Jennifer Lee’s ‘Frozen’ fame is just part of her fairy tale
You can take the girl out of Rhode Island, but even the bright lights of Hollywood and the glitter of Disney can’t take the yearning for clam chowder or a fishing trip with dad out of the girl.
Don’t believe it? Meet Jennifer Lee. The East Providence High School graduate who has parlayed a life-long love of fairy tales into a magical, if demanding, job as the first female chief creative officer for Walt Disney Animation Studios, wonders what the replacement high school looks like in East Providence and dreams about being in her favorite room in the world – the music room at The Breakers.
In the meantime, she’s continuing to build a legacy of blockbuster projects, including the Broadway production of “Frozen,” whose North American tour is at Providence Performing Arts Center through March 17. She not only wrote the book for the play, she headed the creative team penning – and co-directing – the Oscar-winning movie in 2013.
But she still laughs at the suggestion that her life has been somewhat princess-like – saying she “may be the most disheveled one out there” – although she concedes she couldn’t have envisioned this success when watching and rewatching a VHS tape of “Cinderella” each day after being bullied in school.
“I have Cinderella drawings – about 15 showing her dress transformation – on the wall in my office. They’re symbolic. No matter what you go through – having no friends, being that ADHD kid who feels you can’t quite piece things together – Cinderella stayed true to herself. Life can evolve and life can change,” Lee says.