by Bonnie Collings
Warragul Youth Theatre's performance of Disney's "Frozen Jr" melted the hearts of everyone in the audience, both young and old.
The opening performance saw an auditorium filled with excited theatre goers, and a large amount of young children dressed in their best Elsa and Anna costumes, singing their favourite songs before the curtain went up.
The ensemble of "Frozen Jr" played a major role in bringing the show to life. Using their strong vocal talent, simple but highly effective choreography and clever stage blocking, the ensemble kept the narrative of the show moving, making the audience aware of key details through the storytelling nature of their songs
From the very beginning of the show, the connection between fear and the cold is apparent. Queen Iduna reminds Elsa that her magic must remain secret, all while the ensemble showcase the kingdom's love for summer and warmth.
The theme of snow and ice being linked to fear is repeated throughout the show, particularly in Elsa's battle with her emotions, and the townspeople branding her a "monster" when she spirals out of control.
When Elsa is captured by Hans, the theme repeats again. Hans comments that even Elsa is shivering from the blizzard, but with her comment "I'm not cold", it's clear that she's shaking with fear.
The two youngest cast members, Bella Tully as young Elsa and Beatrice Wijgers as young Anna impressed the audience with their singing and dedication to character. "Frozen Jr" was the first WYT performance for both girls, their hard work in rehearsals shone through on stage.
One of the most creative stage techniques in the show was the gradual age progression of Elsa and Anna during "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?".
Throughout the song, the audience watched the girls grow up in the form of different actresses taking the stage. It was interesting to see how each performer portrayed their characters, added a little touch of themselves into the role.
In particular, all of the Elsa performers did an excellent job exploring the princess' ongoing fear as her magic got stronger.
Rachel Baker took on the bubbly and strong role of adult Anna. In my first meeting with Rachel, she said finding confidence was a challenge she was working to overcome.
It's safe to say that Rachel found her confidence because she shone on stage. Rachel embodied the spirit of Anna perfectly, capturing her love for everyone, her fun personality and her determination to protect her sister.
AJ Glaister portrayed adult Elsa, beautifully capturing the Queen's ongoing battle with her emotions and her power.
Throughout the performance, AJ used body language, powerful vocals and strong stage presence to highlight how Elsa was feeling. You could hear the emotions in AJ's voice during "Let it Go", a passion filled performance that showcased their impressive vocal talent.
The song also featured an impressively quick costume change in which Elsa appears in her iconic icy blue gown. A chorus of children in the audience joined in AJ's performance, singing along to "Let it Go".
Representing Elsa's powers on stage were the Snow Chorus, a group of four dancers that utilised movement and expression to encapsulate Elsa's fear.
The movements of the Snow Chorus reflected Elsa's struggle to hide her powers, appearing on stage with strong, scary movements when her fear grew too large.
Eventually, as Elsa embraced her powers, the movements of the chorus became united with Elsa's, showing her true strength.
The choreography of the snow chorus was a clever way of representing magic without lighting or special effect tricks.
In a first for WYT, two wearable puppets were used on stage, bringing to life the characters of Olaf and Sven.
Audiences weren't expecting a full size reindeer to walk through the palace gates, filling the auditorium with oohs and ahhs when he first appeared.
Lucinda Reeves and Lucas Demicoli took on the role of manoeuvring the Sven puppet on stage, a tricky task that involved lots of rehearsals and learning how to move with limited vision.
Kaelan Lowe took on the impressive task of portraying Olaf as both a face character and a puppet. Ensuring he hit all his own facial expressions, movements and lines, Kaelan also had to puppeteer Olaf to match.
These puppets were a fantastic addition to the show and showcased the talent and dedication of the young cast members who brought them to life on stage.
The set design of "Frozen Jr" was simple and highly effective. Using a riser and archway set in the middle of the stage, the stage was able to be transformed from a castle to a mountain with minimal set changes. Swapping in and out a series of small props, including photos furthered this creative worldbuilding. I particularly enjoyed the inclusion of the Joan of Arc picture which Anna references in "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?"
Overall, Warragul Youth Theatre's performance of "Frozen Jr" was incredible.
Breaking their ticket sale records across six shows, "Frozen Jr" was by far the most impressive show Warragul Youth Theatre have undertaken.
With a fabulous young cast full of passion, talent and joy, it was hard not to leave the theatre smiling and humming the tune of "Let it Go".