Frozen is a movie that most people around the world have seen or at least heard of. If you have five to ten-year-old children then you can probably sing "Let It Go" word for word. But for those who have (unfortunately) not seen Frozen, it follows two princesses: one who has magical powers, Elsa, and one who does not, Anna. The sisters have been shut out from each other's lives most of their life. When the two sisters are reunited for Elsa's coronation, Elsa loses control of her powers unleashing a harsh winter. Anna journeys out with the help of a talking snowman, a man who sells ice and his best friend reindeer to bring her sister back. A couple of years ago, they turned the movie into a stage musical as was inevitable. The musical has recently finished playing at Her Majesty's Theatre in Melbourne so today I am comparing the original movie to the live stage production.

Frozen is undoubtedly one of the best and most popular Disney movies. Does this mean that Frozen: The Hit Broadway Musical (as it is called) is one of the best and most popular musicals? No, it doesn't. In fact, I would argue that this put more pressure on the creative team to bring to life a movie that is already so loved. A challenge that is always faced when bringing a Disney movie to a live stage is that the movie has already become so iconic and that is something that can be hard to replicate on stage.

Something that I loved about Frozen was that it was so funny. Olaf has to be one of the funniest Disney characters ever created. I rewatched Frozen a couple of hours before seeing the musical so the jokes were fresh in my mind. Because many of these jokes were reused, I didn't laugh as much. Additionally, I had already listened to the whole album so this ruled out many other jokes from being very funny for me. However, these jokes did get a positive reaction from the audience, and although I don't think the delivery was quite as good as the movie, they were still funny.

The highlights for me from the show were the two amazing puppets that were used. Sven and Olaf were both portrayed as puppets and often drew the eye whilst on stage. The puppeteers manipulated the puppets commendably. One thing I loved about Matt Lee, the puppeteer of Olaf, was that he didn't try too hard to replicate Josh Gad's original performance of Olaf. He did such a good job that it didn't matter that he didn't sound like Josh Gad or could move the character as the animators could.

This was unfortunately where most of the show fell short: it was impossible to replicate the original actors' voice performances or for the actors to move in the same way as an animated character. Jemma Rix, who played Elsa, was able to portray the character well because this wouldn't have been a difficult task. I loved Idina Menzel's original performance in Frozen, however, the character doesn't do all that much which made replicating it relatively easy. The actor who played Kristoff was a disappointment and almost seemed like he had never seen Frozen and wasn't trying to replicate Jonathan Groff's performance at all. Other characters such as Anna and Hans did okay but were very hard to compare to the original actors purely because they aren't the original actors.

Something I kept thinking throughout the whole show was what I would have done differently if I were directing the show or acting in it. The main thing that I would have changed would be to copy the original movie as much as possible. This can sometimes be a bad thing when creating remakes, however in this case, I think it was important for a movie as iconic as Frozen. Kids coming to the show who know every song off by heart are expecting the actors to sound a certain way. If I were acting in the show I would have studied the original movie and replicated their voice and movement as much as possible, something that many actors seemed to not have done. 

Frozen: The Hit Broadway Musical is a lighting designer's dream. Certain musicals are perfect for the choreographer, the lead actress or even the drummer. But Frozen: The Hit Broadway Musical was a musical that incorporated so much lighting design and could be spectacular. The lighting designer mostly pulled this off. "Let It Go" was a stand-out number (I'd be disappointed if it wasn't) with some incredible on-stage effects. However, I would have liked to see this spectacle used throughout the rest of the show. As I said earlier, I had already listened to the musical album so already knew and liked the new songs. I was a little disappointed with how a few of my favourite songs were executed and was thinking how I would have done it differently.

One other criticism I had of the musical couldn't be placed on the creative team of that particular performance. It's one that should be placed on the writers of the musical. As much as I love watching it, Frozen is a kids' movie. Therefore, Frozen: The Hit Broadway Musical should have been a kids' musical as well. I do not think the writers succeeded in this. It was a weird mix of common traits in more mature musicals such as solemn songs and slower parts as well as the elements that were clearly aimed at children. As much as a more serious musical may be enjoyed by older musical-goers, this wouldn't be as much fun for children for who the original movie is primarily aimed.

A live-stage musical adaption of a classic Disney movie isn't ever going to be able to compare to the original movie. Frozen: The Hit Broadway Musical wasn't short of entertaining, however, there were multiple aspects that I couldn't help thinking that I would do differently. The new songs and arrangements were fun and I'm sure young children would have enjoyed seeing their heroes in real life, however, I think it could have been slightly more enjoyable for everyone if done differently.

FROZEN (PG)

Director: Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee

Starring: Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff, Josh Gad

Year released: 2013

My rating: 8/10

Compared with...

FROZEN: THE HIT BROADWAY MUSICAL

Director: Michael Grandage

Music and Lyrics by: Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez

Starring: Courtney Monsma, Jemma Rix, Sean Sinclair, Matt Lee

Year debuted (on Broadway): 2018

My rating: 6/10

Review by Tristan Carr

Last edited: 15/05/2022