'Frozen' at Playhouse Square an icy delight at first, but second-act thawing doesn't ruin all the fun | Theater review

Aug. 15—From afar, it never quite made sense, the stage musical adaptation of Disney's 2013 animated smash-hit movie "Frozen" not reopening on Broadway following its shutdown in March 2020 due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

In fact, producers announced its permanent closure only a couple of days after its final performance on March 11 of that year, citing coming "economic fallout" from the industry-wide stoppage.

But while the unavoidable hit taken by the theater world was major, many shows did eventually reopen. And the idea of a stage production revolving around sisters Anna and Elsa — and all the latter's icy magic — being anything other than a machine that prints money is hard to fathom.

The thought that a live "Frozen" surely must be too big to fail only continues early on during a performance of the North American Tour of Disney's "Frozen" at Playhouse Square in Cleveland, where the show has set up camp through Sept. 11.

The show is, at first, cute, It begins by introducing us to young versions of Anna and Elsa (roles shared, respectively, by Victoria Hope Chan and Aria Kane and Natalie Grace Chan and Arwen Monzon-Sanders), who sing "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?"

Soon though, Elsa accidentally hurts Anna with her magic, and the sisters spend years being separated by parents who want each of them to be safe.

As its entertaining first act proceeds — with adult versions of the sisters portrayed by the highly talented pair of Lauren Nicole Chapman and Caroline Bowman — the sisters are reunited and the dramatic stakes are raised.

After her secretive magic is unleashed on a suddenly frozen kingdom of Arendelle and a newly crowned Queen Elsa flees the castle for the woods, the audience is treated to dazzling effects and an absolutely showstopping version of "Let It Go" before intermission.

So far, so great.

And then comes Act II.

That's when "Frozen" slowly melts.

It's as if the writers — Jennifer Lee (book) and Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez (music and lyrics) — were worried the show may not lose quite all of its momentum during intermission and relaunch the affair with a dud of a number, "Hygge."

"Frozen" gets some of its ice-cold juice back with the next number — "I Can't Lose You," a lovely duet between Elsa and Anna written for the tour, replacing a reprise of "For the First Time in Forever" — but not enough of the magic sticks around after that.

With that established, however, know that the sensational in "Frozen" far outweighs the lackluster, thanks largely to its talented cast, highly impressive technical components such as sound and lighting and that strong first act.

If you're this far into the review, you've almost surely seen the movie and know that one of the visitors the kingdom gets on the day Else is to become queen is Hans (Ryan McCartan). He, of course, seemingly falls for the lonely, people-loving Anna, and their duet, "Love Is an Open Door," is topnotch stuff. ("Frozen" in general should continue to get credit for its handling of the Hans character. He appears to be such a swell guy!)

"What Do You Know About Love?" — another duet featuring Anna, this one shared with rough-around-the-edges ice salesman Kristoff — is the only first-act number that didn't quite hit home on the second night of its monthlong Cleveland stint. Perhaps that is because, as reviewers later would learn, Kristoff was not portrayed by role regular Mason Reeves but instead by understudy Zach Trimmer. Trimmer was fine, overall, but his chemistry with the delightful Chapman was a bit lacking.

By the way, Chapman has been involved with "Frozen" since its pre-Broadway development days in 2017, and her apparent enthusiasm for being in the role of Anna radiates from her. She brings all of the character's appealing personality to the stage.

Again, though, it's "Let It Go" — in which Bowman, whose Broadway credits include portraying Elphaba in "Wicked," puts her vocal gifts on full, glorious display — that makes you go "whoa!" It isn't the only time you will wonder how the technical folks who built this show came up with its chilling effects, but those effects are never more astounding than they are here.

We also need to shout out the puppetry work that allows "Frozen" faves Sven (fully costumed Collin Baja and Evan Strand taking on the physically depending role of Kristoff's reindeer for different performances) and Olaf (F. Michael Haynie, seen behind the puppet of the warm hugs-loving snowman) to be a part of the fun.

Their appearances, like so much of what transpired on stage that night, were much to the delight of the young ones in the audience, many of them little girls dressed up like one princess or the other. An announcement before this latest presentation of the KeyBank Broadway Series welcomed them to what may have been their first Broadway-like experience and encouraged them to have many more.

The stage version of "Frozen" may have a few blemishes, but that's its real beauty.

Disney's 'Frozen'

Continues through Sept. 11 at Playhouse Square's KeyBank State Theatre, 1519 Euclid Ave., Cleveland. For tickets, $45 to $165, call 216-241-6000 or visit PlayhouseSquare.org.