One Disney expert shares their hot take on why the very best version of the story of Frozen is the Frozen Broadway Musical.
Disney Dads know that, every once in a great while, your daughter gets a look in her eye, like maybe you are an extremely clever daddy after all. A fella would go a long way out of his way to get that look. I received one of these rare treats a few days after we saw the first Frozen movie. In fact, I unexpectedly took the children back to the theatre to see it a second time. “How did you know,” my then-tiny daughter said, her eyes shining, “that I wanted to see it again?”
It wasn’t hard to guess. Since the first viewing, the only times she hadn’t been talking about Frozen were when she was singing the songs. So began for us, like many others, a stretch of years in which every car trip was accompanied by the same CD and all Frozen material was consumed in a manner most expedient. Musical short, Christmas special, Disney World meet and greets, games, dolls (posable and plush), and an eventual sequel. All gratefully received, but never with that same, magical look, when she first got to see it again.
Except for that one time…
Frozen: The Broadway Musical
In 2018, word spread that Disney Theatrical Productions was preparing to stage a full musical version of Frozen. With music and lyrics from original creators Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez and book by Jennifer Lee, this was going to have the bona fides from the original creative team. As the opening neared, the show got a lot of press in our hometown of Hamilton, Ontario. The role of Elsa was to be played by Cassie Levy, a local girl who had grown up to be a star of the Broadway stage.
A hometown hero playing her favorite character in her best-loved story ever? How could we resist? Plans were made, and our Disney holiday changed from the usual long drive to Orlando to a train to New York City and a date at the St. James Theatre. We expected Frozen: The Broadway Musical to be good; we wanted it to be great. But we were in no way prepared for it to be the best version ever.
Why Frozen the Musical is the Best Version
What made it so good? Well, aside from the full attention of a world-class cast and production team, the secret ingredient seemed to be more songs and plenty of them! In the best stage musicals, the most powerful emotional moments are expressed in song, and having the time and space to let the story breathe with more music made every story beat stronger.
Spending more time with young Anna and Elsa not only gave us another song for my daughter to sing endlessly (“A Little Bit You”) but also strengthened the bond between the sisters. A song for Elsa about missing Anna (“Dangerous to Dream”) likewise raised the stakes of what the sisters had lost.
Photo by Deen van Meer for Disney Theatrical Productions
It continued throughout the show, and as good as the original animated feature was, more music made it better. Need to set the table a little for Anna and Kristoff’s romance? More music! (“What Do You Know About Love?”). Need another dramatic anthem for Elsa to knock out of the park? More music! (“Monster”). A hilarious second-half-opening production number for Oaken, of all people? Yep, more music! (“Hygge”).
How about a full-on heroic anthem for Hans to make his eventual heel turn a real kick in the teeth? Got some more music for that right here! (“Hans of the Southern Isles”). All of this plus the songs you already loved from the movie.
A New Life on Disney+
Frozen: The Broadway Musical closed when the pandemic shuttered Broadway, after 26 previews and 825 regular performances. A national tour followed, but never did come to our neck of the woods, but a new CD of the cast recording took over top spot in our car and didn’t “let it go” for years.
Photo Courtesy of Disney
And what about that? The reason we were there at all? When the lights came up for intermission, I was dying to know what my daughter thought of it all. When I asked, she could barely tear her eyes from the empty stage, and she whispered ruefully, “I’ll never be able to see this again.” But as she said it, she gave me a look I had only seen a handful of times….
There it was.
Thanks to a recorded version of the stage production from London’s West End now showing on Disney+, we can enjoy the Best Version of Frozen again as often as we like. I know that some folks are done with live-action do-overs, but you’ll be glad you did if you fired up your Disney+ machine to meet some old friends again (and again, and again) with Frozen: The Hit Broadway Musical.
