Frozen is Disney’s smash-hit musical about Elsa, a princess trying to hide her unrestrainable power of the psychic manipulation of snow and ice. After an emotional outburst reveals her terrifying abilities to the kingdom, she isolates herself in the distant mountains. Her sister Anna adventures into the wilderness to convince Elsa to return home and free their kingdom from the dangerous effects of her uncontrolled magic.
“Anna is a tenacious, optimistic, and exuberant young woman who leads with her heart,” says Molly Dobbs, who plays the character in PCPA’s upcoming production at the Solvang Festival Theatre. “She is lonely, having lived isolated in a locked castle for the majority of her childhood, and … her goals are centered around finding a way out…. She wants to be saved. As the story progresses, she learns that … her actual fate is to be her own savior.”
Director Mark Booher says that in comparison to the animated film, the stage version of Frozen adds “relationship sophistication and emotional depth that adult audiences find a delightful surprise.” Dobbs comments that Frozen really captures the sister-sister relationship. “Not just the love, devotion, and sacrifice,” she says, “but also what can at times feel like resentment, jealousy, and comparison.”
While the animated version of Frozen features fairytale-style magic, the stage version has to exist in the physical world. “This version of the story engages the imagination of the audience in ways that an animated movie doesn’t,” says Booher. “The fun for us is to figure out how we accomplish those story elements in real time and space, and how do we engage our creative partner, the audience, in bringing those elements to life?”
Frozen is written by Jennifer Lee with music and lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez. Take a “winter” break and see the show at the Solving Festival Theatre (420 2nd St., Solvang) from July 5-August 2. See solvangtheaterfest.org.
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