Looking to extend some holiday cheer? You can’t do better than take the whole family to see Slow Burn Theatre Company’s magical, brrr…shivery, snowy (bring sweaters – if anything, the suggestive power of winter is real!) production of Disney’s FROZEN: The Broadway Musical. But you need to act fast! This extremely popular show closes on January 4. Happily, because all Slow Burn musicals are mounted in Broward Center’s midsize Amaturo Theater, no seat is too far for a great view of all the magic onstage.
That magic surrounds us as soon as the show opens with “Vuelie” – a series of mystical chants by nature-dwelling elves. Arendelle’s magic-wielding Hidden Folk, all dressed in green, only show themselves when summoned by the good humans they care about. We soon meet two of those humans, sisters, one of whom possesses magical powers as well. Her quest to discover what those powers entail and how to control them for good forms the foundational arc of our story. As an adult viewer, I’m also suddenly aware of a deeper message: Discover your own special gift/power … then make sure you learn how to employ it wisely not only for yourself, but for the world at large.
Loosely inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s 1844 fairy tale, “The Snow Queen,” and based on Disney’s wildly popular 2013 animated film, the live musical version of Frozen (with music and lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez and book by Jennifer Lee) first appeared on Broadway (under direction by Michael Grandage) in 2018. But Disney’s CEO confided that their Theatrical Production division had been considering a staged production from the very beginning, even before the film came out. It’s obviously a perfect fit as all the film’s popular songs are now brilliantly delivered onstage … along with several new ones that deepen our understanding of a character while adding a soupçon of sophistication for the preponderance of adults who’ve become fanatic Disney musical fans.
But based on attendance at last Wednesday’s matinee – where child-to-adult ratios ranged about 50/50 – adults were just as crazy as the kids about what one might consider kiddy scenes. Like watching Olaf the snowman (a segmented puppet expertly manipulated, mirrored and voiced by similarly white-dressed Kalen Eaden). When Olaf made his first magical “live” appearance, one could audibly hear the kids gasp in glee and sit up at full attention. And everyone appreciated Eaden’s superb comedic interpretation. I knew he’d be great, having recently been inordinately impressed by his Clown portrayal in NCP’s The 39 Steps. Now his adorably zany Olaf steals the show whenever he’s onstage. Watching Eaden’s antics alone is worth the price of admission!
But there’s sooo much incredible talent in Frozen – of every age! It’s great that young versions of sisters Anna as a 6-year-old (played by Penelope Martone, 8, at my performance) and Elsa, a pre-teen (played by Blaire DiMisa) immediately follow the opening chants to relate to young audiences (of course, moms and grandmas are instantly smitten, as well). They join their parents, the King (Lovell Rose) and Queen (Allyson Rosenblum), and Townspeople in the opening song, “Let the Sun Shine In.” Then delight us with all the mischief of youth when the girls only pretend to go to sleep, but pop out of bed to build a snowman from parts in their toychest that’s magically endowed with both of their spirits. Their duet, “A Little Bit of Me, A Little Bit of You,” celebrates Olaf’s origin story.
Anna is all spunk, daring, and red-hot, red-headed energy as she repeatedly jumps on her bed and everywhere, insisting her sister make snow magic. The more cautious, older blonde Elsa, who’d been coached to hide her powers (and doesn’t know their limits or how to control them) is far more circumspect. To keep her hands’ “freeze” functions in check, and herself safe from public fears of sorcery, she’d been told to wear gloves at all times and recite the mantra: “Conceal it. Don’t feel it. Don’t let it show.”
Still, she’s no match for her relentless little sister, whom she loves dearly and wishes to please. So, she gives in to “Do You Want to Build a Snowman” and waves her arms to create the snow flurries that bring Olaf to life but also accidentally freezes Young Anna. Her anxious parents call out to the “Hidden Folk” and we watch a sprightly song-and-dance number in which Hidden Folk leaders Pabbie (Jarod Bakum) and Bulda (Kareema Khouri) and Company gather at Anna’s bedside to help reverse the spell. Pabbie informs them that Anna’s lucky she was struck in the head, where he can remove both the spell and her memory of what happened, and not the heart, which is nary impossible to cure.
Why must they grow up so fast? Though, here, we can still catch glimpses of these delightful young girls, dressed as Townspeople, when they join the ensemble in future musical numbers. Both girls exhibited lovely and unique voices, and that uniqueness is carried over when the scene changes and we suddenly meet them as grown young women.
