Scene from the LAHS Olion’s Production of Frozen at Duane Smith Auditorium. Photo © Thomas Graves.
Scene from the LAHS Olion’s Production of Frozen at Duane Smith Auditorium. Photo © Thomas Graves.
BY AMANDA SANCHEZ
If you haven’t seen the Los Alamos High School Olion’s production of Frozen the Broadway Musical, I encourage you to catch one of the last shows this weekend.
Frozen is such an emotionally and psychologically deep story. The cast and crew, led by director Holly Robinson, did so many things to make the story come alive in a powerful way and exceed expectations.
The cast was extremely talented and fun to watch. Katilyn Seitz-Pruitt as young Anna and Naomi Miller as young Elsa set the stage with their spunky and joyful childhood scene that captured the deep love and bond that they shared. The “Do You Want to Build a Snowman” had me in tears. The loss of that closeness of the sisters, and the death of their parents, unleashes a geyser of grief, sorrow and the other uncontainable big feelings that fuel the rest of the play.
Marina Archuleta (Anna) and Samantha Brown (Elsa) gave stellar vocal performances. Archuleta captured Anna’s exuberance and hunger for adventure and connection. Brown has a serene and grounded stage presence. Her stillness contrasted with the storm blowing all around her. In every scene they had together you can feel the longing to be together again, and fear and rejection, and all those roiling emotions are articulated beautifully with the song, “I Can’t Lose You.”
This musical fixes the most glaring flaw in the movie: Anna has a catchy duet with Hans, but doesn’t sing with Kristoff at all. But in this play, Arculeta has an extended duet with Henry Tholen (Kristoff) that captures their growing affection and trust. Well done!
The supporting actors were a joy to watch. Gyasi Atta-Fynn played Pabbie, and his singing voice made the magical spells sound super mysterious. I loved the way Andie Kelly (Bulda) interacted with all the other characters with so much affection, really driving home the theme of the play. Annie Xie was adorable and funny as Olaf, Em Hilderbrand was physically expressive as Sven, Timothy Routhsculp was entertaining as Oaken, and Zane Kretz as Hans did a great job transforming from charming prince with a few red flags into a duplicitous ruthless villain. I also have to mention my two daughters, Gloria and Ella Marksteiner: I love watching you both perform in plays!
Scene from the LAHS Olion’s Production of Frozen at Duane Smith Auditorium. Photo © Thomas Graves.
