Sandy Kenyon reviews 'Frozen: The Broadway Musical'
NEW YORK (WABC) -- Disney's "Frozen" was a mega hit as a movie that has now made the move to the Great White Way. But does the new Broadway version live up to its popular predecessor?
Staging a musical based on a movie that made more than a billion dollars has been compared to walking a tightrope -- producers want to draw adults to the stage show while satisfying young fans of the original movie.
And make no mistake, the highest grossing animated film of all time is a tough act to follow.
How do you make the film's most famous tune sound fresh and new? How do you make a cartoon come to life? Carefully, joyously and in the end, triumphantly, with new songs that are darker and skewed to older audiences.
Caissie Levy plays Queen Elsa, who turns her world cold so convincingly. Patti Murin plays her sister Anna, destined to remain apart from Elsa for most of the show. But it all works, and beautifully at that.
"Frozen" is wonderful, magical experience that takes the film to another level, and the show will run for years.
Olaf comes to life as a puppet, and the reindeer is there to provide comic relief. But the bottom line is you don't have to be familiar with "Frozen," the movie, to have a lot of fun at this musical. It is fun for the entire family.
The show is from Disney Theatrical, owned by the same parent company as WABC-TV.
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