Frozen the musical
Melting hearts on Broadway
Frozen St James Theatre, New York
Anna and Elsa’s sisterly love and loyalty helped make Frozen a phenomenon the world over. And the creators of this giddily anticipated Broadway musical demonstrate the same devotion to the original 2013 film (currently the top-grossing animated film of all time).
They play it safe. While the film was Disney’s non-traditional take on the time-honoured princess tale – with spirited sisters finding their way back to each other instead of marrying handsome princes – this is not a daring reinvention of the material, but a repackaging of the film for the stage.
It’s the surest way to please the film’s faithful fans. Although darker than its predecessor in tone and design (sets and costumes are by Olivier award-winner Christopher Oram), this new Frozen is brisk and entertaining for most of its two hours and 20 minutes, with the same characters who won the hearts of filmgoers brought to threedimensional life.
But where the film gave us action sequences and a frosted animated landscape, this solidly staged production from
British director Michael Grandage and choreographer Rob
Ashford offers additional songs – 12 of them – from the husband-and-wife songwriting team of Kristen Anderson-lopez and Robert Lopez. The musical’s book, by Jennifer Lee, who wrote and co-directed the film, has much of the same dialogue, but occasionally demonstrates a more openly feminist outlook.
“Nothing good can come from magic, especially in the hands of a woman,” proclaims one character. Don’t worry: he’ll soon be kneeling before the Queen.
And towards the end, Elsa even dons a more practical (but decidedly fashionable) pair of trousers, a first for a Disney stage princess. For the uninitiated (assuming such a thing exists in this case), Frozen was inspired by the Hans Christian Andersen fairytale The Snow Queen.
It’s the story of two sister princesses, one with ice-making powers. They’re close as can be until Elsa accidentally harms her younger sibling Anna while playing. Anna’s memory is erased, their parents separate them, and the girls come of age with Elsa hiding her abilities and Anna not understanding her sister’s avoidance. It’s when the newly crowned Queen Elsa is overwhelmed by her magic and unintentionally turns summer into winter before fleeing the kingdom of Arendelle that this stage show comes alive. Played by a vivacious Patti Murin, Anna sets off to bring her sister home, joining forces with iceman Kristoff (Jelani Alladin) and his reindeer Sven (played by an actor hidden in full creature costume).
By contrast, the goofy, hug-loving snowman Olaf is a large puppet voiced and manipulated by the fully visible Greg Hildreth. Caissie Levy’s Elsa, really a supporting character in terms of stage time, gets added heft from a couple of the new songs; the pondering Dangerous to Dream and power ballad Monster, in which she briefly wonders if the world would be better off without her.
Certainly, just as Elsa and Anna’s relationship was key to the film’s success, much of the musical’s appeal can be found in the enchanting pairing of Murin and Levy: they make the sisters relatable, endearing and fun.
Appropriately, it’s with the first-act closer Let It Go, the Oscar-winning song that has become an anthem for self-empowerment, that Levy hits the rafters, and the crowd goes wild.
Like Wicked, another musical with two strong young female leads, Frozen will most likely burn up Broadway for years to come.
Booking until Dec 30. Tickets: frozenthemusical.com