It'll melt your heart

Winnipeg Free Press

5 days ago

Rainbow Stage journeyed to ice-locked lands of inner imagination on one of the hottest and smokiest nights of this summer, gamely opening its eagerly anticipated Broadway musical adaptation of the blockbuster 2013 Disney film Frozen.
Based on Hans Christian Andersen's 181-year-old fairytale The Snow Queen, with book by Jennifer Lee and music and lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, the 145-minute (including intermission) production depicts close-knit sisters, the princesses Anna (a sparkling Julia Davis) and Elsa (her equal powerhouse, Tiera Lee Watts), who frolic and build snowmen together as children in the fictitious kingdom of Arendelle.
After Elsa's magical powers accidentally condemn Arendelle to eternal winter, the siblings become estranged as they embark on their own voyages of self-discovery, jet-fuelled by one hit tune after another that had many in Thursday's capacity crowd gleefully warbling along.
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Tiera Lee Watts is Elsa in Frozen, and just hearing her version of Let It Go is worth the price of admission to the Rainbow Stage production.
At first blush, Frozen checks all the boxes for romantic fantasy, or even a rescue tale à la Snow White or Cinderella, in which Anna becomes instantly smitten by Prince Hans of the Southern Isles (a noble Reid McTavish), aspiring to live happily ever after in the cocoon of domestic bliss.
Yet beneath the permafrost is a potent tale of female empowerment, as well as an assertion that 'acts of true love' also extend to non-romantic familial ties. It's a message that continues to resonate, whether you're seeing the perennially popular classic for the first or 40th time.
Rainbow Stage artistic director Carson Nattrass, who helmed this 145-minute production, has mined gold with his latest crackerjack cast and creative team, with this Manitoba professional première boasting a particularly strong lineup of triple threats, beloved local favourites as well as up-and-comers marking their debut under the dome.
The hugely charismatic Davis (Ariel in The Little Mermaid) packs plenty of personality into her 'tornado in pigtails' younger-sister role, her crystal-clear soprano soaring through her Act 1 opening solo, For the First Time in Forever, and eliciting goosebumps. She rocked out in Love is an Open Door, sung with her new hunky heartthrob Hans, before later breaking our hearts in Act 2's I Can't Lose You, as her relationship with Elsa, who has fled to North Mountain, splinters.
However, the fateful moment — ostensibly the tale's inciting incident — in which Anna quarrels with Elsa during her coronation, leading to her icy curse on Arendelle, feels one-dimensional and rushed, deserving of greater subtext. So does another key moment in the second act in which Hans, in his lust for power, incongruously stabs Anna in the back.
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Emeline Arnold (left) and Layla North play young princesses Anna and Elsa from the kingdom of Arendelle in Frozen.
Mezzo-soprano Watts, who played Sherrie in Rock of Ages, perfectly captures the turmoil of a young woman 'cursed' with power, becoming increasingly frantic as she struggles between the confines of royal duty and the stirrings of her heart. And if there's one reason (of many) to see this show, it's her belting out Frozen's big number Let it Go for all she's worth, her final rafter-raising notes delivered atop her palatial staircase and garnering thunderous applause.
This show is about kids — and for kids — so more kudos to the cast's youngest thespians, Kari Castillo's Young Anna (alternating with Emeline Arnold) and Layla North as Young Elsa. Their fearlessly confident performances promise much more to come.
Some of the night's loudest oohs and ahs come — no spoiler alert required — during the first sighting of Olaf the snowman, brought to life by David Michael Juma in his Rainbow debut; the character is one of the show's two puppets created by Cassie Seaboyer. This straighter portrayal could use more spit 'n' sass, as Olaf wisecracks and offers advice to the travellers, although his Act 1 showstopper ode to heat, In Summer, pumps up the energy.
The other non-human role is reindeer Sven, the trusty sidekick/confidante of rugged ice courier Kristoff (performed by the stage chameleon Nathaniel Muir, last seen as Drew in Rock of Ages). In his Rainbow debut, Eli Kanhai steps into the caribou's hooves to navigate the wintry wonderland, conjured by sets/properties designer Adam Parboosingh on a nifty revolving stage and effectively lit in a spectrum of colour-soaked hues by Scott Henderson, with costumes by Helena Marriot.
Seeing the scrim periodically twinkling with 'stars' adds pure poetry to the night; the artistic choice to have it revert to a functional, bland canvas during several set changes is puzzling.
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Jula Davis sparkles as princess Anna.
The ensemble performs effectively as a cohesive team, morphing into handmaidens, townspeople and trolls, while ably tossing off four-part harmonies. Rainbow Stage veteran and now Broadway star Jaz Sealey's choreography helps knit together the narrative, but it feels uninspired and overly restrained for this stage — more lifts and visual counterpoint would be welcome.
Highly stylized sections in which dancers draped in white silky sheets evoke ocean waves and snowdrifts are a nice touch (if not a bit like spooky Halloween ghosts).
One of the evening's highlights is Muir's poignant solo Reindeer(s) are Better than People, on which he accompanies himself on lute (is there anything this musician/actor can't do?). His gruff iceman's recognition of his own melting heart and blossoming feelings for Anna during Act 2 feel both raw and real.
Special mention also goes to Joseph Sevillo's Pabbie, played with grand gravitas, and Daniel Boart's wily Weselton. Another Rainbow fave, Jeff Rivet plays the crowd like a fiddle as the lederhosen-garbed Oaken (also appearing as King Agnarr to Duchess Cayetano's Queen) with his Hygge kicking off Act 2 with off-the-sauna-walls zaniness.
A live pit orchestra led by music director Andrew St. Hilaire proves solid and strong, with several wonky reverberation issues obfuscating actors' lines at the top of the show eventually resolving.
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Nathaniel Muir is a standout as brusque iceman Kristoff.
It's a no-brainer that any production of Frozen will receive a rousing standing ovation, and as expected, this one did. The full house leaped to its feet at the end with loud cheers for the Arendellians, perhaps 'letting it go' that summer's end will soon be drawing near as 'Winterpeg' heads toward its own eternal (though thankfully smoke-free) winter.
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