Broadway Youth Cebu to stage 'Disney Frozen Jr.' on Aug. 1-3

The highlight of any live stage production of “Frozen” is the moment Elsa transforms from Arendelle royalty into the ice queen in a split second, right as the audience watches her belt out the final chorus of “Let It Go.”

- By JANUAR JUNIOR AGUJA

In the Broadway and West End adaptations of the blockbuster Disney animated film, actresses playing Elsa typically stand behind a cleverly concealed trap door, allowing their dress to be pulled quickly to reveal the iconic blue gown, as if her old outfit had vanished onto the stage floor.

Allan Nazareno, director of the upcoming Cebu production by Broadway Youth Cebu (BYC), hinted that Elsa will be given “more agency” to transform her dress during the show’s most iconic number.

“Elsa should be conscious of her dress transformation because the song ‘Let It Go’ is about her wanting to let go of her burdens,” Nazareno told The FREEMAN after one of the rehearsals, while remaining coy about how exactly they’ll execute the scene.

Taking place at the Henry S. Sy Auditorium in Sacred Heart School - Hijas de Jesus from August 1 to 3, BYC’s production of “Frozen” will be a “junior” version, a condensed one-hour retelling often staged in schools, unlike the two-and-a-half-hour Broadway version, which includes additional musical numbers written by the film’s Oscar-winning composers Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez.

“This is the only version we're licensed to use in the Philippines, because the full version can only be licensed in the U.S.,” Nazareno explained. “We took this opportunity because this is the first time there will be a live ‘Frozen production’ in the country.”

While the junior version is closer to the film and includes no intermissions, BYC’s staging will feature three songs from the Broadway production: “Dangerous to Dream,” “Colder by the Minute,” and “Let the Sun Shine On,” alongside familiar tunes from the film such as “Let It Go,” “For the First Time in Forever,” and “Love Is an Open Door.”