***** The Paramount Theatre in Aurora has done it again! They have become the first regional theater in the Midwest to get the rights to “Disney’s Frozen”, and what a wonderful production they have put on their stage. Under the quality direction of Trent Stork with choreography by Tiffany Krause, the Paramount has taken this musical to a level that will make this a memory for every audience member who attends. Based on the animated film, and inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s Fairy Tale, “The Snow Queen”, with a book by Jennifer Lee,this is a powerful story about two sisters, their powers, their friendship, their characters, their love for each other and their ability to adjust to what life brings to them.
This story has music by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez and of course features the blockbuster hit, “Let It Go” that ends act one and becomes part of the curtain call. While the stage version follows the story it is a little different to have live performers instead of animated drawings, and Stork has found a way to make the animated “stars” come to life. The puppetry portions of the show (designed by Jesse Mooney-Bullock) are terrific. Adam Fane plays Sven and this reindeer truly looks real. Olaf, the snowman that was built by the sisters when they were young is played to perfection by Ryan Stajmiger, who even though he is on stage with the puppet, seems to blend in with the character.
The girls are played by Avelyn Choi as Young Anna. and Genevieve Jane as young Elsa. These roles are also played by alternates Everleigh Murphy (Elsa) and Elowen Murphy(Anna). They start the story and we learn a great deal about Elsa’s magical powers. Her powers are such that she traps the entire city into a frozen community. The spell must be broken and Elsa ( Emily Kristen Morris is magnificent, and when she delivers “Let It Be”, the entire sold out audience was in shock at the glorious way this scene was handled)must be found. It is younger sister, Anna ( played to perfection by Beth Stafford Laird) who travels with her friends, Olaf ,Sven and Kristoff ( deftly handled by Christian Andres) to find her.
Anna thinks she has found love when she meets a Prince, Hans ( deftly handled by Jake DiMaggio Lopez) but later finds out that he is not the “true Love” that she needs to break the spell on her.The ensemble is very strong in this solid production. In fact, tonight there were several changes of characters filling in and no matter who or where they were inserted, the production was flawless. A couple of stand out numbers were David Blakeman as Oaken. His number “Hygge” is a stitch.
The set ( Jeffrey D. Kmiec) is wonderful and the projections (Paul Deziel) truly add to it. Mara Blumenfeld’s costumes are delightful and the lighting ( Greg Hoffman) and sound (Adam Rosenthal) are perfect as always. The properties by Aimee Plant, and the fight, stunt and intimacy direction by Max Fabian are right on. Of course, being a period piece, wigs are of great import and one must doff their hat to Katie Cordts for her work. The special effects are dynamite- it snowed in the theater several times, all the way back to row S.
A musical must have musical direction to make it flawless and under the leadership of Kory Danielson, this musical was sheer perfection. This production should have you looking at your own life and your relationship skills, so that after two plus hours, you will learn the lessons of one Hans Christian Andersen, “Some people are worth melting for” quoted by Olaf, and “Only the act of true love will thaw a frozen heart”. Yes, love is putting others above yourself, and it shines through in this sparkling “must see” production.
Wednesdays 1:30pm & 7:00pm NO PERFORMANCE ON 12/25
Sundays 1:00pm & 5:30pm
Box Office: 630-896-6666
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