Matthew Murphy
You have to have been living under a rock or are completely out of touch with pop culture and all things Disney if you’re not even remotely familiar with the mega-hit animated film Frozen or its signature, Oscar-winning song ‘Let It Go’. The characters of Elsa and Anna have become iconic in the realm of Disney princesses, and talking snowman Olaf has become a cottage industry unto himself with merchandise and his own spin-off short film. And with Disney’s success in launching big Broadway musicals based on its animated musical films, bringing Frozen to Broadway seemed like a no-brainer. The production received three Tony Award nominations including Best Musical, but the show was undone by the COVID-19 pandemic, shutting down along with the rest of Broadway on March 11, 2020 after 825 regular performances. While a hit, it wasn’t as big of a hit as Disney’s other two Broadway shows (still playing) — The Lion King and Aladdin — so Disney made the decision to ‘let it go’. But a tour was mounted in 2019 — which also shuttered due to the pandemic — but it roared back to life in September 2021 and now it is taking up residence at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre for an extended two week run (also the final show of the 2022-2023 season).
The story of Frozen is a fairly simple one: two sisters, princesses Anna and Elsa, learn that older sister Elsa has magical powers to create snow and ice with a flick of her hands. She accidentally zaps Anna, almost killing her, but luckily she is healed by Grand Pabbie of the ‘hidden folk’, and Elsa vows to never use her powers again. Their parents are lost at sea — in a beautifully balletic scene — and the girls grow up with Elsa’s coronation day approaching. But she’s kept herself locked in her room all those years, leaving Anna to communicate with her through the door … with little response. On the big day, Anne meets Prince Hans and immediately falls in love, and he with her to the point that he asks for her hand in marriage. When Elsa emerges for the coronation, terrified that the people will learn of her powers and see her as a monster, she manages to control things until Anna and Hans ask for her blessing to marry. Elsa is shocked that Anna is moving so fast and when it all becomes too much she lashes out with her powers, causing an instant freeze to fall upon the kingdom of Arendelle. Needing to find her sister, Anna leaves Hans in charge of Arendelle and she ventures out into the icy world, meeting Kristoff and his reindeer Sven, and the living snowman Olaf — as well as other denizens of the area — along the way. But some people are not what they seem, and Elsa may not want Anna’s help but is she willing to let her people freeze to death or will she just ‘let it go’ and accept who she is?
I’ve seen a few of the Disney theatrical productions — Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin — and each one is more grand than the last. I don’t think anything can top the magic carpet ride in Aladdin (at least in the original version of the tour), but for sheer spectacle Frozen is very close. Christopher Oram’s scenic and costume designs are jaw-dropping. The sets just look so huge (and the company travels with 27 trucks full of set, props, lighting and other technical needs. From the interior of the castle to the snow covered mountains to Elsa’s ice palace, everything is magnificent. Natasha Katz’s lighting design is perfection and used to great effect when the ‘hidden people’ are introduced, coming out of the darkness with just glowing eyes visible. It was actually a bit creepy. Everything is brilliantly augmented with Finn Ross’ video designs and Jeremy Chernick’s special effects that magically animate ice and snow across the stage, at one point turning an entire group of people into a large chunk of ice, a genius combination of costumes, lighting and effects. The sound design by Peter Hylenski was perfection. And the puppets — Olaf and Sven, designed by Michael Curry. I have three words: Oh. My Gosh. The Olaf puppet is operated on stage by Jeremy Davis, and thanks to the construction of the puppet and Davis’ performance, you quickly forget Davis is even there standing right behind Olaf. Olaf truly becomes a living character and not paying attention to the operator is a testament to everyone’s work on bringing the character to life. Sven is another masterful creation that makes you wonder exactly how the creature works. At our performance, Sven was operated by Collin Baja inside the suit, basically doing a plank position for the entire show and walking on stilts for his hands and special footwear that literally keeps him on his toes. Baja also operates Sven’s ears and eyes, but really make the reindeer … real, doing nice little movements with the back legs. The moment where Sven curls up with Kristoff is sure to melt your heart. I’m going to use this word again, but Baja’s performance was nothing short of brilliant. And you’ll never see the man inside the suit so clap extra loud when he takes his bow at the end.
