"Sometimes rousing, often dull, alternately dopey...In ways that are both successful and not, you can feel the director straining to make something artistically worthy of the property’s commercial promise...The opening suggests that 'Frozen' might prove to be unusually coherent...Once the castle gates swing open...a different style and palette take over, and 'Frozen' begins its long descent into confusion...The somber and the silly are not blending, visually, musically or emotionally."
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"There is altogether too little magic in the kingdom of Arendelle...Director Grandage’s reach is less ambitious. In lieu of the great outdoors, he moves much of the show to lofty and stuffy interiors, jettisoning a lot of the action and yielding a show whose energy feels substantially less animated all around. It would be one thing if 'Frozen’s' stiffness were in the service of a deeper take on the material, but its already shaky plot seems even less secure...It plays things safe."
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"The ensemble is bright and buoyant, with the regal Caissie Levy belting her heart out as Elsa and the adorable Patti Murin charming the lederhosen off everyone as Anna...There are real thrills and chills in many of the musical’s magical moments...There’s also a general feeling of padding to the show...The majority of Lopez and Anderson-Lopez’s new songs are, while serviceable and sweet, a bit generic...'Frozen' has its ups and downs...It may not be brilliant, but it’s certainly hygge."
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"If you liked 'Frozen' on screen, you’ll like it onstage. Michael Grandage’s fantastically elaborate production is faithful to the spirit, if not always the letter, of the movie...For my part, I found both to be well made but insipid and largely humorless, though the stage version is more tedious. The stagecraft, to be sure, is spectacular, but it serves no independent poetic vision...It exists solely to supply a live-action equivalent of Disney’s computer-generated animation."
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"'Let It Go' does what all good, over-played tunes must: It sounds fresh as — what else? — fallen snow...'Frozen' doesn’t consistently live up to 'Let It Go,' its book by Jennifer Lee often feeling rushed, more concerned with hitting the movie’s beats...than taking the time to just enjoy the characters...Anna and her pals’ adventure lacks the journey-like feel of the film...A musical that, like most Disney productions, is never less than competent and frequently much more."
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"Adults, with or without tots, may not be as thrilled by this polished but predictable and wow-free adaptation...Playing it so safe is like wearing boots for a spin at a skating rink. You won’t fall down — but you won’t dazzle either...The production is as old-fashioned as it is short on surprises — even if huge jagged icicles arise from nowhere and there’s a flashy costume trick...Levy brings a regal bearing and soaring voice as Elsa. Murin, as Anna, radiates sweetness and adds goofy good fun."
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"Credit the thawing trend in 'Frozen' to the lovable characters of Jennifer Lee, and to the warmly human cast...Levy is stunning as Elsa...Murin makes a darling Anna...To the extent that a plot exists at all, it’s a soggy one...The real conflict, the stuff of drama, is all internal — Elsa battling her inner self — and difficult to dramatize...'Frozen' belongs to Elsa, who has the heroic stature and tragic flaw of a true heroine — but no villainous anti-hero to overcome in battle. What a waste."
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"For anyone expecting more than a straight-up rehash of the movie on stage, however, this pricey production will seem low on inspiration...'Frozen' doesn't entirely go wrong, but it does evince signs of the struggle to establish a consistent, unifying tone and to settle on a center in a story inherently bifurcated by having two heroines kept apart for most of the action...Rather than serving to vary the tone and leaven the gloom, the comedy interludes too often just feel strained."
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