Katherine Woodford as Elsa in Frozen. Photo by Shotbykearns Photography.
I had a special experience at The Savoy Theatre in Glace Bay on Saturday afternoon seeing Michelle Langille’s production of Disney’s Frozen there. I have lots of experience going to see musicals and plays like this that are aimed, certainly in large part, at a demographic much younger than me, and I do always try to take stock in the audience while I am at theatre for younger audiences to try to gauge whether they are having a similar or different experience than I am. Saturday in Glace Bay was one of the first times that I was able to bring my own little gauge with me, my three year old niece Bridgette, and I had an utterly magical experience watching this production through her awed eyes.
Disney’s Frozen is the musical version of their extraordinarily popular 2013 film of the same name with music and lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez and a book by Jennifer Lee. It is very loosely based on the 1844 Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale “The Snow Queen.” The two young princesses of Arendelle, Anna and Elsa, love playing together until an accident occurs. It is revealed that Elsa was born with magic powers which can prove dangerous to those she loves as she doesn’t know how to control this magic. Seeking to protect Anna from Elsa, the sisters end up spending the rest of their childhoods lonely and isolated from one another until Elsa’s coronation day when they are suddenly reunited. At the same time Anna, who has never experienced anything beyond her castle’s locked gate, meets a charming Prince and thinks her real life’s adventure is about to begin with him, when suddenly Elsa accidentally throws the kingdom into icy chaos. Anna is determined to discover the secret to Elsa’s elusive powers and to protect her at all costs.
I have seen this musical and the movie that it is based on numerous times and it is one of my very favourite Walt Disney stories because it really centres on the relationship between these two sisters and explores that while they have well intentioned love and care for each other they have to learn how to communicate with each other in a clear and honest way. The musical expands on the film a little bit giving most of the characters more opportunity to sing, which is a bonus for Disney adults and older kids, but does stretch the run time for younger kids to about two and a half hours (including the intermission). Frozen is Bridgette’s favourite movie and she watched the filmed West End musical version which is available to stream on Disney+ so she was familiar with this version, and she sat transfixed for the entire show. Don’t be too daunted by the run time especially if you have a very ardent Frozen fan in your household.
We begin by being introduced to Princess Elsa and Princess Anna as children played by Friane Gouthro and Siobhan MacDonald respectively. MacDonald really beautifully captures Anna’s mischievous playful exuberance, and she really channels the very distinctive “Young Kristen Bell” voice that Katie Lopez has in the film. Gouthro really paints Young Elsa as anxiety-riddled and desperate to have a normal childhood. Terrance Murphy plays their father, the King, who is kindhearted with Elsa but also firm and authoritative- stressing that there is no room in their lives for her to make a mistake with her magic, which only fuels her stress and terror even more. Gouthro and MacDonald beautifully mirror Katherine Woodford and Breagh Kelly who play their adult counterparts. Woodford’s Elsa is regal, cautious and very reserved, but Woodford allows her a few moments of unbridled joy when she and Anna are together at the Coronation, which makes both the audience and Anna fall in love with her and want to see her find her happily ever after. Kelly is a beam of sunshine as the earnest and profoundly naïve Anna who always wears her heart on her sleeve. Both actors have extraordinary powerful voices that absolutely do these huge Disney ballads justice.
I was especially struck by Ian Furlong who plays Prince Hans. If you have never seen Frozen Furlong does not give you any hints about the trajectory of his character whatsoever- allowing for the possibility for people to be genuinely surprised. Ciarán MacGillivray was born to play Kristoff, the grumpy ice harvester with the heart of gold who helps Anna find Elsa’s ice kingdom.
Two of the most magical aspect of this production for both the young and the young at heart are the puppets. Kristoff’s pet Sven the reindeer and Elsa’s snowman Olaf both look like they wandered out of the Disney’s film, walked through the snowy streets of Glace Bay, and came into the Savoy to get warm. Sven looks so soft and cuddly, I was surprised there weren’t any kids trying to get up on the stage to pet him or try to ride him. He was puppeteered deftly by Kiera Evely- his wiggling antlers are a real highlight. As in the film Kristoff voices imagined musings for the otherwise silent Sven. Terrance Murphy brings Olaf to vibrant life, both puppeteering and doing the voice. Murphy is excellent at capturing the essence of Olaf’s very specific voice, but even more importantly he really nails the way his personality is expressed in both cadence and movement. I was also really impressed with the way Murphy moved Olaf’s mouth and really gave the allusion of him enunciating.
Mark Delaney is delightful as Oaken, the very Norwegian trading post owner who teaches Anna, Kristoff and Olaf about the benefits of hygge. Conversely, Paul Gatchell is genuinely menacing as Weselton, the weasely duke of a neighbouring country, which, again like with Furlong, doesn’t assume that everyone in the theatre already knows the story.
I liked how Michelle Langille kept a balance between grounding this production in the familiarity of the film- especially knowing that the theatre will be filled with children who often like their stories to be presented in the expected way, but also choosing a few moments to allow the actors to make the characters their own. Also, given a huge production and a tight budget she does well at knowing how to prioritize what is going to be the most iconic and the most magical, especially for the children. Cynthia and Andrea Vokey have choreographed some really charming numbers that also help to really root the story in its source material. Shout out to Olivia Hunter who was really rocking it in “Fixer Upper.”
Coming from Halifax, of course, I need to marvel over the size of the band for this show- they have eleven musicians in the pit led by musical director extraordinaire Stephen Muise. It makes such a difference having the music in all its fullness and its nuance come to life like that. All of the music is excellent, but when Woodford and Kelly sing together in “I Can’t Lose You” they sound especially incredible and really like sisters.
TWISI Jr. Review by Bridgette, Age 3: I loved everyone in the play. My favourite part was the music and singing. Weselton was crazy-wazy. Why wasn’t there a little Kristoff and Baby Sven like in the movie?
I was so tempted to just watch Bridgette through the whole show because even though she knows this story backwards forwards and upside down her experience at The Savoy was vividly real to her. She was transported to Arendelle and was relishing in being in the same room with all of these people she loves so much. Her extreme joy and wonder filled me with extreme joy and reminded me of the power theatre has, especially when it’s new, when it’s novel, and when you haven’t gotten used to how inherently magical it is. It is now Wednesday and Bridgette is still talking about how much she loved seeing Frozen. I hope every kid who got to see the show during its run in Glace Bay had as memorable an experience as Bridgette did. I know I will never forget it.
Frozen at The Savoy Theatre in Glace Bay has closed.
