Back in 2013, long before every red-blooded preteen was singing “Let It Go,” Disney released its animated adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale “The Snow Queen” about a pair of sister princesses, Elsa and Anna, dubbing it Frozen. The feature film proved so popular — grossing a record-breaking box office total of $1.28 billion worldwide — that a stage version was soon fast-tracked for Broadway.
But as John Tartaglia, the director of the production that opened at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre on Thursday evening, explains, “Any time you’re translating something from one media to another you have to make concessions, you have to change things. And I think what they did so brilliantly was they added so many more layers to the characters. You get to know a little bit more what’s in Elsa’s mind. You get to know a lot more what’s in Anna’s mind. They really kind of went deeper, you know, and also we got to see the kids, the two princesses, a little bit more in the beginning.”
Both Tristen Buettel (Elsa) and Brooke Quintana (Anna) were first introduced to Frozen while showing the animated feature to youngsters they were babysitting. They appreciated the musical theater aspects of the story — with songs by the husband-and-wife team of Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez — but neither ever expected to be cast in the live-action stage version.
Still, when they heard that the Maltz Jupiter would be one of the first regional theaters to obtain the performance rights to the Disney show — in relatively balmy January at that — they studied up on the score and snagged auditions with Tartaglia and producing artistic director Andrew Kato.
According to Tartaglia, who had previously staged Disney’s Beauty and the Beast here, casting the two women — both making their Maltz Jupiter debuts — was an easy choice. “Brooke came in and just gave such a unique read on it. We were like, oh, that’s our Anna right away,” he says. “And Tristen proved to be equally impressive.”
When Tartaglia got the call to direct Frozen, he did not hesitate to accept, having already been a fan of the show and of the way the material evolved from the screen to the stage. “I think what they did, which was really smart, is they didn’t try to add a brand-new character or a brand-new storyline. They just kind of fleshed out what was already there that people love about the film. And you still get ‘Let It Go’,” the Oscar-winning song hit, “and you get Olaf,” the comic relief sidekick snowman, “and all the elements that made the film such a huge success.”
As with the original story, older sister Elsa is cursed with a power that turns everything she touches to ice. So she exiles herself from her beloved sister and from her home village of Arendelle to save them from herself. But Anna risks everything to reunite with Elsa. It is an emotional journey, which struck Quintana on a personal level.
“I think one of my favorite things about this show is there’s such an underlying message of self-acceptance and people wanting to be seen for who they are, understood for who they are and loved for who they are,” she says. “And I think it’s really scary and really vulnerable to try to just always be yourself. That’s something I’m learning to do for myself right now. And I think everyone can connect with that feeling of just wanting to be loved and cared for in that way.”
Similarly, Buettel is struck by the show’s themes of sisterhood and family, “in addition to the self=acceptance and the power, and, this is corny, but letting it go. And the fear that once controlled me can’t get to me now. I remember, you know, the past is in the past, and all these lines that (Elsa) says really speak to me and have a lot of meaning to me.”
“And it’s about really celebrating your uniqueness and the beauty of your powers and your individuality.,” chimes in Tartaglia. “And then also on the flip side of that is mob mentality, right? How facts can be used to scare people, how you can, you know, control people with fear. And that happens to this town, right? They hear this incredible misinformation about Elsa and Anna.”
Asked if Kato ever shared with him why he was selected to direct this production of Frozen, Tartaglia responds, “He was very sweet. He said, ‘You know, it’s a big show with a lot of magic and a lot of imagination,’ and he feels like that’s what I do well. And then I think he also felt, like I did, for all the wonderfulness of the Broadway production, that it didn’t feel as heartfelt as I would have wanted it to be, that they went for effects as opposed to heart. And maybe, he said, I could correct that imbalance.”
Nor was it lost on Kato that Frozen involves considerable puppetry, on which Tartaglia first forged his reputation in his Tony-nominated performance in Avenue Q. “That’s a bonus for me,” Tartaglia says. “It is such a part of what I do. That’s the part that feels the easiest for me, because it’s something that’s so in my world all the time, right?
“So come see a new take on ‘Frozen,’ and be caught up again in the magic and the music. And the puppets.”
FROZEN, Maltz Jupiter Theatre, 1001 E. Indiantown Road, Jupiter. Through Sunday, January 26. $74-$140. 561-575-2223 or visit jupitertheatre.org.