Anna, now played by Kristi Rose Mills, is as independent and feisty as ever with a bit of a twang in her voice (was she channeling Annie Get Your Gun?). She trips and falls over Hans (Milo Alosi), literally and figuratively, who’s “Hans of the Southern Isles,” 13th son of a king, acting completely smitten with Anna. As she is with him, and this fools us as well for isn’t “love at first sight” a perfectly acceptable fairytale motif? It’s finally Coronation Day for her sister Elsa who’s come of age (their parents were lost at sea when they took off in search of a cure for Elsa’s dangerous “condition”). But practical Elsa refuses to give her blessing for a quickie wedding after knowing the guy for only a day.
Another guy who subsequently, secretly, falls for Anna is the young man whose ice cart these two had fallen upon. Kristoff (Jason Ivan Rodriguez) may lack royal blood but is endowed with natural wisdom and virtue from having been raised in the forest by Hidden Folk Pabbie and Bulda. They promote their young man as a match for Anna (because they can tell he’s in love) in “Fixer Upper,” a song that will resonate with many a misaligned couple.
But ice harvester Kristoff is kind and selflessly looks out for Anna, bringing her to a place where she can enjoy a warm sauna and change into practical winter clothing for the journey, as she was still wearing her fancy ballgown when rushing out to find her sister before the angry townspeople, including weaselly Duke Weselton (John Luis Mazuelos), get to her. The duke is leading vigilantes bearing swords and pitchforks to capture the “witch” whose evil powers had condemned the kingdom of Arendelle to an endless winter with temperatures turning colder by the day. (Elsa hasn’t got a clue of this side effect of her attempt to escape the lynch mob.)
Faithfully pulling Kristoff’s cart is a large and cuddly-looking puppet reindeer named Sven whose proficient puppet master is Aaron Atkinson. (Both Sven and Olaf were designed and created by The Rock Shop.) At least in some of the cases we see here, Kristoff has a point when he extols his constant companion in “Reindeer Are Better Than People.” And he has definite opinions about pledging oneself to marry a man one has just met, despite Anna and Hans proclaiming the depth of their feelings earlier in “Love is an Open Door.”
We discover Hans’s true colors in Act II, but all I can say in Anna’s defense is after being secluded in a castle and kept away from her sister for years by a “closed door,” she’d become far too vulnerable to the first man who comes along to “openly” profess his love. Kristoff, who’s been out in the world procuring and selling ice, knows better and sides with Elsa in calling it folly to commit to anyone after knowing them for only a day. He joins Anna in singing as much in “What Do You Know About Love?”
Act I closes with Lea Marinelli as Elsa’s riveting rendition of Frozen’s most iconic number, “Let It Go.” Elsa embraces her powers and creates a magnificent frozen castle of ice as she sings:
“It’s funny how some distance makes everything seem small
And the fears that once controlled me can’t get to me at all.
It’s time to see what I can do
To test the limits and break through.
No right, no wrong, no rules for me
I’m free.”
And we’re in awe as Elsa suddenly appears (through sleight-of-hand theater magic we can’t follow) in a shimmering silver and white gown that suits her majestic ice palace where she’s free to create endless frozen beauty because, as she says, “The cold never bothered me anyhow.”
From a green glen peopled by elves to huge palatial doors that keep some in and others out, to ballroom festivities and moonlit nights … and often in the background a sprinkling of snowflakes or snowstorms glistening with crystal light – impressive scenery is a Slow Burn specialty. As expected, the company uses every trick at their disposal to immerse us in the world of their latest fairytale production. It all comes to life, once again, under the deft, expert direction of company co-founder Patrick Fitzwater, assisted by technical director Timothy S. Dickey and production stage manager Wilhelm Peters. Fantastical, real-looking scenic design by Nikolas Serrano is perfectly set off by Eric Norbury’s lighting design, sound design by Dan Donato, and impressive projection design by Andre Russell.
We enjoy standout performances by actors dressed in standout attire (when you see these outfits, you’ll agree they are a bonus visual treat!) thanks to costume designer extraordinaire Rick Peña with wig design by Patrick Fitzwater. And all those delightful musical numbers are beautifully presented thanks to choreography by Cat Pagano, dance captain Taylor Hilt Mitchell, and keeping the music flowing in perfect time, music director Gianfranco “Gio” Tio.
Speaking of dance numbers, one of my never-to-be-forgotten favorites is the almost naked (they do wear towels where it counts) chorus line of convivial patrons in Act II’s opening, “Hygge.” The number features heavy-Scandinavian-accented Oaken (Michael Materdomini) of Wandering Oaken’s Trading Post & Sauna who’s joined by Kristoff, Anna, Olaf, Family & Friends (much of the company). Oaken is a strange one but he’s a good egg who not only provides warm clothing for Anna, but also gathers provisions for her group’s journey.
