Broadway musical 'Frozen' makes Philadelphia debut this month

As the song "For the First Time in Forever" from "Frozen" goes, there'll be music, there'll be light — that's because the Broadway musical production of the Disney movie is coming to Philadelphia.

Disney's "Frozen" makes its Philly debut on Thursday, March 21, at the Academy of Music. It is here for a three-week run ending Sunday, April 7, and a couple of actors with ties to the city — Dan Plehal, who plays Sven, and ensemble member Nick Silverio — will be leading Philadelphia audiences on the journey to the mythical kingdom of Arendelle. 

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The musical is based on the 2013 animated movie that follows orphaned Arendelle princesses, Elsa (Idina Menzel) and Anna (Kristen Bell) as they navigate their strained sisterly relationship made more complicated by Elsa's icy powers. Along the way they meet talking snowman Olaf, goofy reindeer Sven, outdoorsman Kristoff, who is "a bit of a fixer upper," and the mysterious-yet-suave Prince Hans. At the 2014 Oscars, "Frozen" earned best animated feature and best original song, for "Let It Go." It also spurned a sequel and several short films. 

Following that popularity, "Frozen" was adapted for the stage and opened on Broadway in 2018 with a dozen new songs in addition to those on the movie soundtrack. It grossed more than $150 million in two years, before closing down in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. "Frozen" is now on a North American tour. 

While the musical is based on a cartoon, the cast promises that, like the movie version, children won't be the only ones who will enjoy it.

"This show is not just for kids — the movie has taken such a hold with young audiences that we assume that the Broadway show will be for that intention," Plehal said. "There's so much humor in it, that the kids will laugh because the adults are laughing, even though they don't know what they're laughing at. It's a full beautiful Broadway show with incredible magic, gorgeous costumes, fantastic sets and lighting. It's really the whole package, and it's more than what you're used to from the animated feature."

Plehal, now a Chicago-based actor, lived in Center City for a few years after graduating from college and worked with city's Pig Iron School for theater actors. Plehal became interested in the role of Sven — which requires operating a large reindeer puppet — after honing his skills in acrobatics and physical theater, "an approach to theatre that really prioritizes using your body as your first tool of storytelling," he said.

"This reindeer puppet is a full-body puppet that I'm completely inside of; you won't see my face if you come into the show," Plehal said. He wears stilts on his feet and crutches on his arms to create the effect of Sven walking on four legs. The rest of the puppet costume is attached to Plehal with a back brace, harnesses, pulleys and velcro straps, and Sven's head is perched atop a helmet that Plehal wears.

The costume was created by the same puppet designers who worked on "The Lion King" Broadway show.

"The whole thing weighs about 50 pounds, and I have to be, more or less, a plank in it for 10 or so minutes at a time, on and off for a two hour show. So the physical demand is really high. But the payoff is so high too, because it's just magical to watch."

Plehal delivers no lines as Sven, joking that if he did have a mic in his costume audiences would hear him "breathing heavily" from the physical strain of operating the puppet. In some scenes Sven is lent a voice by his human companion Kristoff, played by actor Dominic Dorset. 

Ensemble cast member Silverio graduated from University of Pennsylvania in 2018 with an economics degree and minor in commercial dance. Silverio said he is excited to get back to the city this month. While here, he plans to teach a master class at Penn's student-run Arts House Dance Co., which Silvero was a member of in college.

"When I got this job, I was like, 'I have to stay at least until Philly.' And it ends up being I love my job," Silverio said. "And I'm going to stay for the whole time."

The ensemble cast members are onstage for nearly the entire show and serve as the "narrators of Elsa's and Anna's story," he said. The ensemble also create the visual effect of the storm created by Elsa.

"This really is a true spectacle, a Broadway show for all ages," Silverio said. "It really is a beautiful production that I think people bring their kids to and then end up loving it themselves and recommending it to their own friends."

Tickets for "Frozen" in Philadelphia are on sale online.

Disney's "Frozen"