Frozen The West End Musical

Co-op Juniors had produced another wonderful show much to the delight of this packed house at the Wolsey and all the numerous young children, many of whom had come dressed in their Frozen costumes.

The scene opens with King Agnarr (Sam Cocksedge) and Queen Iduna (Poppy Young), along with their daughters, Young Elsa (Aurelie Edwards) and Young Anna (Matilda Borrett), as we discover Elsa’s hidden powers and see her flee the palace. Years later, we meet Anna again, now played by Mia Brewer, as she sets off to find her sister. Mia gives a beautifully engaging performance, capturing Anna’s warmth and lovable spirit, and matches it with a fabulous singing voice. Meanwhile, Elsa has grown into a solitary figure, now played by Amillia-Mae Boyle, who brings strength to the role and delivers her songs magnificently.

Kit Widdup gives an impressively confident performance as Kristoff, showing real talent and stage presence. Sven the reindeer, performed by Jacob Richer, and Annabel Mott as Olaf the snowman are both perfectly delightful characters with unforgettable performances from both. They looked absolutely brilliant, and it was no surprise to read that Dave Borthwick had a hand in creating these puppet characters together with Oliver Brett. Puppetry is not easy to handle and was mastered effectively. Hans, Prince of the Southern Isles, is played by Ed Parsons with plenty of charm before the character reveals his true colours. Iris Archard gave a perfectly comical performance as Oaken, the shop keeper. Tobi Pinner and Millie Double are memorable as Pabbie and Bulda, the spiritual leaders of the Hidden Folk whose naturalistic, pagan/forest inspired costumes look striking and add beautifully to the atmosphere of their scenes. The large and talented ensemble all give very professional performances as they sang and danced throughout their musical numbers.

The set looked magical, enhanced by effective lighting by Ashley Cashfield   with special effects including snow and icicles that helped bring the world of Frozen to life. I have already mentioned some of the costumes which all looked fabulous. Elsa’s dress transformation was a credit to the costume supervisors and  all the costumes for such a large cast with so many changes were of a high standard, as one has come to expect from this Company.

Well done to Lucy and Oliver for their inspiring direction and to all their cast and creative team on another very successful show much to the enjoyment of their appreciative audience.

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