Having been to see many a FCT production before, I knew the calibre of the performance and talent was going to be towering. But Disney’s frozen is a big show and I was very eager to see how they tackled it. FCT’s Frozen is playing at Broughton High School from 1st-8th August.
We’ve all seen the forever-playing-in-households-with-kids-aged-four-to-twelve motion picture the Musical is adapted from, but for the 2 readers that haven’t, I’ll endeavour to summarise the Plot. Frozen follows the Royal sisters Elsa and Anna of Arendelle. After Elsa accidentally injures Anna with her magical ice powers, she isolates herself. Years later, at her coronation, a stressful incident causes her powers to plunge the Kingdom into eternal winter. Anna must journey into the icy mountains to find her sister and save their home.
Isla Nisbet plays Elsa. She imbues her Elsa with a heavy sense of duty and belts out her iconic, and challenging songs with an ease that is impressive. Her isolation is felt with every line and each clearly sung note. Lara Shanks is Anna. Shanks carries the story along nicely and portrays the Disney princess-ness we all expect perfectly while making Anna funny, relatable and admirably kind. As Anna’s confidence grows in the story, Shanks’ does too; showing remarkable understanding of comedic timing and vocal control.
Jac Simpson-Hobbs does well with the part of Kristoff. He exudes the energy of “I know better than you” but also keeping Kristoff feeling gentle and welcoming, ultimately showing a part of Kristoff that learns so much from Anna as he journeys with her.
Ryan Guthrie is Hans (of the Southern Isles). Guthrie plays the perfect prince type with ease, with strong vocals and a great stage presence, and confidence while singing. Sean Tomassi puppeteers Olaf. Tomassi does a great job here, showing us the childlike awe and glee we know from Olaf while injecting stuff that is clearly his own. Strong vocals and comedy throughout help bring Olaf to life.
Megan Hill does well heaving the giant Sven costume around the sometimes quite crowded stage and not knocking anyone over, ever present and completely blends in; the highest compliment available when holding a puppet/costume that size. Maisie Aitchison is a bolt of joy as Weselton. Never not funny and oozing confidence and presence, Aitchison makes Weselton stand out in every scene. Olly Freeman-Ferguson is Oaken. He does very well to lead the massive Act 2 opener Hygge, dancing and singing equally well while maintaining an ambiguous enough accent and keeping energy high.
Keira Swain and Ava Clark are excellent as Young Anna and Elsa respectively. They have a tough job telling so much story in such short time right at the start but leave a large impact and bring the emotional punch early on.
The rest of the supporting roles and ensemble are all fantastic additions to this wonderful cast. They add energy and visual grandeur to the crowd scenes and fantastic dance breaks. The vocals in the show sound particularly strong when the ensemble kicks in, making the volume and harmonies are a joy to digest.
Georgia Brennan makes her directorial debut with this production, and it must be said that taking on a beloved Disney household name for one’s first show is almost insane, but Brennan pulls it off. This production is slick; it utilises its cast to good effect and understands the story being told at the heart of the show. With a first outing this strong, Brennan has a bright future in directing, and it’s interesting to see what she does next.
Jack Gardner oversees Musical Direction. Gardner gets the best from his singers, Ensemble and Principals, as has been mentioned before in the review. The quality of the live band was slightly weaker, with moments of what feel like uncertainty and slight dropouts in volume or confidence; a sit-down to go over sticky points is needed to ensure the music is as strong as it possibly can be.
Taylor Doig is in charge of choreography. The dancing on display is high energy, fitting and a joy to watch. It’s obvious everyone is having fun and that’s in part thanks to Doig’s oversight. The strong ensemble is a tool that Doig wields carefully in FCT productions and Frozen is no exception.
Overall, Frozen is yet another example of how excellent FCT is at putting on quality shows, unafraid of taking on shows others would shy away from. The hard work, energy, and pure fun energy radiating from the boards is reason alone to get along and see this fantastic show.
Get tickets to Forth Children’s Theatre’s production of Disney’s Frozen The Musical here – https://www.forthchildrenstheatre.org/upcoming-shows
Show Trailer – Helios Media
Theatre Scotland 
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