Disney Frozen JR

On an appropriately chilly night 51 members of the school, from ages 8-13, transported us to the fictional kingdom of Arendelle and told us the tale of two sisters Elsa and Anna as they grew up and of the people they encountered along the way. Good use was made of a video wall to represent the various locations of the action with the addition of a few pieces of simple set added as in the girl’s bedroom at the palace. Abbie-Dottie Gray and Olivia Stewart were a strong pairing as Young Anna and Young Elsa respectively as they introduced us to the sisters in the number “A Little Bit of You”. We were then introduced to the Middle Anna and Middle Elsa, again strongly played by Ruby Hay and Emma Smith respectively and all four gave a delightful rendition of “Do You Want to Build a Snowman”. Rebecca Paul played the head-strong teenage Anna showing good acting skills and a strong singing voice. Zach Twigger as Prince Hans was another strong actor portraying equally well the characters good and evil sides. His duet with Anna “Love is an Open Door” was well sung. Ellie Newlands was outstanding as Elsa with a commanding presence on stage suited to a Queen and her powerful rendition of “Let It Go” was a show stopper. Much of the humour in the piece was carried by Hugh Keenan as ice harvester Kristoff and his faithful talking reindeer Sven played by Dylan Young – he must have been exhausted carrying the huge reindeer mask around – and their duet “Reindeer(s) Are Better Than People” was a crowd pleaser. The comedy plaudits however go to the excellent Alice Wemyss as Olaf the talking, singing and dancing Snowman making him the audience’s favourite. Strong support was given by the diminutive Lucas Kirkham as Duke Weselton, Callan Massey as King Agbar, Kara Wallis as Queen Iduna and Ella Robertson as Oaken who along with her Oakens ensemble gave a lovely upbeat rendition of “Hygge”. The singing and movement by the large chorus of Oakens, Townspeople, Summer Folk and Hidden Folk in the ensemble numbers was always excellent. The costumes were colourful and appropriate to the characters. Well done everyone on a great show.

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