Frozen Jnr

This sparkling show was performed before an audience knee deep in Elsa’s so the atmosphere was bound to be electric. We knew all the words so anticipation was high!

Harry Carnaby and Charlie Staunton have, once again, shaped their very young cast into a magical show and the confidence shown from everyone was wonderful. I can only imagine what the back stage organisation must have been like to deliver each chorus number and cast member to the stage on time and in the correct costume. Well done to the backstage crew and chaperones, the whole show was seamless smooth.

The set was simple but very effective with beautiful back projections and LED lights framing the acting space. The lights for the ice scenes were spectacular and the sound track was, at first, a little loud but soon mellowed into supporting the dialogue and singing.

I was treated to the purple cast on the day I visited and I just want to say how much I enjoyed all the performances especially to each incarnation of Annas and Elsas. My apologies for not mentioning everyone but I must pick out a few. The Elsas were Little Elsa, Ava Lewis, Middle Elsa, Freya Singh and grown-up Elsa, Ella Simons. Ava and Freya gave very confident performances and sang well. Ella was a lovely grown-up Elsa and carried those big songs fabulously well. It all built up to the amazing ‘Let it go’ which, not only was sung incredibly powerfully by Ella, but was accompanied by a fantastic array of lighting effects. It really sent shivers down my back and I know all the ‘audience Elsas’ and I were singing along at full throttle as well. That song was treated to all the effects that it deserved…well done to the whole cast and principals involved.

The Annas started with Little Anna, Esme Walker, who is obviously well on the way to being a superstar, Middle Anna, Mia Lansley, and Grown-up Anna played by Erika Church. The song, ‘Do you want to build a Snowman’ was beautifully done by the Annas and Erika showed a lot of talent in her portrayal of Anna especially in Act 2. Ella and Erika’s voices were outstanding throughout. Kristoff, played by Alex Austin, had good stage presence as did Sven played by Dulcie-Eve Nixon.  Olaf, played by Prudence Benjamin, was a bit of a scene stealer. The ‘audience Elsa’s’ and I were very fond of Olaf, the snowman, and the reindeer who I think might have been manipulated by Drew Evans, the show choreographer. I love Drew and Charlie Staunton’s choreography and the whole cast were well drilled and did some lovely modern steps but, more importantly, obviously enjoyed the whole experience.

The costumes and props were spectacular and the whole show ran smoothly and with a huge amount of energy and enthusiasm.

This was such a lovely show with each cast member fully engaged in the storyline and singing and dancing their hearts out. To the creative team of Harry, Charlie and Drew I must just applaud the amount of work and effort that you have devoted to giving these young people an experience that they will never forget.

Well done to all the cast and crew of Frozen Jr. I am so looking forward to your next show.

 

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