NEW YORK CITY, N.Y. — A Central Georgia native is set to star in a leading role on Broadway.
Grey Henson, who was nominated for a Tony Award in 2018, was announced to star as Buddy the Elf in the musical "Elf" on Broadway. This is his first lead role in a musical in his Broadway career.
“I cannot wait to play Buddy the Elf eight times a week, in this hilarious and joyful musical, during the most magical time of the year on Broadway,” Henson said in a statement. “'Elf' has always been required yearly viewing for me, and I am so honored and excited to be fulfilling a lifelong dream of wearing tights on Broadway.”
"Elf," which initially debuted on Broadway in 2010 and last appeared in 2012, will be returning to the Broadway stage after over a decade and will have Henson in the leading role. The show will have a preview showing on Saturday, Nov. 9 and an official opening show Sunday, Nov. 17. It will run through Jan. 4, 2025.
Henson, who performed at Theatre Macon when he was younger, has been on Broadway nearly since he graduated Carnegie Mellon University in 2012.
His first professional theater credit was in 2012, where he performed in the first U.S. national tour for "The Book of Mormon" as Elder McKinley. He and the company returned to New York City in 2014 and performed at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre in his first role as a Broadway actor.
In 2017, he stared as Damian Hubbard in "Mean Girls," where he earned his Tony nomination for Best Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical. He was also nominated for honors with the Drama Desk Awards and Helen Hayes Awards.
He did win Broadway.com Audience Awards' Favorite Featured Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical and Favorite Onstage Pair — alongside Barrett Wilbert Weed, who played Janis Sarkisian — in 2018.
Since then, Henson had roles as Storyteller 2 in "Shucked" and was most recently in "tick, tick...BOOM!" as Michael. He worked alongside famous actor Neil Patrick Harris, who made his directorial debut directing the musical.
The Macon native has given back to the community he grew up in multiple times in the past. In Feb. 2020, he recorded a video for Theatre Macon's 30th anniversary and during the pandemic, he teamed up with Macon Arts Alliance to teach classes over Zoom.
"It meant family and home and freedom to me, and that's where I fell in love with performing," Henson said, in a video testimonial for the Theatre Macon's anniversary.