‘Frozen’ The Broadway musical: Top-rated cast, intense production

Finally, after the lockdowns brought by the Covid-19 pandemic closed down theaters, the Sands Theater at the Marina Bay Sands, Singapore, will re-open its gates for another highly anticipated Disney Broadway musical: Frozen.

Based on the 2013 Oscar-winning Disney animated film, the musical will have its limited run beginning 5 February 2023 — with Singapore as its only South East Asian stop.

Tickets have been selling fast since September. Produced by Disney Theatrical Productions and presented by Base Entertainment Asia, Frozen is guaranteed to be a showstopper, with musical enthusiasts quite aware that the producers behind Frozen are the same people who brought to Singapore two megahit Broadway musicals: The Lion King and Aladdin — the former of which I saw in 2019 and still got me raving about it.

EASY SINGAPORE TRAVEL

With the easing of Covid restrictions, and Singapore now open to travelers regardless of Covid-19 vaccination status — even ditching quarantine, pre-departure tests, and on-arrival tests, there is no better way than to treat your kids, nieces, and nephews than this.

No kid in the family? No problem. Even a 49-year-old adult will appreciate Frozen on Broadway.

"The humor of this show is so adult. People think it's a kids' show, but it's really not. It's fantastically so funny, I think adults will find something really gorgeous about it. People take away different things from it, and kids will always take away what they do from it," said Benjamin Osborne, the musical's resident director, at the regional launch held earlier this November at The Avenue, in Marina Bay Sands.

It's been almost a decade since the release of Disney's animated Frozen (loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen's 19th-century fairy tale The Snow Queen), and little girls still keep their Elsa costumes around, and generations still know the lyrics to the Disney empowering anthem "Let It Go."

Olaf (voiced by Josh Gad in the animated film), the prodigiously designed snowman that had us in stitches, will forever be the embodiment of that perfect fantasy friend. And imagine it all coming to life on stage.

NEW SONGS

This post-feminist entry to the Disney canon is no doubt embedded in our pop culture, especially its singalong songs — and "Let it Go" will forever be in the kids' Karaoke playlist. Frozen in Singapore has revamped the tracklist by adding a dozen new songs written especially for the stage by Academy Award-winning songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez. Plus, an expanded score. So there's a whole 'nother level of Frozen in this production.

One of the 12 songs was "Monster," which we were given a preview of, live, at the regional media launch. On the small makeshift stage in The Avenue, Jemma Rix, the Australian musical theater performer who stars as the complex Disney Princess Elsa in this Broadway production, stood up in her blue suit. Then she sang this heartbreaking tale of a woman who feels that she is a monster, rendering the small crowd speechless with her impassioned, effortless singing voice (she played Elphaba in the hit Australian and Asian tour of Wicked).

Matt Lee, who has big shoes to fill as Olaf, delighted members of the media with his "In Summer," doing little tap dances (he once served as motion-capture principal for the Oscar-winning film Happy Feet for the tap-dancing penguin Mumble).

Lee, with 25 years of musical theater experience, including Rent and Grease, explained that he's "not going to be playing Josh Gad playing Olaf in this." This even ups the anticipation for a whole new snowman-comic experience in February.

Rix's and Lee's sensational singing in that small room, powerful and so Disney-like, is already captivating. Imagine what it would be like to see them on stage at the Sands Theater, all costumed up, with opulent sets that recreate Arendelle, frozen fractals, and raging winter storms. And finally, the tearful communal experience of watching a live Broadway musical for the first time in forever.

INTENSE ATTENTION TO DETAIL

Based on the whopping numbers revealed to us at the media launch, you can safely say this is some massive production with intense attention to detail. Twenty-six containers of props and sets were shipped to Singapore, including 45 tons of flying scenery, 440 costumes (with 14,000 crystals for Elsa's costume alone), and 120 pairs of shoes.

The craftsmanship and effort behind every single detail spell one singular fact: This production cares for and respects the audience. The first-rate quality of this Broadway production is already evident from its sterling main cast ensemble down to the 90 wigs made of human hair.

So let it go, don't hold it back anymore. Singapore is the closest we in the Philippines can catch this Disney Broadway production designed for all audiences.