Frozen the Musical @ Crown Theatre
Thursday, September 1, 2022
Frozen really needs no introduction. If you don’t already know the characters and story from the Disney movie juggernaut, then you can skip this review and move on. Frozen the Musical is one for the fans. Your son or daughter will love it. Parents will love it because their kids love it. The rest of us can save our hard-earned theatre budget for a more original production.
The first act was a wonderfully old-fashioned style of theatre, with drop sets, traditional chorus numbers, costume changes hidden under the ensemble, and character monologue songs. The traditional style fitted well with the Scandinavian culture celebrated in the early township scenes, including a maypole and flowing skirts. For a young child’s first theatre encounter, it seems fitting to start with a traditional experience.
The audio-visual technologies that have become synonymous with modern musicals are saved for the magical moments. The contrast of traditional theatre with the sparkles and explosions of Elsa’s magic is very well thought out directorial division. Quick fact: There are 75 million individual video pixels used throughout the set to ‘freeze’ over the whole set from floor to ceiling – the tiles are the second smallest used in the world and are the size of your pupil.
The favourite songs from the film were wonderfully executed. The little girls were adorable with Do You Want to Build a Snowman? Parents will easily identify the cheeky second child in Anna contrasted with the more responsible first-born Elsa. Anna and Hans’ duet of Love is an Open Door was equally adorable with awkward flirting, performed by Courtney Monsma and Thomas McGuane. Of course, Elsa (played by Jemma Rix) sparkled in Let It Go, hitting all the important lines (“the cold never bothered me anyway”) and incredible high notes. As you would expect with a production of this standard, the vocals of the leads and ensemble was impeccable. Rix held her vocal power back until Let it Go, and then -pow!
The musical includes new songs and extra scenes. The extra content explored the characters’ intentions, such as the parents’ helping young Elsa practice her emotional control, elder Elsa reflecting on the restrictions of position, or Prince Hans’ feelings of inadequacy as the thirteenth son. An unexpected highlight was the tribe of forest folk (trolls in the film version) whose songs felt warm and lively.
For all the positives above, there were significant negatives that let it down. With such a well-known storyline it is difficult to build suspense, so the first act did seem to drag. The acting felt mask-like, with nothing really pulling you in to build the crucial emotional connections to the character. While one can appreciate the scale and effort of the creative team, there was nothing ground-breaking to write home about. Be prepared that with a young audience you will have more disruption than usual. The audience around us became restless by the second act, including crying and a little voice shouting “I’m so tired.”
Frozen the Musical is a spectacular first theatre experience for children. Not much substance for the rest of us.
MELISSA MANN
Photos by Lisa Tomasetti
