Frozen - Live at the Hyperion / Tips & Review

[WebmasterMaryJo]

I thought I would start this thread where we can discuss the new Frozen-Live at the Hyperion show that premiered on 27 May 2016.

Blog: Frozen-Live at the Hyperion

Link to behind the scenes interviews: Interview videos

Other threads :

Frozen to be performed 3x per day (Babe the Blue Ox)

The full play, recorded on opening day (and did a great job, just watched it):

Fastpass Location:
Fastpasses are distributed at park opening and are disconnected from other fastpasses (typical for show fastpasses). They are distributed for shows in order of showing, so if you want to watch the first show, you need to be in line early, then the second, and so on. The theater seats 1,800 people.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Review notes 5/26/2016:

I saw the first audience showing of Frozen (media event). Despite it being their first show, the actors did a great job. There is a cast of 107 total, with 24 cast members performing per show:

1 Anna
2 Elsa
3 Hans
4 Kristoff
5 Sven
6 Olaf
7 Duke of Weselton
8 Mother
9 Father
15 ensemble for all the other parts

Th show is about an hour long.

I recommend sitting a little off center. I sat 6 or 7 rows from the front right in the middle and there are a couple of scenes where I was at a slight disadvantage.



I liked sitting in the orchestra section. I think if you sit in mezzanine or balcony you'll see more of the maneuverings to get in place for the following scenes. In orchestra you do not see that, so easy to get into the story. I recommend sitting back a little so you can take in the effects better. They use a curtain they call the Aurora, and the projections go on that and the stage so the audience is immersed in the setting. There is also a 44,000 pound LED screen backdrop that is used for the scenery, and a big turntable on stage that they use for time/place progression. I thought they did a great job with all of that.

In the picture below, the waterfall is flowing and the water is rippling. You can even see it out to the edge of the stage. I thought that was cool.



The story follows the animated feature film pretty well. There are seven songs, and they had to change them a bit to include the ensemble, and they do it really well. There are some pretty funny encounters - Duke of Weselton had us laughing. I loved the puppets and the actors working them - Sven and Olaf. Sven, especially, is very animated.

We go from the ice harvesters singing "Frozen Heart", where we see a young Kristoff and baby Sven, to Anna and Elsa playing in the palace, where it all begins with the song, "Do You Want to Build a Snowman." Mid-song the girls grow into adults, and then lose their parents. The show had a short time to show this, and I think they did a great job. From there we go to the coronation, with the song, "For the First Time in Forever." There are enjoyable scenes, and Anna and Hans meet, singing, "Love is an Open Door."

Elsa flees after losing control of her ice powers, and Anna goes after her. Here we go to the snowy scene where Elsa performs the famous "Let it Go" song. There is a cool effect here (no spoilers), and the audience was appreciative (cool job). The scene fades out to another snowy scene, and we get a brief glimpse of Oaken, and an adult Kristoff and Sven are introduced, where they sing "Reindeer are Better Than People." Anna finds them and they start their journey. One of my favorite scenes happens here, but I don't want to give spoilers. It was cool how they integrated the background imagery with live action. They meet up with Olaf, and he sings his song, "Summer" with the ensemble - nicely done. They then find Elsa, but leave after she loses control again.

As Anna is in need of help, Kristoff takes her to his rock troll friends - beautiful change in scenery, and again nice incorporation of background with live action. They sing their 'Fixer Upper" song, but realize Anna needs true loves kiss to help save her. Kristoff takes her to the palace and leaves her with Hans, and things don't work out well. We then go to the ice for the final scenes between the main characters. I'm sure everyone has seen the animated feature, but I won't spoil for those who may not have seen it. There is another cool scene (again, kudos to the technical director), and a touching finale. Here the story veers from the animated feature, in that the parents off-scene also sing part of the finale song, and it comes full circle about closing doors and opening them to relationships. "Love is an Open Door" is the finale song, and here it refers to Anna & Elsa, and really ties it together - it's about redemption here, and really well done.

