I came to see Eagan High School’s Frozen: The musical with high expectations, and I was not let down. The acting was great, the singing was phenomenal, the props and background were amazing, the costumes were outstanding, and the pit put on a stellar performance.

First, I must mention how smooth everything was. I attended the opening night performance and only noticed a couple of hiccups here and there, which is quite unexpected for an opening night show, especially in high school. This all shows just how much work all of the actors, the crew, and the pit put into this production to make it the best they can. 

Frozen: The Musical is a musical based on the classic Disney movie, Frozen. The story is mostly the same, except for the addition of a couple of extra songs, including “A Little Bit of You”, “What Do You Know About Love”, “Monster”, and “Hygge”. The addition of these extra songs added an extra layer of depth to the musical; the characters were able to express more of their inner thoughts and emotions, which they are less able to express in just a normal script. I have to give a special shout-out to the song “Hygge”; it was a great addition to the musical and added an extra layer of silliness to the musical. “Hygge” is a song that takes place in Oaken’s shop with Oaken (played by Maya Zhaivoronok) and the Oaken family explaining the meaning of “Hygge” (a Danish word that means a feeling of home, coziness, contentment, and comfort) and comparing it to many different ideas and scenarios. The song itself is very fun, but with the added silliness of about twenty of the Oaken family wearing just robes coming out of the sauna, it was their own special kind of chaos. Of course, I have to mention the vocals of Maya Zhaivoronok, who did an amazing job in “Hygge” as Oaken, and even, according to other actors and crew in the musical, opted to go an octave up. If you attended the musical, you might have even noticed she did the famous Elphaba riff of “Defying Gravity” in the middle of the song, which, if you are unaware, takes a lot of effort considering the amount of breath control needed and the sheer vocal range of the riff, so props to her for pulling that off. 

As a band kid myself, I want to give a special mention to the pit, who did a great job. I am a ninth grader and used to just play the music over the speakers from middle school, but the pit did such a good job that sometimes I forgot there were actually high schoolers playing this live in front of me. Their sound was so well blended that it flowed very nicely, and their tone was spot on.  

Another thing I have to mention are the amazing costumes. The first thing I think of when it comes to the costumes in this production, and most likely anyone part of this production, is Elsa’s pantsuit. Elsa (played by Amelie Ketcham) wears this beautiful light blue pantsuit with a V-neck and wide, flowy pants with a navy blue jacket on top, and on the bottom, navy blue boots. I feel this outfit adds to the character of Elsa and definitely gives off “girl power” vibe, and Elsa definitely matches this outfit. Besides Elsa’s outfits, the rest are, first of all, stunning, and second of all, add so much to the production and bring all of the characters to life, so props to the amazing costume crew for doing such a great job. Other costumes that especially brought the characters to life from the movie to the musical and stood out were the troll costumes. They were very well put together, or not, considering they are trolls. I loved how everybody’s costume was different yet still blended cohesively. 

Just like Maya Zhaivoronok as Oaken, everybody else in this production did an amazing job with their singing. First of all, the chorus was phenomenal, their tone was great, and their voices blended very well. One of the hardest parts of being in the chorus is that you have to match up and blend with everybody else; you will just stick out like a sore thumb if you’re not, unlike solos, where if you happen to say a wrong word or sing a wrong note, no one will know otherwise (even though performing a solo is still very hard). A specific group of the chorus that did a great job was the trolls. I loved when they sang the Joik, and it sent shivers down my spine when Elsa’s mother (played by Alexandra Swords) started singing it. It was so low and ominous, especially with them slowly creeping out of the wings.  I wanted to point out both Amelie Ketcham’s (who played Elsa) and Audrey Sternberg’s (who played Anna) voices. Both of them had very strong and lovely voices and gave a stellar performance. Both their own individual solos, like “Let it Go” and “For the First Time in Forever,” were great, and their duets together, like “I Can’t Lose You,” were amazing, and I was blown away at their talent. 

Along with the cast’s singing, their acting was spot on as well. Every part of the musical, including the leads and supporting characters, made the production as great as it was. The chorus was wonderful, acting fully while on stage and never stopping, even if the focus isn’t fully on them. However, the lead actors stood out, as I felt they all fully enveloped their characters and acted to their fullest potential.

The last thing I have to mention is the set. A genius move on the designer’s part was having the background projected onto a screen.  I could tell it made everybody’s lives easier, especially in some of the songs like “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” where the scenery changes a lot. Besides the background, the set and the props were very well built. They were very professional-looking and made the musical come to life. One thing I have to mention is Elsa’s palace; they built a winding staircase that led up to a deck. It was quite large and must have been a bit of a hassle to build and move around, but it looked wonderful. When I came to see this production, my greatest thought was, ‘I wonder how they will do Sven and Olaf?’ and I was very shocked and impressed when a whole full-size reindeer puppet walked on stage. The puppet looked amazing, and I was blown away that a bunch of high schoolers could create something that cool. As for Olaf, Quinn Major wore all white and carried an Olaf puppet with its feet glued to theirs, which takes a lot of skill and precision.  

Overall, this production was amazing and of very high quality. Even though it finished and you can’t go see it anymore, I would definitely recommend going to any other of Eagan High School‘s productions throughout the year if they are anything like this one.