Disney's Frozen, Theatre Royal Drury Lane London
22nd January 2023 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This has been on my list of shows to see since it opened and it did not disappoint! The show is based on the 2013 film. It starts with a young Elsa and Anna playing in their bedroom, when Elsa accidently hits Anna with some of her magic. Their parents ask The Hidden Folk for help. They manage to remove the magic from Anna but also her memoires of Elsa's magic. The parents decide to split them up to protect Anna and help Elsa control her magic. Their parents set out to sea to find help but unfortunately die at sea. This results in Elsa locking herself away from Anna as they are growing up.
The story then time jumps to the coronation of Anna becoming Queen. She panics about showing her magic during the ceremony, but manages to complete it without any issues. Anna meets Hans of the Southern Isles and they both instantly fall in love, and decided to get married. When they ask Elsa's blessing, she loses control and reveals her powers by covering the entire Arendelle in ice! She hides in the Northern Mountains and creates a mega ice palace with her powers! Anna goes to look for her, leaving Hans in charge of the kingdom
Anna stumbles on Kristoff and Sven the reindeer who help her to get to the palace. On the way they discover Olaf the snowman, who Elsa and Anna created when they was little. On arrival at the palace Anna tries to talk to Elsa, but she loses control of her powers again and hits Anna again with her powers, this time in the heart!
Kristoff, Sven and Olaf take Anna back to the Hidden Folk for help, but on discovery of the ice in her heart, there is nothing they can do except the kiss of true love. They return to the castle, but it turns out Hans was just using Anna to finally get a chance at being in charge of a kingdom. Elsa decides to hand herself in, but Hans arrests her and tries to execute her as everyone assumes she has died. Anna manages to arrive just in time to sacrifice herself and turns into ice. Overwhelmed with emotion Elsa, hugs and gives her sister a kiss, which is the magic needed to remove the ice from her and the entire kingdom. The show ends with Elsa reuniting with sister, and Anna releasing Kristoff is her true love not Hans.
The cast are one of the best i have ever seen on stage. Samantha Barks was perfect as Elsa with a breathtaking voice. Her version of Let it Go is better than the original. The set around her as she sung was just "WOW". It was just glass and LED and it was magical. Her changing from the blue dress to the white dress was a moment were i really didnt know how they did it.
Craig Gallivan as Olaf was hysterical! It was the same type of puppetry as the Lion King. He really did sound like the film version, and at some points i forgot he was there as his puppertry skills are outstanding. His version of "In Summer" was hysterical . His ability to portray emotion was top-notch as when he was willing to sacrifice himself in the heat to try and keep Anna warm, as she was locked in the castle by Hans, i really did feel sad for him.
For this performance i saw Char Burnett as Anna. She may have been a understudy, but i would pay to see her. She was brilliant! Her ability to quick change costumes was wow, her voice was so powerful and full of emotion. She really showed this during, stage show original song, I Can't Lose You. This was a duet between Anna and Elsa in the ice palace, and the two of them just gave me goosebumps!
Djavan Van De Fliert as Kristoff was really good. He portrayed the character brilliantly, and his voice was amazing. His version of "Reindeers are better than People" was actually funny as sung with Sven. Sven was actually a professional actor in a really detailed costume, and it actually looked like a real reindeer.
The show contains the same songs, like Do You Want to Build a Snowman, Love is a Open Door and Fixer Upper but are made more speculator with such detailed set pieces. You can really tell they made such a effort with everything, no matter how small a role it plays!
.The most famous song "Let it go" is the best, and acts as the finale of Act 1. The moment the first notes sound, it gave me goosebumps!
I sat in the Royal Circle Row K9-10 with a friend. Even though these seats were positioned at the back of the circle we was still had a perfect view of the stage and all the details of the set. The seats were 2 free standing chairs on a small raised area, which meant we was able to move them to get comfy and a ledge to rest our feet. Being end of row we had quick access to the toilets during the interval to avoid the rush.
This was the first time i have visited the Theatre Royal and it was speculator! The staircase in the centre was breath-taking and reminded me of a stately home. The only issue was the location of the merchandise store. There was an additional entrance to the theatre in there as well which meant it got a bit cramped in the small space. The theatre does offer a buy online and collect after the performance service for merchandise to avoid the crowds.
Being a Disney show there was plenty of merchandise to buy, from cuddly toys, clothing and collectables like magnets and keyrings. You can also purchase a program with details about the cast, and a souvenir program with pictures of the show!
Overall this was one of the most speculator shows i have ever seen on the West End! If you get a chance to go, go and see it!
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