Lake Zurich High School won a nationwide contest sponsored by Disney, with the school getting the opportunity to be one of a select few – and the only one in Illinois – to get the rights from the entertainment magnate to stage a production of its movie “Frozen.”
Last summer, Disney Theatricals partnered with MTI and the Educational Theatre Association to hold a nationwide contest to give 50 high schools the opportunity to be the first in their state to produce the “Frozen” musical.
Applicants had to explain how their high schools would incorporate goodness and a sense of community into their “Frozen” interpretation for the stage.
“It is quite exciting to kick off the “Frozen” journey with these students,” said Tom Skobel, LZHS theater director.
“I think the challenge comes with people haven’t done this before, but it also comes with the excitement that we are the first people to kind of figure out how to do these special effects, to figure out how these set changes really work, but also how vocally some of the challenges are as well,” Skobel said, calling it “really kind of cool to see.”
The school opens “Disney Frozen, The Broadway Musical,” Wednesday and has runs through April 30.
As the rights-winning recipient for Illinois, auditions were held in February for the production running this month. The production’s cast, crew and orchestra include nearly 130 students.
After eight to nine weeks of rehearsals, the production will go forth on the school’s professional grade auditorium stage, with evening and matinee performances.
Show times are nightly Wednesday through Friday. Performances on Saturday and Sunday offer 2 p.m. matinees. As of Tuesday, tickets were sold out online.
“It’s really, really, really cool,” said Elise Tyson, 15, a sophomore who performs on violin in the show. “It’s an amazing honor, I mean, I love the music.”
The story of “Frozen” is about newly crowned Queen Elsa and her younger sister Anna. Elsa has magical powers and tries her best to avoid using her icy powers but causes a lasting winter for their kingdom. The sisters are assisted by friends who bring back warm weather.
The lead parts of Elsa and Anna are shared with actors taking alternating turns. Playing Elsa are Katie McCormick, 18, a senior, and Nicole Rogus, 18, also a senior.
“I think the beauty of their [sisters Anna and Elsa] relationship is they work together, like, that’s what they discover throughout the show,” McCormick said.
Karie Angell Luc is a freelancer.