Backstage with Sandy Kenyon: Behind the scenes of 'Frozen' on Broadway
NEW YORK (WABC) -- For all who have ever wondered, how does the show go on, the head of Disney Theatrical has some answers.
Thomas Schumacher took us backstage of "Frozen" on Broadway.
"There's so many jobs," he said. "Whether they're wardrobe people, whether they're stagehands, whether they're orchestra, whether they're the prop department, who made it, who maintains it."
Helping him is one of the show's original cast members, Mattea Conforti, who played Young Anna.
"You don't have to be groomed to do this kind of business, because, you know, I wasn't groomed to do this kind of business," she said. "I just followed my passion, and whenever you follow what you want to do, anything is possible."
Shumacher took us through the many facets of the behind the scenes work.
"Of course, backstage, we have to be completely organized and very compact," Shumacher said. "But here is one of my favorite things: The hair room. Because it's full of hair, and this show is hair-heavy."
He even showed off a few tricks of the trade.
"A tiara is held on by magnets built into the wig, and hairpieces are attached with magnets," he said.
"It's like the hair has its own magic," Conforti added. "Just like the show."
And even if the show lasts only a few hours, the preparation is an all-day affair.
"Crew during the day are maintaining, cleaning, repairing, re-beading all that stuff," Schumacher said. "But during the show, your dresser is like a pit crew member. So they're there to make sure that you get in and out of your clothes, that you're safe getting out of your clothes, that you don't hurt yourself or someone else."
And in his new book, entitled "How Does the Show Go On?" the magic of the theater is revealed.
"Now, we're at a big fancy Broadway stage, but the book isn't just about that," he said. "The book is, how can you have fun making theater. But then I discovered this augmented reality. We built 14 individual movies in the book, and you can hold a phone or an iPad over it, and literally the page comes to life and you see what's happening. Because it's more than just the miracle of the actor, it's the miracle of creation that everybody here is a part of."
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