Disney’s Frozen is now on stage at the Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis, and wow, it’s a magical experience for fans of all ages!

This production is based on the 2018 Broadway adaptation of the popular 2013 animated film, bringing Arendelle to life with stunning costumes, new songs, and deeper character development that goes beyond the original movie.

I recently had the chance to take my teenage daughter—who grew up adoring Frozen—to see the production at the Children’s Theatre Company. I knew it would be a fun night out, but what I didn’t expect was how much the stage version would resonate with her. As someone who has loved Elsa and Anna since she was little, she had a lot to say about how the musical brought the story to life in a fresh and exciting way.

Here’s her unfiltered, thoughtful take on the show—covering everything from the costumes and music to the emotional depth of the characters.

Following her review I share some of my own thoughts!

A Teen’s Take on Disney’s Frozen at Children’s Theatre Company

Now I feel I have to start this review with my credentials. I’ve grown up surrounded by the magical world of Disney since I was just a toddler, and loved princesses so much I wanted to be one (not that I already am now)!

When the movie Frozen first came out in theaters, little 5-year-old me was ecstatic! I had dolls, clothes, and even matched as Elsa with my best friend for Halloween one year. So, I hope that gives you a clear enough view of where this review is coming from.

Now, onto the show!

Costumes

First of all, I was incredibly blown away with just the costumes as the show started. Frozen was inspired by Sámi culture in Northern Europe, and the costumes were culturally accurate and detailed! I don’t want to spoil too much, but you could tell just how much consideration was put into Nordic culture in the show’s production, such as the inclusion of a maypole! The theatre production had so much that the movie didn’t, including many new, very catchy, songs and much more depth into who Elsa and Anna were as children, and as individual characters themselves.

Back to the costumes: they all really surprised me! No shade to the movie or anything, but I wasn’t expecting to see more detail in just that aspect alone. The ballgowns and suits, the casual clothing the townsfolk wore, etc. All had so much attention to detail. It was like I truly had entered the Kingdom of Arendelle, as if it were real! Of course, Anna and Elsa’s costumes were also gorgeous. The bright colors they wore beside the muted tones the townspeople wore really made it clear who the royal family was! Each outfit had so much personality, such as Elsa’s cooler tones to match her cooler personality type, and Anna’s bright colorful warm tones to reflect off her bright, enthusiastic self was a detail I noticed the most and enjoyed! Dare I say, her clothing in the show fit her better than the movie!

And another thing I liked is just how more realistic their clothing was for the situations they were in. I don’t want to spoil too much, but Anna in the movie wearing a corset and long dress skirt with nothing but a cloak to keep her warm when she was literally climbing a mountain didn’t make much sense to me, but on stage, the wool coat and pants paired with much more fitted boots that she wore made way more sense! And may I add that it was also what I assume was a bold choice for a princess in her era – another reflection of her bold personality! And of course, Elsa’s outfits were just as beautiful as well. With the elegant, immaculately-detailed and fitted dresses that only a collected queen like herself would wear, and the sheer difference between her coronation dress and ice queen dress was something the movie didn’t depict as well! Her coronation gown was loosely fit with darker, much cooler tones, likely to reflect her own feelings at the time. To me, it pushed how much she felt she had to hide herself from everyone, especially with the gates being opened. But when she made the transition to her gorgeous ice dress, it reflected the feeling of being free and expressing herself with no judgement! With lighter colors and fit to show that! 

Mythology & Characters

I could go on about the costumes for Elsa and Anna for hours, but there are other amazing aspects of the show worth mentioning, such as the mythology and characterization. Now, in the movie, the spirits which helped Elsa and Anna’s family, and of course raised Kristoff, were trolls. But in the theater production, we get a much more mythological view of them, where those spirits aren’t trolls, but rather nymph-like forest spirits with a much more mysterious vibe to them. Though they still have that kooky personality to them, they were also able to bring out the serious air surrounding the moments they were most important and needed. I also loved how rather than being just some random spirits you could come across in the woods, they instead needed to be summoned with an eerie, entrancing chant! Though trolls were already a part of Norse mythology, I feel that adding a much more mysterious spirit instead showed us a much deeper depth into the religious practice of Nordic people at the time! Which was yet another aspect that made me feel so much more immersed in the show.

Set & Puppetry

Now, for the insanely impressive details put into the props and setting. I’ll start this off with Sven, because that was when I started to really notice just how much thought and artistry they put into their set as a whole. As expected, Sven was a puppet. A very impressive one at that! The puppets were well designed and moved so fluidly with the person controlling them, it was easy to focus so hard on them you’d forget they even were puppets!

Same with Olaf, another puppet in the show. The shapes and colors used really made him appear to be more of a creation made by kids, with his dopey smile and clumsy walk, and abstract, uneven shapes and buttons! It only made him more lovable and served as the perfect comedic relief. And I’d also like to add how it was mentioned he was a little bit of Elsa and a little bit of Anna, and you could tell with just his design. Well put together like Elsa always seemed to be, with the precision done by someone who deeply loved the magic put into him, and the silly lightheartedness Anna always portrayed. It was harder to tell that in the movie, but the theater production made it super clear.

