Nineteenth century Norway isn’t exactly embodied in the Children’s Theatre Company’s production of “Frozen.”
I’m not sure about your historic knowledge of the Victorian era, but the show has talking snowmen, ice queens and trolls, so anything goes.
The Children’s Theatre quickly nabbed the rights to put on “Frozen” after the Disney musical’s Broadway tour closed in fall 2024 after a five-year (minus COVID-19) run.
In case you are one of the show’s trolls and literally live under a rock, the animated film that the musical is based on released in 2013 and grossed a casual $1.28 billion. The 2019 sequel did an even sturdier $1.45 billion.
Naturally, Disney adapted the first film into a Broadway show that opened in 2018, which would probably still be running now if COVID-19 didn’t completely shut it down in 2020.
The musical version has more-or-less the same plot as the film, plus a couple of foot-tapping songs like “What Do You Know About Love?” and “Monster.” Here’s the rundown: sisters and princesses of Arendelle Anna and Elsa are as close as can be until Elsa’s mysterious ice powers separate the two for Anna’s own safety. Thus ensues a charming adventure as Anna tries to get through to Elsa, who is anxiety-ridden about her powers and has taken on the throne as queen (did I mention they become orphans?).
The Children’s Theatre’s production, directed by Tiffany Nichole Greene, is original, and the show takes the few liberties it can to warrant that title.
For one, the wig designs of both the younger and older versions of Anna and Elsa are much more cartoonish than the Broadway version. This may seem like picking at small sticks here, but Gillian Jackson Han’s Hillary Clinton-esque Elsa wig is so big for her head that I just have to let everyone know about it.
Julia Ennen’s wig as Anna is fiery red, compared to the more realistic strawberry-blonde of the film. Which wouldn’t even be that bad if the production hadn’t changed her infamous coronation dress into a hue of potent purple. It’s giving Fiona from “Shrek the Musical.”
Ari Fulton’s costume design gives the bold and bright colors to the main characters (Prince Hans’ blue-and-orange costume combination is particularly diabolical) and leaves the muted tones and realistic-to-the period silhouettes to the ensemble. I’m guessing Fulton made this choice to better delineate the main characters and ensemble members of the show, especially because the company’s main audience is children, but given the amount of them that showed up in Elsa and Anna costumes to my showing; they already know that.
The juxtaposition just doesn’t work, especially when compared to some more fantastical elements of the musical, like in “Fixer Upper” when the entire ensemble dresses up in holographic green to portray trolls. Are we going for realism or not?
My last gripe with the production’s creative choices lies in the makeup design. Or complete lack thereof, because there’s no one in the program listed for hair, wig or makeup design.
Makeup design isn’t something we normally notice when it comes to theater, unless some characters completely aren’t wearing any. I can confidently write this about the majority of the male-presenting ensemble members. This isn’t normally a big deal in small productions in smaller theaters, but the Children’s Theatre’s UnitedHealth Group Stage is a traditional proscenium stage with bright lights, and the house seats almost 750 people. Thus, every cast member, regardless of gender, at least needs to apply some blush and to fill in their eyebrows so they don’t look like a muddled thumb from the very back of the theater.
The production otherwise does what it needs to do to get the oh-so-familiar story and music across. Ennen as Anna and Matthew Hall as Kristoff are particularly delightful and have great chemistry and comedic timing together.
Jackson Han does what she can with Elsa’s limited character development and cold (no pun intended) personality throughout the show. The character is one of the heavier lifts in the show because of its two notoriously high-belting solos, “Let it Go” and “Monster.” To make matters worse, Elsa is originally voiced by Broadway’s original mezzo belter, Idina Menzel, and “Let it Go” closes the curtain to Act 1 just like “Defying Gravity” does in “Wicked.”
Jackson Han’s “Let it Go” could’ve been more grand, and I wish I could comment on her “Monster,” but just as Jackson Han gets to the song’s belty climax, at least three loud fog machines completely drown out her voice to create the scene of a winter blizzard.
Another pitfall is the Nordic romp “Hygge,” which the Broadway adaptation unfortunately didn’t cut. Its completely for-comedy setup interrupts the high-stakes drama of Act 2.
As always, the company’s set design rivals that of a Broadway tour. The simple set of the wooden interior of Arendelle Castle works and embodies designs from the film. The puppets of Sven and Olaf are perfectly designed, and Laura Marie as the latter is fabulously hilarious.
Overall, “Frozen” is a grab-bag of odd creative choices, but will be perfectly sufficient for superfans, Disney adults and kids. It’s not terrible to sit through as someone who falls into none of those categories, but I wouldn’t want to do it again.
“Frozen” runs at the Children’s Theatre Company through June 15, 2025.
Anya Capistrant-Kinney can be reached at capi2087@stthomas.edu.
