Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin.

Read our review of the West End run of Elf

Elf: the Musical runs at Theatre Royal Plymouth from 11 to 18 November and at The Lowry from 24 November to 14 January.