And since I mentioned the set, I’d also like to talk about how much I loved the scenery! Warm colors to depict the warm atmosphere and weather, which showed as the townspeople danced about, which blended into the transition to cold and dark when a tragedy took place, or to reflect the feelings a character was expressing on stage. Like in all stories, the lighting and atmosphere is always a huge factor in getting the mood across, and in this production, they didn’t disappoint.

Characters

Lastly, I have a lot to say about the characterization of the characters, and how much better it was done than in the original story. Anna’s character was definitely well thought, with the development she made through the show. She started off as quirky, and somewhat clueless about the world around her due to growing up quite alone in the palace, which of course led to her not knowing much about romantic love. But I wouldn’t say she didn’t know anything about relationships in general. She was aware of the unusual nature between her and Elsa, and I think that is partially why she was so excited to have new relationships with other people (such as Hans).

Throughout the show, her growth in understanding love and her exposure to the outside world brought a nice change to her character. She remained the same outgoing princess, but she also began to understand — and even empathize with — others more deeply, especially Elsa.

Also, I really liked how Kristoff’s introduction was done, compared to the movie. It seemed much more natural in my opinion. Anyway, though the things I mentioned about Anna were made pretty clear in the movie, I still liked having the chance to see it be done in another perspective. I really like analyzing characters, which leads to Elsa.

Elsa was definitely portrayed differently than she was in the movie, in a much more realistic way. Unlike in the movie, she came off as much more anxious about things, and you really can’t blame her. She grew up isolated, thinking she and the world around her viewed her as a monster, and the moment she reveals herself to the world, she learns that her judgement was correct. Not only that, but she also had to deal with the passing of her parents and the weight of being queen, which was a very heavy burden to have when she was already dealing with everything else that had gone wrong. You really can’t blame her for running away after all of that. And of course she likely felt super guilty after scaring Anna when her powers were revealed again. So she ran off to the mountains to live in isolation again, hence allowing her to let go of her worries and burdens. But then she learns from Anna, that not everything has gone as well as she planned, because now Arendelle was covered in snow, and the only person to blame was herself. So that could’ve added more to the idea that everything she did, went wrong. But then later on we got a more clear view of her being able to face her wrongdoings, and wanting to fix them. The theater production of the story did much better at showing the effects of everything Elsa has gone through compared to the movie, honestly. Because in the movie she seemed way too collected and put together considering everything she’s been through. The musical touched more on those aspects of her and other characters, to make them all the more lovable and interesting to watch onstage.

Overall thoughts

My overall opinion is that, again, no shade to the movie, but the musical is way better than the movie in multiple ways. A solid 10/10 in my book! I just know little 6-year-old me would’ve enjoyed the show a lot, but I’m glad to have seen it now because otherwise I probably wouldn’t have noticed the artistry and thought put into it. This is my first time writing a serious review, so I did my best trying to stay on track. There’s so much more I could touch on, but thank you for reading so far and I hope this is enough to make you want to see the show too! It’s worth it, trust me!! 

My Thoughts?

I’m so glad my daughter loved the show as much as she did, because I truly enjoyed it too! The production was impressive from start to finish, with top-notch talent throughout, as can be expected from Children’s Theatre Company. My favorites were the young actors who played Anna and Elsa as children. They were absolutely incredible—they really brought their characters to life, and I was really touched by their performances. 

All of my favorite actors were in this – Reed Sigmund, Dean Holt and Autumn Ness. They each played several roles throughout the show, as did the young Anna and Elsa actors. The actors playing grown-up Anna and Elsa were visiting actors, so I had not seen them before, but they were professional and natural and definitely have great careers in front of them.

I’m always impressed by Children’s Theatre Company sets, costumes, music and the entire experience, and this was another show that was a hit for me. I’d say it was one of my favorites (Cinderella and The Grinch are my other favorites), and we’ve seen a lot!

Criticisms? Not really for this show. If anything, I might say that the show seemed to appeal more to an older audience than the movie did; meaning, grown-up kids and up, vs. younger kids. There were many younger kids in Frozen dresses in the audience, but there weren’t as many silly moments in the show as there were serious, in my opinion. Younger kids will love the magic, the fast-pace of the show, and the songs. Older audience members will appreciate the real depth of the characters (especially Elsa, who seemed possibly weepy at times). And it’s good that there are puppets used for Olaf and Sven, so kids can use their imagination a bit. And Olaf is played by a woman, which took some getting used to after seeing Olaf’s male character in the movie so many times, but she/they did a great job.

Overall, it was clear that a lot of care and talent went into every aspect of this show.

And I am honored to say I know the music director and conductor, Denise Prosek! She directed both the instrumentalists and actors in sync from the pit, even while “snow” was falling on her lol. She and the ensemble blended a variety of instruments together well, orchestrated by Victor Zupanc. 

Go see it!

Disney’s Frozen is playing at Children’s Theatre Company now through June 15th!

Get more info here.

(Disclosure: We were provided with complimentary tickets to facilitate this review. All opinions are 100% mine.)