In rehearsals with Elf the Musical stars Joel Montague, Carrie Hope Fletcher and Aled Jones

Santa Claus will soon be coming to town… and so will Elf, for a fourth festive season in London’s West End!

This time, real-life married couple Joel Montague and Carrie Hope Fletcher are taking on the roles of Buddy and Jovie, with previews beginning at the Aldwych Theatre tomorrow, 28 October. They are also joined by Aled Jones as Walter Hobbs in the much-loved musical.

WhatsOnStage was recently invited into rehearsals, where we had the opportunity to sit down with the trio to chat about how this all came together for Fletcher and Montague and how it feels for Jones to be finally dusting off the tap shoes again.

You can watch all the syrupy-sweet highlights below:

The West End cast also includes Rosanna Hyland (Back to the Future: the Musical) as Emily Hobbs, Martyn Ellis (Wicked) as Santa/Mr Greenway, Lucinda Lawrence (9 to 5) as Deb and Dermot Canavan (Fiddler on the Roof) as Store Manager, alongside Mollie Cleere, Farirayi Garaba, Sophie Pourret, Lucy Rice, Biancha Szynal, Kyle Cox, Zack Guest, Ryan Jupp, Dominic Lamb and Danny Nattrass. The role of Michael Hobbs is played by Ayrton English, Max Garlick, Harry Georgiou and Samuel Sturge.

The company is completed by on-stage swing Olivia Bella, with Sophie Camble, Amy Punter, Samuel John Humphreys and Michael Tyler as swings.

Adapted from the 2003 New Line Cinema film starring Will Ferrell, Elf features a book by Thomas Meehan and Bob Martin, with music by Matthew Sklar and lyrics by Chad Beguelin. The story follows Buddy, a human raised as an elf at the North Pole, who travels to New York City in search of his birth father.

The show previously ran at the Dominion Theatre in 2015, 2022 and 2023. It also had a recent run at the Marquis Theatre on Broadway in 2024, marking its first return to New York in over ten years and setting new weekly gross records.

A new set has been designed for the Aldwych Theatre by Goodchild to accommodate the venue’s dimensions. The production is presented by Temple Live Entertainment.

It is directed by Philip Wm McKinley, with choreography by Liam Steel, set and costume design by Tim Goodchild, lighting design by Patrick Woodroffe, sound design by Gareth Owen, and video design by Ian William Galloway. Casting is by Grindrod Burton Casting, with wig design by Sam Cox.

Elf runs until 3 January 2026, with tickets on sale below.