"Frozen Jr" by Spotlight Theatre Company.

Squire Performing Arts Centre, Nottingham.

It's only recently that I saw the Disney film of "Frozen", I am so late to the party, I know! I've not been the biggest fan of this musical, the film left me slightly cold, but my heart has melted at this production. For those who don't know the story, or need a reminder, this is what it's all about.....

When Queen Elsa accidentally sets off an eternal winter in the town of Arendelle, her younger sister Anna (along with her friends Kristoff, Olaf, and Sven) goes off on an adventure to find her sister and save the kingdom. Facing an unsuspected villain, unpredictable ice powers, and something new waiting round every corner, Anna must fight alongside her friends to bring back summer. "Frozen Jr" reveals how true love can come in many forms, and can at times be deceptive, that the bond between sisters is something truly special. 

Amy Flatman plays Anna on Friday evening, Saturday evening and Sunday matinee. Amy has a wonderful talent for producing believable chemistry with every character she interacts with on stage; Amy also has a lovely control in her vocals which makes her very easy to listen to. I loved the duet of "Love Is An Open Door" and the timing with Preston was spot on.

Erin Hanby plays Anna on Saturday matinee and Sunday evening. 

Hemani Kader plays teen Anna. We don't get to see too much of Hemani, but the taster of her talent we did see shows a promising future on stage.

Emily Taylor plays young Anna. I remember Emily from one of the shows at the Arts Theatre and remember that her smile just lights up the stage, and here she is again lighting up the stage. You can really tell that Emily is having a ball with Spotlight and especially playing young Anna because her enthusiasm is completely contagious. The duet of "Do You Want To Build A Snowman" was packed with fun with Emily and Eliza.

Emily Holder plays Elsa on Friday evening, Saturday evening and Sunday matinee. Emily gets the task of singing that big song from the musical, "Let It Go", and she really did. I was really impressed with Emily's vocals and that big note was pitch perfect, so perfect that it gave me shivers. The scene where Elsa gets an on stage costume change is carried out with split timing and, while Elsa isn't really classed as Disney Princess, there's no doubting that Emily looked every inch a Princess. 

Kayla Burgess plays Elsa on Saturday matinee and Sunday evening.

Karin Hurst plays teen Elsa, and as with Hemandi, her time on stage was limited, but a nice taster for her future stage roles.

Eliza Harrison plays young Elsa. The pairing of Eliza with Emily was heaven made because they are both as cute as two buttons, they compliment each other wonderfully, and their duet, as mentioned above was packed with innocent fun.

Hemi Lewis plays King Agnarr and Lucy Horton plays Queen Iduna.

Jason Thompson plays Oaken, and Jason quite literally stands out due to his height, but not only that but he has a lovely comic feel surrounding him, and this role. The song "Hygge" perfectly represents this fact along with the fun choreography; plus he is another actor who has a great smile, which also makes this scene great fun to watch.

Oaken's wife is played by Mia Kostrzebski. The Oaken children are played by Sophie Brown, Seth Burgess, Hattie Buxey, Lottie Buxey, Tessa Gibbons, Kiera Hicken and Holly towey.

Tom Blakey plays Weselton, the  Duke Of Weasel Town - oops, sorry Weselton. What a marvellous young actor Tom is going to be, well he is already, injecting real comedy into this character. Even when he wasn't acting, I found myself watching him just so that I didn't miss any of his stage comedy.  Tom also went down a storm with the audience on Friday night as well.

Bria Spencer plays Pabbie and Evie Andrew plays Bulda.

Megan Holder is Olaf, the magical snowman who the two sisters created when they were younger. Megan operates the puppet Olaf, created by Amanda Hall, as well as voicing the character. As with any good puppet master, she made sure that my eyes were focused on the Olaf character and not Megan the actor. One of my favourite fun characters in this production.

Preston Nash plays Hans and what a twist of a character for Preston to play. For those who don't know, Prince Hans "falls" for Anna but that's where the twist comes in, as we discover later on in the musical. As previously mentioned the duet of "Love Is An Open Door" has been timed to perfection, showing the hard work not only Preston and Amy have put in, but the Musical Director Laura Ellis has invested in this piece.

George Young plays Kristoff, and another successful character role for George. You can always guarantee that George will deliver a solid performance.

Scarlett Coleman-Smith is Sven the Reindeer. A lovely comedy part for Scarlett which I enjoyed tremendously.

Another actor who really drew me to them was Jack Lamb as the Bishop. His voice is so mature and commanding. He has a voice that will always sound great in the theatre, whether that be musical theatre or in play form.

Snow and Ice are played by Darcey Adams and Hermione Cumbers respectively.

The Snow Chorus are Sophie Benner, Lyla Calladine, Hallie Gregory, jessica Griffiths, Zara halse, Lucy Horton, Willow Hunter, Karin Hurst and Jessica Sutcliffe.

The Castle Staff are played by Ella-Mai Blower, Stephanie Booth, Abigail Cusack, Jasmine Leek, Ace Merkelt and Charlotte Wright.

There are hundreds more who play the Townspeople, Hidden Folk and feature in the "Summer section". Ok, maybe not hundreds but A LOT!!

Directed by Amanda Hall - need I say more? Whenever, and whatever Amanda is involved in turns gold, I think she ought to be renamed Amanda "Midas" Hall.

Choreographed by Bethany Wear, this was a job and a half but what a performance Bethany teased out of everyone. I especially enjoyed the opening section with the young Elsa and Anna as well as the "Summer" scenes, but there was not one piece that I didn't love choreographically.

Musical director is Laura Ellis. This creative team at Spotlight are like well oiled cogs because they work so smoothly together. All you have to do is listen to this cast singing to recognise the work that has been put into this production by Laura.

The soundtrack contains, not only the well known songs like "Let It Go", "Love Is An Open Door", "Do You Want To Build A Snowman" and "For The First time In Forever", but also has some lesser known earworms like "In Summer" and the tongue twisty "Kristoff's Joik Fixer Upper".

Lighting design is by Tom Mowat; basically see above regarding the creative team. There are some lovely touches with the lighting that highlight the intended actor in such a beautiful light. Pure class.

Sound design is by Rob Kettridge, and all I need to say is "ditto" to the above. The sound is perfectly balanced between the soundtrack and the vocals, another indication to the work that has been invested into this show.

A basic set, provided by Spotlight as well as Roydon Charlesworth. You could argue that a backdrop or video design could add something to a production, but I didn't miss any of that because the quality and strength of these performers drew all of your attention to them, so I certainly did not miss any extras in the set department.

This production will certainly warm the cockles of your heart. The cast's energy spills over from the stage like the haze used to replicate the coldness, and of course there's snow falling. Don't get left out in the cold, go and chill out with this fun and immensely enjoyable musical that isn't just for young girls who dream of being Disney Princesses. it's for anybody who appreciates great entertainment from the future stars of Nottingham's stages. And if I can just mention Grace Hodgett-Young who was once a Spotlight member who is now starring with Nicole Scherzinger in "Sunset Boulevard" and recently nominated for an Olivier Award this last week. You never know where your love of theatre will take you! Today Squire Performing Arts Centre.... 2025 London's west End. Just saying!!

"Frozen Jr" is at Squire Performing Arts Centre until Sunday evening with matinees on both Saturday and Sunday.

Photography by Martin Holtom and Liam Arthur Petruccio-Hall