Frozen jr

I have been out of action for several months, so what better way was there for me to get back into things than by watching Pleasure Folk Juniors production of Disney’s “Frozen Jr”. With music and Lyrics written by Kristen Anderson Lopez and Robert Lopez from a book by Jennifer Lee and based on the very popular Disney film of the same name, which in turn was based on Hans Christian Andersen’s, The Snow Queen, however this story isn’t as dark and evil, but still deals with the death of parents and the estrangement of two sisters who, unfortunately and unintentionally, do harm to each other emotionally and physically, for example - when Elsa strikes a fatal shard of ice into Anna’s heart. Happily, in the end, they save each other with love and the adventuring fairytale spirit. It’s lovely to see a show with two female leads, where romantic love takes a back seat to sisterly love and affection.

The production was all under the direction of Gemma Briscoe with choreography by Liz Wainwright. The story follows the same lines as the film which means there are some very well-known characters in the show where the expectation of the audience is probably already established, however, happily Gemma had at her disposal some very talented performers who rose to the occasion and really got into the spirit of their characters and the production as a whole. All the cast, principles, chorus, dancers, and musicians worked together to produce an excellent and very enjoyable production, which I am sure all lovers of the film would really enjoy. Like the film we see the two central characters, sisters Elsa and Anna at three different stages in their lives as they grow up and I thought the relationship between the sisters was captured beautifully through childhood and adulthood. This meant we had six different performers in the roles of Anna and Elsa. Firstly, we had Mia Beqo as young Anna and Scarlet Simm as young Elsa, both gave us a lovely interpretation of the sisters’ contrasting personalities, producing enjoyable performances. They were followed by Erin Oakley as middle Anna with Eden Wainwright as middle Elsa who effectively and seamlessly carried on the illusion that they were the same girls growing up. Finally, we were introduced to grown up Anna excellently played by Liv Salters, who was spot on with the spirit of Anna’s character bold, lovable and goofy. Liv was able to maintain it throughout the performance which was very important as this role is central to the story and needs to be played by a strong performer. We also meet grown-up Elsa played by the talented Emily Mayne who produced an excellent characterization, she was able to show the sadness within Elsa as she tells us about the hideous magic within her. Emily has a lovely singing voice, and she had the job of singing the iconic song “Let it Go” a responsibility she carried out beautifully and confidently which was well received by the audience. 

Then we have the three very popular iconic comedic characters from the film who Anna meets on her quest to find her sister and who become friends. They were Kristof, Anna’s sidekick very well played by Alex Sheeran who complemented Liv in her role with Charlie Geldart as Sven the reindeer and Joel Morley as Olaf the snowman. All three produced nice comedic characterizations which were enjoyable. There was also a confident Jack Elder who showed very good acting skills as the diabolical and scheming Prince Hans who Anna falls for on their first meeting and leaves in charge of Arandell.

Other important roles and good performances came from Ciara Kirwan as King Agnarr and Eve McBride as Queen Iduna, with Isla Graham as Pabbie and Meg Clark as Bulda. There was also Darcy Main as Weselton, Ben Auriac as the Bishop and Toby Wainwright as Oaken. All the cast worked together, there were no weak links, and all supported each other very well. Generally, there was some very good acting and lovely singing. Dialogue was clear so the story could be easily followed and there were some very good American accents.

The chorus were strong and they all seemed to be enjoying themselves while supporting the principle cast excellently with some very nice singing and good movement - there was lots of energy on the stage. I liked the way the dancers were used to convey Elsa’s Ice Magic by skillfully performing effective and lovely choreography by Liz Wainwright.

Just one small constructive observation concerning scenery - in the script the cast were talking about Arandelle being covered with ice and snow when there wasn’t any transformation with snow or ice in the town - although I thought the mountain scene and the making of the ice castle were very effective with the use of triangles which lit up, all made by Gemma while she was on holiday.

I must say well done to both Ciara McEntee, vocal Coach and First Time Musical Director Marley Ellis- Brennan and the other members of the band Nancy Wells and Dante Campolucci-Bordi who all played very well.

Stage Manager Michael Chambers and the stage crew appeared to work well with smooth scene changes. The sound and lighting were very efficient and enhanced the performance and action on stage. The costumes were once again excellent, bright and colourful - a great deal of effort must have gone into getting them just right like the film, which I am sure made the younger members of the audience happy as there were many Elsa’s and Anna’s all dressed up as their favorite character. I am sure they were not disappointed as the costumes were as expected.

Congratulations to everyone involved in this lovely excellent production both on stage, backstage and front of house, my friend and I had a wonderful afternoon as did the audience. Thank you for inviting us.

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