by Cari Lynn Pace *
Santa Rosa Junior College’s Theatre Arts Department is the first out of the gate of what is sure to be a plethora of productions throughout the Bay Area of Disney’s Frozen, The Broadway Musical. It’s a grand scale production capturing the best of fantasy and fine singing. The smash Broadway hit written by Jennifer Lee with music and lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez is presented on SRJC campus in Santa Rosa under the direction of Sarah Wintermeyer.
This 34-person cast, ranging from 9 to 82 years old, unfolds the story of two princess sisters who were once inseparable as children. They grow apart when magical powers force one to break their bond to protect the other.
The huge chorus fills the theatre with powerful voices under the musical direction of Gordon Pyle. Choreography by Jolene Johnson fills the stage with precision moves from waltzes to country dances.
Little Anna is the pigtailed younger princess, opening the show with the overwhelming energy and talent of Audrey Caviness. She is matched in lovely duets with young Rubye Posey as the older sister, Elsa. Elsa fears her growing power to bring forth unbidden frozen effects is a curse. She struggles mightily to hide it by quarantining her beloved little sister to protect her.
In a marvelously clever stage transition, 15 years pass and the young princesses become adults. Elsa, now played by Reilly Trainor, is to be made queen of the Arendelle kingdom. Anna, now played by Danielle Schmidt, wonders why her older sister abandoned her, but Elsa still hides her exhausting secret in anguish. Their kingdom is frozen and Anna decides to seek out the sister she loves, no matter the cost.
Many actors contribute to the laughable mirth of the story, including Dana Carlton as a feisty Duke of Weselton, Stephen Donlon as Hans , a last-in-line Prince from a neighboring kingdom, and August Curtis as Kristoff, a lowly ice monger who braves the journey to help Anna find her sister.
Frozen fills the stage of the Burbank Auditorium, a large state-of-the-art theatre with comfortable seating and a first-class sound system. Impressive rear-screen projections move the action from sunny gardens to ice-bound castles.
Frozen is remarkable with so many impressive changes, transporting you to from an impressive church chapel to a mountainous bridge and then a sparkling ice castle. These set designs by Austin Mueck and Kyle Mcharris are enhanced by the rear-screen projections (also by Mueck), and lighting designed by Noah Hewitt.
Frozen shows off amusing and most impressive teamwork. Director Wintermeyer notes there were 35 crew members working to bring this show to the stage. The SRJC program lists more than a dozen names on the costume and makeup team alone, with costume designs by Coleen Scott Trivett. The multi-generation ensemble worked together to build sets, handle tech, and craft puppets like the clever snowman Olaf (Callum Alves) and the reindeer Sven (Jathan Reynolds.) They’ve all contributed to a stunning success.
Frozen truly makes magic happen onstage!
Playing through November 15, 2026 in the Burbank Auditorium on the campus of Santa Rosa Junior College, 1501 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa.
Click HERE for more information and tickets.
Photos by Ben Trivett
Cari Lynn Pace is a long-time Bay Area theatre critic whose reviews were regularly featured in the Marinscope Community Newspapers and a member of the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle and Marquee Theater Journalists Association..
