Disney Frozen Jr

Launched in 2022 Disney Frozen Jr is one of the newest youth musicals to be released.  Indeed I can find only four other NODA societies across the whole country that have performed it so far, so CD Kids are on the ball when it comes to selecting an up to date and moneymaking show.  This choice was justified by the full house, with many children in the audience dressed as their favourite Disney princess.  Decorating the school hall in swathes of ice blue and white fabric with glowing up-lighters of blue and green created a welcome impression and continued the theme displayed on the open stage with its projection of a frosted snowscape.  A raised area upstage was useful to give added height and permit the use of levels to ensure a good view of the cast when the stage was very full.  The addition of screens each side of the proscenium arch meant that the projected media gave a wide panorama of each scene.    Different styles of transition were interesting to watch varying from swirls of snowstorm to slides between castle walls and snowy hills.  Presumably part of the Junior package, together with the recorded music backing tracks, this took a load of the responsibility off the society and meant that the youngsters had most, if not all, of the rehearsal period to establish a security and confidence in the material.   Small pieces gave added detail to some of the scenes; the upper level gave a vantage point for the sisters’ beds, and Elsa’s throne in the Coronation scene, while downstage a palace door took centre stage to indicate the separated rooms, and a well made and decorated Wandering Oaken’s Trading Post truck made a smooth entrance for its brief appearance for Hygge.   All were predominantly moved by the cast members although I did see a stage hand at one point standing out in dark colours against the silver/white cyc.  Using the floor in front of the stage was a good way to indicate the ‘journey’ from Arendelle to the mountains.  

Lighting and Sound: The lighting throughout enhanced the various moods of the narrative and changed in a fluid manner between the scenes.  A glitter ball above the audience threw twinkles of light around the entire hall and gobos of snowflakes furthered the effect of an icy world before the cast made a tidy entrance to tableau in a black out.  Lighting cues appeared to be on time except for the opening of Act Two, when it was apparent that the cast wasn’t ready and the SM had called the ‘Go’ for the music and lights too soon.  A smoky haze diffused the colours in the lighting effectively adding to the atmosphere and giving more depth to the picture. Sadly the sound quality was, to be frank, poor, and frequently resulted in a muffled blur.  This was a combination of the technical equipment, the diction of many of the cast and possibly the acoustics of the hall.  The songs came over more successfully than the dialogue and this may have been partly due to the familiarity of the lyrics and the fact that visual interest took over with movement routines to watch.  There was a comfortable balance between musical backing and vocals and the singing itself was well rehearsed with even the tiniest onstage performer impressively showing knowledge of the words.   The special effect of church bells was a little delayed but the confetti cannons were a great surprise, as they should be, and fitted very well with the excitement of the moments they were used.  

Properties:  The cast handled the props with confidence - the toy Olaf, Kristoff’s sack shoulder bag, and the orb and sceptre and Champagne flutes of the Coronation scene all fitted the story and were appropriate visually, as was Hans’s sword.  The use of ribbons and fabric in the choreography was pleasing with the twirling ribbons successfully echoing the swirls of snow on the projected backing - a very nice touch.  

Hair and Make up:   Wigs were employed to maintain the colouring of the sisters’ hair as they grew from young, to middle to the final incarnation.  They were well fitted to forestall fiddling and the hairlines were well disguised.  Pabbie and Bulda, and the Hidden Folk had startling green headgear that blended into their costumes constructively creating the troll like creatures.  Most commendable was the delightful face paint for Olaf and Sven - minimal enough that facial expressions could be clearly read and yet sufficient to attractively represent the characters.  

Costumes: Such an array of different sets of costume for the ensemble of Townspeople and snow dancers, etc., that it was hard to keep up with recording them all.  The opening Arendelle scene was a joy with beribboned national dance skirts, buttoned waistcoats, lederhosen-style breeches and the named characters instantly recognisable. The King in his splendid naval uniform, the Queen in rich gold and the Bishop excellent in exact copy mitre and robes.  Subsequently we saw the Ensemble in grand ball gowns with the detailed addition of gloves, and the Duke in realistic uniform with epaulettes and medals. Sven was cleverly indicated in an outfit of fur sections; shoulders, wrists, leg warmers, the hem of the kilt and the obligatory antlers - easy to move in and quite sufficient to give us a believable reindeer.  The comedy character Olaf looked charming all in white from the knitted hat, to the black ‘coal’ bobbles and silver shoes.  The In Summer finale to Act One was a brilliant colour-fest of Hawaiian straw skirts and bright shirts among a chorus of gold and silver with red sparkly top hats.  Oaken and his Family’s dungarees, knitted caps, check shirts and braces looked suitably Norwegian.  Taking Elsa off stage for her quick change into the iconic turquoise chiffon worked really smoothly given that you couldn’t do a transformation dress.  The wardrobe department had obviously worked hard to research and supply so many credible outfits for such a large company and were kept busy backstage ensuring that everyone was changed in time for the next scene.  

Choreography:  The company numbers were energetically on the go with plenty of armography and simple patterns of movement that could be performed without difficulty and there were interesting and constantly changing formations made to engage the eye.  Despite not having Disney’s special effects budget the Snow Chorus managed a neatly synchronised ‘freeze’ gesture that aptly conveyed the icy blast caused by Elsa’s magic and was always on time.  The Coronation allowed for courtly ballroom dances with partners to be presented in a befitting fashion - but I’m not sure where a can can kick line fits in with Nordic tradition!  Nevertheless, it drew much applause from the audience who were greatly entertained by it.  

Direction:  This junior musical is a very short show but you managed to pack in a lot of detail with a full sized and bustling cast.  The months of rehearsal paid off because the words were secure in dialogue and song, and the movement routines performed confidently.  One thing that the company might like to work on, as well as diction, is basic stagecraft so that they know to talk out in the direction of the audience and not straight to each other across the stage.   ‘Cheating’ gives observers a good sightline of their faces unobscured by hair or headdress and allows a degree of lip reading to supplement the sound system.  There were several occasions when characters stood in straight lines at the side of the stage completely masking those further upstage; an angled line gives a view of all.   Use of the levels on stage and incorporating the floor of the hall gave you plenty of scope for moving the cast around and they all displayed a discipline in being where they should be on time - their arrival at the start in a black out was quiet and controlled.  Apart from the unfortunate start of Act Two the pace was maintained by the performers and the energy and enjoyment was infectious. 

 I had a very enjoyable evening watching the showand thank you for inviting NODA.  The response of the enthusiastic audience will have told you that it was a great success so congratulations to all involved.  

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