Matthew Murphy
The cast for Frozen is one of the largest I’ve seen in a while with a huge ensemble taking on several roles throughout the show that necessitate many costume changes. These people have real stamina because our performance was the second of the day. I’d have been done physically after the first act of the first show! The girls who play young Elsa and Anna (Sydney Elise Russell and Norah Nunes at our performance, with Erin Choi and Avelyn Choi at other performances) are terrific and talented. Russell has some pipes on her, and Nunes is a true comedienne. Jack Brewer is a hoot as Oaken, who opens the second act, a shopkeeper who is trying to sell his Summer gear at a discount due to the unexpected and very early arrival of Winter. Tyler Jimenez and Taylor Marie Daniel are wonderful as Pabbie and Bulda, the presumed leaders of the ‘hidden people’ who are called upon to heal Anna, and Evan Duff is a hoot as the Duke of Weaselton … I mean Weselton. Will Savarese brings layers to the role of Hans, awkward at first, giddy in love with Anna, forceful when taking charge of Arendelle, and … well, no spoilers, but if you know, you know (feel free to boo him at the curtain call — he loves it!). Dominic Dorset is also charming as Kristoff, and he is so endearing that you root for him to win Anna’s heart away from Hans.
So let’s talk about the princesses. For a show that is ostensibly about Elsa, she really gets much less stage time than Anna. But Maryland native Caroline Bowman makes the most of every moment she’s on that stage, delivering Elsa’s signature with such power and raw emotion that it brought tears to the eyes of many in the audience seeing the cartoon princess brought vividly to life through Bowman’s performance. And Bowman really makes you care for Elsa and her plight, her guilt in hurting her sister when they were children, her fear that she will gravely injure Anna or anyone else, forcing herself to live alone in her ice palace. But even beneath all that coldness, Bowman is still able to show us Elsa’s heart, and she touched a lot of people in that audience. On the other side of the coin is Lauren Nicole Chapman as Anna. Where Bowman’s Elsa is the regal one, as she should be as Queen, Chapman’s Anna is a real character, almost a Lucille Ball type with her quick wit and physicality. She has a great voice and great comic timing, and while Anna can be a bit more on the goofy side, Chapman still shows us her sisterly love for Elsa, even risking her own life to save Elsa’s. Bowman and Chapman work off of each other very well, and you really do believe they would do anything to help or protect the other.
Matthew Murphy
Truth be told, I really didn’t know what to expect when walking into Frozen. I saw the movie when it was first released, so my memory of it was fuzzy. My biggest concern was whether it was going to be on an epic scale or not. The 2019 Aladdin blew us all away, but the 2023 version was lacking a lot of the magic it once had. As soon as the curtain went up on Frozen and that massive set was revealed I knew we were in for a treat. Add in all of the mind-boggling effects (including a cool costume transformation borrowed from Aladdin), the songs you all know (it was sweet hearing the kids next to me singing along), the direction (Michael Grandage), choreography (Rob Ashford), book (Jennifer Lee), music and lyrics (Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez), and the bravura performances, there is no way you’re going to let this show go. It truly is a theatrical experience for the ages.
Frozen runs about 2 hours 15 minutes with one 20-minute intermission. Disney on Broadway performances are recommended for a general audience. As an advisory to adults who might bring young people, Disney recommends its productions for ages 6 and up. Children under the age of 2 will not be admitted to FROZEN performances.
Frozen runs through June 18 at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre. Other cities on the schedule include Memphis, Columbus Ohio, Rochester, Richmond, Boston, Indianapolis, Washington DC, Hartford CT, Ottawa, Philadelphia, Nashville, Vancouver BC and more. Visit the official website for more information. Use our Ticketmaster link to purchase tickets.
Disney Theatrical Productions
Check our Ticketmaster link for ticket availability.
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