As it approaches its much-anticipated Australian premiere in Sydney in July, Disney’s Frozen is thrilled to announce the incredible line up of performers that will join Jemma Rix (Elsa) and Courtney Monsma (Anna) in the production.
Sydney born and bred, Matt Lee will play Olaf, the beloved snowman, in this new production from the producers of Aladdin, The Lion King and Mary Poppins. Matt Lee is one of Australia’s best-known entertainers with musical theatre, dance, choreography, film and TV credits to his name.
Previously starring as Bert in Disney and Cameron Mackintosh’s production of Mary Poppins for which he won the Helpmann Award for Best Actor, Matt has been seen on the small screen as a Logie nominated judge on So You Think You Can Dance Australia and was also motion capture principal in the Oscar winning film, Happy Feet – in which he brought the loveable tap dancing penguin Mumble to life.
Thomas McGuane will step into the role of Hans. Originally from regional Victoria, Thomas is a graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) and currently resides in Melbourne. Thomas most recently played the role of Bob Gaudio in the Australian tour of Jersey Boys.
Kristoff will be played by Sean Sinclair. Originating from Sydney, Sean graduated from the Australian Institute of Music in Sydney with a Bachelor of Music, is a member of The Tap Pack, and was most recently seen in Disney’s Aladdin where he understudied the roles of Aladdin and Babkak. He was also a Swing and Dance Captain in the Australian production of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.
NIDA graduate and three-time Green Room Award nominee Aljin Abella will play Weselton. Jonathan MacMillan and Lachlan McIntyre will share the role of Sven. Sharing the role of Young Elsa will be Deeana Cheong Foo, Amelia Heaven, Sara Petrovski and Lucy Famborough. Sharing the role of Young Anna will be Chloe Delle-Vedove, Faith Hedley, Sabrina Franco and Sienna Kann.
Joining the cast also is Jakob Ambrose, Justin Anderson, Tanika Anderson, Blake Appelqvist, Sage Douglas, Nicholas Eaton, Mitchell Fistrovic, Joti Gore, Samm Hagen, Jayme-Lee Hanekom, Kimberley Hodgson, Todd Jacobsson, Jessica Kane, Andrew Kroenert, Jordan Malone, Hayley Martin, Adele Parkinson, Liam Peel, Anthony Sheppard, Thalia Smith, Sophie Weiss and Brendan Xavier.
Based on the 2013 film written by a trio of Oscar winners, Frozen features music and lyrics by the creators of the film score Kristen Anderson-Lopez (Up Here, Winnie the Pooh, In Transit) and EGOT winner Robert Lopez (Avenue Q, The Book of Mormon, Up Here) and a book by Jennifer Lee (Zootopia, Wreck-It Ralph), the film’s screenwriter and director (with Chris Buck). Frozen won 2014 Oscars for Best Song (Let It Go) and Best Animated Feature.
Frozen’s director is Michael Grandage, a Tony Award winner (Red) and director of three Olivier Award-winning Outstanding Musicals (Merrily We Roll Along, Grand Hotel and Guys and Dolls), and Rob Ashford, Tony Award winner (Thoroughly Modern Millie) and multiple Tony and Olivier Award nominee, is choreographer.
The design team includes scenic and costume design by two-time Tony and Olivier Award winner Christopher Oram (Wolf Hall Parts 1 & 2, The Cripple of Inishmaan, Evita), lighting design by six time Tony Award winner Natasha Katz (Aladdin, Hello Dolly! and the upcoming The Music Man starring Hugh Jackman) and sound design by seven-time Tony nominee Peter Hylenski (Motown; Beetlejuice; Moulin Rouge!).
Video design by Tony winner Finn Ross (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Jagged Little Pill), puppet design by Michael Curry (The Lion King, Spamalot, Beetlejuice), hair design by David Brian Brown (Dear Evan Hansen; Moulin Rouge!; Mrs. Doubtfire), makeup design by Anne Ford-Coates (On Your Feet!, Oklahoma!) and special effects design by Jeremy Chernick (Aladdin, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, West Side Story).
Two-time Tony Award winner Stephen Oremus (Wicked, The Book of Mormon, Kinky Boots) is music supervisor and creates vocal, incidental and dance arrangements. He is joined on the music team by Tony nominee Dave Metzger (orchestrations), Chris Montan (executive music producer) and David Chase (additional dance arrangements).
Frozen opened on Broadway in March 2018 and has set and broken four St. James Theatre house records. At the time of opening it held the record for the largest advance ticket sales in Broadway history.
A full-length stage work told in two acts, Frozen is the first and only incarnation of the tale that expands upon and deepens its indelible plot and themes through new songs and story material from the film’s creators; in fact, this new stage production features more than twice as much music as the film.
Like the Disney Theatrical Broadway musicals that have come before it, Frozen is a full evening of theatre running over two hours.
Frozen opens at Sydney’s Capitol Theatre in July 2020. For more information, visit: www.frozenthemusical.com.au for details.
Image: The Company of Frozen (Broadway) – photo by Deen van Meer