Frozen - 4.5 out of 5 stars
Northern Light Theatre Company
TICKETS: https://nltc.sales.ticketsearch.com/sales/salesevent/166413
Northern Light Theatre Company bring an abundance of Disney love with their production of Frozen, with the sparkle and heartfelt optimism the much-loved musical demands. Through the effective use of original projection and animation (thanks to Kristian Latella), they turn the Shedley Theatre into a wintry Arendelle, pairing familiar favourites with the richer musical score and emotional detail of the Broadway adaptation.
Director Lauren Scarfe, music director Billy St John and
choreographer Rebekah Stonelaitken have shaped a production that feels polished
while promoting a communal family, including a choir that enhances the vocal
depth. Collectively, the creative team deliver a strong sense of cohesion and
theatrical ambition.
Scarfe allows individuality to bloom from the cast
portraying the all-too-familiar characters, keeping the storytelling clear and
emotionally grounded, ensuring the show maintains a high quality throughout the
spectacle.
St John draws confident, well-balanced work from the cast, choir,
and orchestra, giving the score energy without overwhelming the performers. The
vocal work exuded by the cast is a testament to his hard work, alongside
Musical Assistant Sean Lu.
Stonelaitken’s choreography is bright, purposeful and well
suited to the ensemble, adding larger-than-life momentum to the ensemble numbers
while leaving room for both character and comedy, ably assisted by Serena Cann
as Dance Captain.
CAST 1 - Friday 2nd October
Bec Pynor’s Elsa is a commanding, emotionally intelligent
performance. She captures the fear and isolation beneath Elsa’s composure,
while her vocals give “Let It Go” and the character’s more reflective moments ultimate
power and vulnerability.
Catherine Breugelmans’ Anna is utterly endearing: warm,
funny, determined and wonderfully sincere. She makes Anna’s optimism feel
earned rather than simplistic, and her chemistry with both Hans and Kristoff ensures
the character remains the emotional heart of the production.
Sam Mannix brings a grounded, likeable presence to Kristoff.
His performance balances dry humour with genuine tenderness, making the
character’s gradual emotional openness believable and giving Anna an eventual
strong romantic counterpart.
Deon Martino-Williams makes Hans a polished and persuasive
villain. Why does he have to be so endearing in his portrayal?! Consistently
throughout, his character arc from first impressions, through to stand-in
leader is charming and sincere, ensuring the final stage reveal is villainously
cold, with impressive control and confidence. A well-deserved “boo…” from the
audience!
Londyn Foreman’s Olaf is an absolute delight… I couldn’t
stop smiling at her performance! With excellent comic timing, physical
commitment and a voice full of warmth, Foreman makes Olaf hilarious and
unexpectedly touching, particularly in the character’s more poignant
reflections. If you caught &Juliet last year, you’ll want to reprise
Foreman’s talent in this production!
Holly Abbott delivers a brilliant piece of physical theatre in Sven. Through expressive movement, reactions and a clear connection with Mannix’s Kristoff, Abbott gives the reindeer a distinct personality without ever needing a word.
Avelyn Borg’s Young Elsa is quietly affecting, conveying the
character’s early fear, love for her sister and growing sense of responsibility
with a maturity beyond her years, helping establish the emotional foundation of
the story.
Opposite Borg, Eve Passmore’s Young Anna is bright,
affectionate and completely convincing. Her playful energy and devotion to Elsa
make the sisters’ childhood bond feel genuine, giving the later estrangement
real emotional weight.
Thomas White and Kelsey McCormack bring warmth, humour and
authority to Pabbie and Bulda. Their performances give the trolls a lively,
welcoming presence, while their interactions with the younger sisters add comedy
and a sense of magical care to the production.
The ensemble, bringing energy to the larger musical numbers,
perform with commitment and amazement. Their vocal work is equally strong,
blending cleanly beneath the principals while adding richness and scale to the
score.
The off-stage choir deserves praise with their contributions
giving key moments an added sense of grandeur and lift, extending the
production beyond the visible stage and helping the show’s musical numbers resonate.
The set design proves somewhat mixed. The wheeled set
pieces, brought on and off with precision by the stage crew, reflect the polish
and ambition audiences associate with NLTC, while the pieces flown in from the
fly tower are comparatively simple, leaving some of the show’s grander
locations reliant on Latella’s projection work.
There are also moments when the magic does not quite align
with the action on stage, with effects arriving slightly after the relevant
gesture—possibly due to a wireless delay between the cue and projector. Further
fine-tuning during tech week would have allowed these transitions to land more
seamlessly.
The lighting design was exemplary, with many minor moments
that are captured when exploring the world such as the expansion of the
northern lights. MD St John’s shadow at work behind the scrim when there are no
projections are comical.
Headed by Annie Humphries and Scarfe, the costume team
brings much of Frozen’s visual magic to life. The designs faithfully
capture the characters audiences know and love, with Elsa’s transformation
dress delivering on the anticipated sense of magic. Across the company, the
breadth and detail of the costumes support the production’s polished values.
Vincent Alexander, Julia Sciacca and Brad Mundt deserve
valuable recognition for their delightful creations of Olaf and Sven. Their
work gives Foreman and Abbott the tools to bring a welcome touch of imagination
and charm to the production.
CAST 2 - Saturday 3rd October, reviewed by David Kilsby
The pairing of Bethany Swift as Young Elsa and Wynter Watts as Young Anna, strongly establishes both character and story in a great opening to the production. The casting of young performers to mirror later adult characters has risks if they miss the mark, but no concerns here as both provide an excellent entree to the nature of their adult versions.
Swift has developed a substantial resume in youth theatre, and it shows in her calm and focused performance. Able to mirror her future older self, showing hints of seriousness, her dialogue was clearly enunciated, and she had just the right amount of ‘older sister’ vibe necessary for the role. She sings strongly and blends closely with her younger performer, Watts.
What a find is the young Watts, making her musical theatre debut. The enthusiasm of her performance had a delightful balance between that of a younger child while delivering the hints of the positive adult to come. Her singing is strong and dialogue confident and clear.
Frozen is a heartfelt, ambitious and thoroughly
enjoyable production that exhibits the warmth, humour and emotional power of
the superb principal cast, committed ensemble and strong creative leadership. It
offers audiences a night of family-friendly musical theatre with genuine heart.
Receiving a well-deserved standing ovation, this is a production that deserves
a sold out season… if you are one that can’t help but sing along – there’s even
a singalong performance this Thursday!
- Andrew Broadbent
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