The 2013 Disney film Frozen – a musical extravaganza about an icy kingdom, estranged royal sisters and supernatural powers – was met with “acclaim, Oscars and delirium”, said Arifa Akbar in The Guardian. Remarkably, this West End stage adaptation lives up to that legacy, and arguably even “exceeds it”.
Michael Grandage’s production, reworked since it premiered on Broadway in 2018, has all the magic of the film and is packed with gorgeous choreography and superb “coups de théâtre”. The use of video effects, lighting and sound are all stunning.
But what really struck me about the adaptation was that it conveys a far greater “sense of a real, beating heart in the relationship between the two tortured sisters”. Samantha Barks’s performance as Elsa is “soaked with sadness”, and the show-stopping power ballad Let It Go is “saturated with emotional drama”.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The “breathtaking” magic and “mesmerising meteorological effects” add “a whole new wow”, agreed Patrick Marmion in the Daily Mail. Barks is brilliant as Elsa; Stephanie McKeon is a “saucer-eyed delight” as her devoted sister Anna; and the best supporting characters from the film “sparkle”, especially puppet snowman Olaf.
Fans of the film will love it, said Nick Curtis in the London Evening Standard. The show has undeniable “dazzle and wit”, and the expensively refurbished Drury Lane is a “ravishing” home for it. But the film’s “weak story” and gaping “plot holes” have not been resolved. “A frozen brain can be cured but not a frozen heart, you say? Elsa is immensely powerful but easily captured?” Sorry, Frozen still doesn’t stack up dramatically. “Let it go? I probably could.”
On stage, Frozen “gains in potency from the live connection between actors and audience” – but you also become more aware of the original’s failings, agreed Sarah Hemming in the FT. There are “several underused ideas, characters and plot lines” – and though the story touches on “significant themes, such as loneliness, self-doubt and gender expectations”, it fails to dig into them. But “most o
-
‘Consistency at the ballot box isn’t nearly as meaningful to many voters here’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
8 musicals to see this winter, all across the United Statesthe week recommends New shows and reconsidered productions are on the move
-
Rob Reiner, wife dead in ‘apparent homicide’speed read The Reiners, found in their Los Angeles home, ‘had injuries consistent with being stabbed’
-
6 lovely barn homesFeature Featuring a New Jersey homestead on 63 acres and California property with a silo watchtower
-
Film reviews: ‘Marty Supreme’ and ‘Is This Thing On?’Feature A born grifter chases his table tennis dreams and a dad turns to stand-up to fight off heartbreak
-
Heavenly spectacle in the wilds of CanadaThe Week Recommends ‘Mind-bending’ outpost for spotting animals – and the northern lights
-
It Was Just an Accident: a ‘striking’ attack on the Iranian regimeThe Week Recommends Jafar Panahi’s furious Palme d’Or-winning revenge thriller was made in secret
-
Singin’ in the Rain: fun Christmas show is ‘pure bottled sunshine’The Week Recommends Raz Shaw’s take on the classic musical is ‘gloriously cheering’
-
Holbein: ‘a superb and groundbreaking biography’The Week Recommends Elizabeth Goldring’s ‘definitive account’ brings the German artist ‘vividly to life’
-
The Sound of Music: a ‘richly entertaining’ festive treatThe Week Recommends Nikolai Foster’s captivating and beautifully designed revival ‘ripples with feeling’
-
‘Furious Minds: The Making of the MAGA New Right’ by Laura K. Field and ‘The Dream Factory: London’s First Playhouse and the Making of William Shakespeare’ by Daniel SwiftFeature An insider’s POV on the GOP and the untold story of Shakespeare’s first theater
