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Review: Frozen the Musical in Melbourne

The wait is over Frozen the Musical is now showing at the Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne until January 2022.

You have undoubtedly heard the name and may have seen the highly acclaimed and beautifully animated Disney movie in 2013. The story draws inspiration from the 1844 Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale The Snow Queen.

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Frozen the Musical is coming to Melbourne
Frozen the Musical – Jemma Rix – Photo by Lisa Tomasetti

Frozen the Musical debuted on Broadway in 2018, receiving rave reviews and playing to sell-out audiences. The Australian premiere of Frozen the Musical reached our shores in 2020 Sydney and has finally made it to our fair city of Melbourne.

I had heard good things and was intrigued by how such a well-loved movie would translate to the stage. 

The translation to the stage is a success, and the team under the direction of Thomas Schumacher have excelled. 

On opening night, I expected to see something elegant and familiar, but the experience was so much more.

Frozen the Musical is coming to Melbourne
Frozen the Musical – Courtney Monsma and Thomas McGuane - Photo by Lisa Tomasetti

The elaborate sets, the enchanting use of light and sound, the costumes, the exceptionally talented cast and crew transported us to Arendelle. For over 2 hours, we were entwined with the beautiful tale, basking in friendship and love, descending through disappointment and betrayal, laughing and getting a bit teary. This is exactly how you want to feel at the theatre, engaged, alive, in awe and inspired. 

I know the story well from watching the movie with my young family, the stage production exceeded every single expectation I had by a mile. I fell back in love with this magical tale.

Review: Frozen the Musical at Her Majesty's Theatre
Frozen the Musical – Company of Frozen – Photo by Lisa Tomasetti

The attention to detail is staggering, each decision made by the design team on fabric, thread, embroidery, brushstrokes, set design, musical notes, makeup, choreography and special effects has contributed to richly bringing Arendelle to life.

Elsa’s iconic ‘ice dress’ is handmade with thousands of crystals and beads lovingly stitched into place. Anna’s coronation dress, with ribbons and embroidery, is beautiful. The Hidden Folk (or Trolls as we know them from the film) costume design is like nothing I’ve seen before, drawing on inspiration from Nordic mythology of the Huldra forest spirit.

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Frozen the Musical is coming to Melbourne
Frozen the Musical – Company of Frozen – Photo by Lisa Tomasetti

The music includes some of the well-loved and familiar Frozen songs, ‘Let it go’, ‘Love is an open door’, ‘For the first time in forever’ and ‘Do you want to build a snowman?’ which raise a smile and a selection of new material written specifically for the stage production brings new life to the story. 

Frozen the Musical is coming to Melbourne
Frozen the Musical – Jemma Rix, Matt Lee and Courtney Monsma – Photo by Lisa Tomasetti

The talented cast are exquisite, each shining in their own right and collectively.

The cast feature the talents of Jemma Rix in the role of Elsa, Courtney Monsma as Anna, Matt Lee as Olaf, Thomas McGuane as Hans, Sean Sinclair as Kristoff, Aljin Abella as Weselton and sharing the role of Sven, Jonathan MacMillan and Lochie McIntrye. On opening night Young Anna was played by Stella Partridge, young Elsa by Isobel Lauber and Sven by Jonathan Macmillan.

Frozen the Musical is produced by Disney Theatrical Productions (The Lion King, Aladdin, Mary Poppins), Frozen features music and lyrics by Academy Award®-winning songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, with book by Academy Award®-winning writer Jennifer Lee, direction by Tony® Award winner Michael Grandage and choreography by Tony® Award winner Rob Ashford.

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Review: Frozen the Musical at Her Majesty's Theatre
Frozen the Musical – Courtney Monsma and Sean Sinclair - Photo by Lisa Tomasetti

The team behind Frozen the Musical have done a remarkable job adapting this magical tale from film to stage. The cast received a standing ovation on opening night which is well deserved. If you want to have a fun night out, I would highly recommend Frozen the Musical.

The production runs for approximately 2 hours and 20 minutes this includes one interval, I would not recommend taking young children under the age of 8 years old.

Frozen the Musical
Date: showing until January 2022
Time: 1 pm, 6.30 pm/7 pm 
Location: Her Majesty’s Theatre, 219 Exhibition Street, Melbourne
Price: from $130
FROZEN is not recommended for anyone under the age of 4.
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