The national tour of the hit Broadway musical Frozen, launching in Schenectady with an official opening at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre on December 4, 2019, has announced additional cast members joining its journey. A few months back we learned that Caroline Bowman and Caroline Innerbichler will play Elsa and Anna respectively. Joining them will be Austin Colby (Jersey Boys), who is married to Bowman, as Hans, F. Michael Haynie (Wicked) as Olaf, Mason Reeves (Footloose at the Muny) as Kristoff, Jeremy Morse (Waitress) as Weselton, and Collin Baja (Hello, Dolly!) and Evan Strand (Hairspray Live!) alternating as Sven. Additional casting will be announced at a later date.
An interesting side note on the casting: Austin Colby who will be playing Hans and Caroline Bowman who is playing Elsa may have a frosty onstage relationship. In real-life, however, the duo are happily married and will enjoy the excitement of touring in Frozen together.
Frozen is a stage adaptation of the hit 2013 film of the same name, and is loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen’s fairytale The Snow Queen. The composing team of Kristin Anderson Lopez and Robert Lopez won an Academy Award for the song “Let it Go”, one of the handful of songs they crafted for the film. For the Broadway stage production, the duo augmented their score with additional songs. Jennifer Lee, who wrote and directed the film, adapted her screenplay for the stage. Michael Grandage directed the show (which continues to run at Broadway’s St. James Theatre) and Rob Ashford provided the choreography. Frozen was nominated for a 2018 Tony Award for Best Musical.
Frozen’s creative team also includes scenic and costume design by two-time Tony and Olivier Award winner Christopher Oram, lighting design by six-time Tony winner Natasha Katz, sound design by seven-time Tony nominee Peter Hylenski, video design by Tony winner Finn Ross, puppet design by Michael Curry, hair design by David Brian Brown, makeup design by Anne Ford-Coates, and special effects design by Jeremy Chernick.
Mark Robinson is the author of the two-volume encyclopedia The World of Musicals, The Disney Song Encyclopedia, and The Encyclopedia of Television Theme Songs. His forthcoming book, Sitcommentary: The Television Comedies That Changed America, will hit the shelves in October, 2019. He maintains a theater and entertainment blog at markrobinsonwrites.com.