Chosen for Frozen: Roles filled for highly anticipated summer musical at Rainbow Stage
After more than a month of waiting and frozen with anticipation, the cast for what could turn out to be one of Rainbow Stage's most popular shows has been set.
"I've been dreaming of this my whole life. Before I was two, I was singing and dancing and playing the songs, so it's super fun that I get to be in it," said said nine-year-old Emeline Arnold, one of two girls chosen to play young Anna in this summer's production of Frozen: The Broadway Musical in Winnipeg.
"Anna is a hero. She, like, saved Elsa and I get to be Anna, so I get to be a hero."
About 500 people typically show up to open auditions for Rainbow Stage productions but the call for Frozen drew 1,000 hopeful performers, says artistic director Carson Nattrass.
Of those, 300 were young people auditioning for one of three roles.
They sang and danced at the end of January in the frozen days of a Winnipeg winter. It took two days to get through just the young stars before it was narrowed down to a couple dozen, Nattrass said.
They were given more songs and some scenes — and a week to practise them — before coming back. In the meantime, Nattrass and his crew evaluated the adult applicants.
"My worst nightmare came true, which was that they were all good," he said about the full roster of people auditioning. "Like, why can't some of you not be able to sing? That would have been helpful."
Kari Castillo, 10, who won the other Anna role, learned she got the part when she saw an email pop up in her mom's inbox.
The house was then filled with screams, which made her dad panic because he thought something was wrong, she said.
"Anna's just so bubbly and I really love her," Castillo said. "I also love Anna's bravery. She could climb that whole mountain just to talk to her sister."
The young Annas met young Elsa, also known as 10-year-old Layla North, on Wednesday at Rainbow Stage in Kildonan Park, alongside their older counterparts Julia Davis (Anna) and Tiera Lee Watts (Elsa).
The rest of the cast will be announced any day and the musical will run Aug. 7-24. It will be the first time the stage version of the popular Disney animated film will be in Winnipeg.
"I honestly didn't think I'd get the role because there were so many amazing people there. It just feels awesome," said North. "I just love the story. It's kind of like you don't need to actually have a man or, like, another person to find true love. It can be a sisterly love."
Wednesday was the first time all five actresses have been together. They glanced across the 2,200 empty seats and wide stage of Canada's largest and longest-running outdoor theatre as a cold breeze passed through.
"Are you frozen?" Nattrass asked, eliciting chuckles.
Rehearsals begin a month before opening night and will run six days a week, eight hours a day. The now-strangers will soon be like family.
Two weeks into rehearsals, the cast will move to the stage to work with the set, costumes and "the magic," Nattrass said.
"It's going to be a really fun summer [with] a really great group," said Davis, who played the title character of Ariel in Rainbow Stage's production of The Little Mermaid in 2023.
"Summers at Rainbow are just so magical."
Watts, who makes her Rainbow Stage debut in Rock of Ages earlier in the summer, is thrilled to be Elsa because of its connection with Idina Menzel, who voiced the animated version.
"She's the reason I started singing many, many years ago when I was the girls' age," she said, referring to her younger castmates. "It's always been a huge dream of mine to step into a role she originated. This is a huge moment for me."
Frozen is hot ticket
Even though opening night is five months off, tickets are already a hot item.
"I've never been able to say this at this time of year, but tickets are going fast. It's the fastest that tickets have ever sold," Nattrass said. "It is the furthest ahead we've ever been. It's double our best year."
About 10,000 have already been sold for the 21 performances, leading to a strong possibility the run might be extended, he said.
"It's starting to feel like one of the biggest ones we've ever done — it's very possible," he said. "And finding this incredible talent you met today, it was a long journey but they're just awesome."
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