By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
This older male arts writer is not the target audience for “Frozen.” Nor were my grown children when the Disney hit was released in 2013. And my four-month-old granddaughter has a ways to go before she discovers Disney princesses.
But the Thursday night performance of “Frozen: The Musical” at the Stranahan there were plenty of little Elsas and Annas cavorting about the venue in tulle and sparkles to remind us for whom that original animated movie was created. As young as some were (though it wasn’t just the little ones dressed up) they were riveted to the end, undeterred by the all the musical numbers added into the story.
The American Theater Guild’s touring edition of “Disney Frozen: The Hit Broadway Musical” is on stage at the Stranahan Theater in Toledo, tonight (Friday, April 12) at 8 p.m., Saturday, April 13 at 2 and 8 p.m., and Sunday at 1 and 6:30 p.m. Click for tickets or call 419-381-8851 ext. 1.
The story of “Frozen” is magical in itself, and now that’s amplified by the magic of live theater.
This was not just projected on a screen. It is live and unfolding before our eyes. The awe was evident when the curtain rose on the castle in Arendelle. We watch young Elsa (Savannah Lumar) and Anna (Emma Origenes) playing. “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” Anna begs. And as the last deliciously rich chord of the finale faded that sense of wonder it was still strong.
How could it not be? We witnessed a flash of light transform Elsa (Caroline Bowman) from a somber newly crowned queen into a dazzling ice queen who accepts her magical powers as her voice soars as she sings the show’s signature song “Let It Go”?
The plot forms the superstructure for the spectacle.
An accident during play frightens the girls’ parents (Katie Maiko Murray and Kyle Lamarr Mitchell). They isolate the sisters from each other and the outside world. The dynamic of the story is about the sisters’ relationship. The pursuit of the handsome prince is a red herring.
Anna, who has no memory of her near fatal encounter with her sister’s magic, is confused by Elsa’s distance and by the castle’s being closed off from the outside world.
The grown Anna (Lauren Nicole Chapman) does find her prince, Hans (Preston Perez). In fairy-tale fashion she instantly falls in love with him. Elsa, being more levelheaded, objects to such a sudden union. In the argument with Anna, Elsa accidentally unleashes her powers, revealing her secret, and flees, unaware that she has put the kingdom in a deep freeze.
Anna with the help of the ice merchant Kristoff (played on Thursday by Reese Britts in place of Nicholas Edwards) heads to the North Mountain to find her sister.
They encounter freezing temperatures, steep climbs, and various colorful characters, none of which do much to advance the plot, but are excuses for more rousing song and dance.
Puppetry and costuming bring the beloved animated characters Sven, the reindeer, and Olaf, the snowman, to life adding their comic shtick.
A further misunderstanding between the sisters leaves Anna with ice in her heart, which can only be thawed by “an act of true love.” Kristoff, who has himself fallen in love with her, hurries her back to Hans for love’s true kiss.
But “Frozen” is not frozen into the cliches of the past, and that true love isn’t what it has been.
After more technical wizardry in which we watch as Anna and a crowd of citizenry gradually freeze before our eyes, the truth is revealed. The eternal winter is lifted. Elsa assumes her role as queen. Anna gets her charming ice merchant. And a lot of youngsters have experienced the magic of live theater.
