amburg
Anna, Elsa and Co: “The Frozen” celebrates its premiere as a musical
Sabrina Weckerlin (r.) And Celena Pieper play the leading roles in the musical as Frozen Elsa and her sister Anna
© Christian Charisius / DPA
The sisters Anna, Elsa and their friends Kristoff, Reindeer Sven and the snowman Olaf have become an indispensable part of German children’s rooms. Now they are brought to new life on stage.
“Let it go, let it go”: At the latest when the leading actress Sabrina Weckerlin as Elsa presented the world hit from the box office hit “The Ice Queen” with true devotion, the last viewers in the Theater an der Elbe are also in the Anna and Elsa fever. This has been rampant for eight years – since the Disney film took the hearts of large and, above all, small viewers by storm. Now the musical company Stage Entertainment has brought the story of the dissimilar sisters Anna and Elsa and their friends Kristoff, reindeer Sven and snowman Olaf to the stage – and the premiere guests on Monday evening were completely enthusiastic and gave long-lasting applause while standing.
“I am totally flashed and moved to tears,” said actress Gerit Kling. “This is one of the highlights of the year for me. Such a great stage design, such great singers, so much fun and so much love.” Her colleague Natalia Wörner was also impressed by the story of the two sisters: “It’s really nice to see two such different female characters who complement each other and thus result in a choir. I thought it was played fantastically, sung well and very impressive.” Some celebrities had brought their children with them: the writer Ildikó von Kürthy came with her son Lenny, who was particularly looking forward to the snowman Olaf, and singer Nevio Passaro with his daughter Luce, who had dressed up as Elsa.
Musical Frozen has been running on New York’s Broadway since 2018
Like the film, the musical tells how the two princesses overcome evil with the help of love and their friends after the death of their parents. Heir to the throne Elsa has magical powers: everything she touches turns to ice. After Elsa has frozen the kingdom of Arendelle, her sister Anna goes in search of her and meets the adventurer Kristoff with his reindeer Sven and the snowman Olaf. Together they want to find Elsa so that she can end the eternal winter. For the musical, which has been running on New York’s Broadway since 2018, eight songs from the Disney film were expanded to include a dozen new pieces and translated into German.
The ensemble of the Disney musical “The Ice Queen” on stage in the Stage Theater on the Elbe
© Christian Charisius / DPA
With the help of a twelve meter wide and nine meter high video wall, thousands of LED lights and numerous special effects, the stage is transformed into the Kingdom of Arendelle, sometimes into a cathedral and sometimes into an icy winter landscape. Opulent costumes from the middle of the 18th century bring life back to life at the royal court, immerse yourself in the realm of the trolls or celebrate a lively “Hygge” festival. And Elsa’s turquoise ball gown sparkles with the crystal curtains in her ice palace, which are made of more than 41,000 Swarovski stones.
Reindeer Sven and the snowman Olaf are the secret stars
Sabrina Weckerlin as Elsa convinces with her impressive voice and Celena Pieper as Anna with her irrepressible joy of playing. Together, the two leading actresses complement each other perfectly, for example in the duet “You are everything” at the beginning of the second act.
Benet Monteiro as Kristoff can also win a lot of sympathy for himself, but the secret stars of the musical are the reindeer Sven and the snowman Olaf. Sven is brought to life by the athletic actor Antoine Banks Sullivan, who is in him, and hand puppet Olaf (“I love hugs.”) By actor Elindo Avastia.