This reviewer must be one of the few people to have never watched the film Frozen, although even then has been unable to entirely escape a certain level of knowledge! The film cast though were at least credited, whereas the cast of the stage show performed on the Disney Cruise Lines are forever doomed to anonymity thanks to the Disney policy of not crediting their live performers because they are the character.
Frozen – A Musical Spectacular is an abridged version of the film, mostly the songs and some interlinking short scenes and feels like a cross between a spectacularly staged musical and a provincial pantomime. A small cast of principles and ensemble are tasked with creating a feel of a show that needs to be bigger.
The cast, uncredited, vary in skill. The young woman playing Anna shines as the most talented there with a nice voice and good characterisation. Unfortunately, the woman playing her sister Elsa has neither the voice nor acting ability to carry off the role. Her rendition of Let It Go was painful to listen to and her pause as she does the dress reveal shows her inexperience. The rest of the principles do their job pretty well with the man who puppeteers and voices Olaf being a particular stand out.
The puppets are often controlled by their voice actors meaning there is a variation in skill there too. But in general they do a good job with the man handling Sven coping well with his huge costume. The puppets allow for the child roles and non-human characters to look a lot like their film counterparts
Having said that the performers are varied, the set, staging, special effects and costumes are phenomenal. It’s easy to see where Disney have spent the money on this production. Screens along the walls of the auditorium allow for the visual effects to encompass the audience and clever use of projection screens make for hugely effective magic effects. The costumes are mostly reproductions of the ones in the film and the transformation from Anna’s coronation outfit to blue dress is a technical triumph.
If you have Disney Frozen obsessed child then this isn’t a bad way to keep them occupied for an hour but that is about all it is good for.
Reviewer: Helen Jones
Reviewed: 17th November 2020
North West End UK Rating: ★★★
Watch it here.
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