During certain scenes it sure felt like it was colder, but could have just been the environment and perception.

Other notes:

The panel after the premiere included from left to right: Jason Webb (musical supervisor), Christopher Windom (choreographer), Tony nominated Liesel Tommy (director), Dana Harrel (executive creative director), and the interviewer (I'll look for his name). They told us about their part in the musical - they've been planning this since December 2014, and had from the middle of January until now to get the set ready for this production. Out of more than 3,500 performers, they chose 106, and have over 1,000 costumes (two full sets per actor+), and 173 pairs of shoes (ha ha). The material for the costumes come from all over the world, and made here, locally. Anna's coronation dress (that we got to see up close) has hand-stitched embellishments. All vocals are sung live without any audio enhancement. There is a huge ice chandelier over the audience and it has 60 individual ice shards and over 500 points of light. Doors are an important them in Frozen and there are seven that have been recreated from the animated feature.




I had fun interviewing some of the people involved. Though I geeked out talking to the technical director, Mitch Atkins, I had a lot of fun back stage talking to Scott Silson (puppet master) and meeting Sven.

 

[guynhawaii]

Aloha,

Thank-you for the time and effort for the review.

By the way, where is the distribution for the show's FPs? There at the theater?

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Aloha,

Thank-you for the time and effort for the review.

By the way, where is the distribution for the show's FPs? There at the theater?

Fastpasses are distributed to the left of the theater. So, as you approach it, turn left, and you'll see blue rolling kiosks.

 

[daisy_77]

I enjoyed watching your interview Mary Jo. This show looks amazing!

 

[KCmike]

Fantastic recap without giving to much. I for one was not excited to see Aladdin go away into Yesterland but I am getting excited for the new stage show. I purposely haven't watched any of the videos that are already out there. I hope its easier to get fast passes for this than when Radiator Springs Racers opened. We will be staying offsite so no early entry into DCA for us.

 

[Nonsuch]

...I hope its easier to get fast passes for this than when Radiator Springs Racers opened...

The Frozen Musical is featured in recent Disneyland TV ads, which is likely to increase demand for fastpasses.

 

[JayLaLa]

Thanks for the review! I will miss Aladdin, but excited to see something new!

 

[Astylla]

We saw it today and yea I'm a huge Frozen fan but this really impressed me. We arrived around 9:30 for FP and it was already being distributed for the final show. It was worth the wait and exceptionally enjoyable . Aladdin will always be special but this truly sets itself apart.

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

Any recommendations on how to do both Frozen and Radiator Springs? Get a FP for Frozen and head to RSR immediately? Get a FP for both? Get on RSR first then Frozen FP? We HAVE to see the first show of the day due to time.

 

[JayLaLa]

I would get a frozen FP first. It's not connected, so you can go immediately and get a RSR FP. But my experience (a year ago) was that RSR FP didn't run out for a couple hours, so if you prefer to ride at night, wait awhile before getting the FP.

 

[Astylla]

Definitely get Frozen first, they will go fast and best to plan around the show IMO. We got in orchestra section by hovering across the street exactly before/at the time posted. It was worth the wait and we were in the third row on the left end of the "center" section of seats ( the second set with the guard rail).

 

[figment_jii]

I'm heading home today, so hopefully I'll be able to download my camera and find a few good photos, but in the meantime, a few observations.

I was lucky enough to see the show on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. My family saw the second show of the day all three times. I got there around 8:30 am on Friday and they were distributing tickets for the second show. On Saturday, I got the FP around 8:40 am and on Sunday, it was about 8:50 am. I actually heard them announce that they had run out of FP for the first show at 8:40 am on Sunday (an EMH morning in DCA). So, overall, it looks like if you want a FP for the first show, you have to get your FP within the first half-hour (at least at this point).

On Friday and Saturday, by the time I got to DCA there was really no line left, but there was quite a line on Sunday. It took me about 20 minutes to get the FP. While they are distributing FP and there is a line, you can only enter the FP queue from the Hollywood Backlot (formerly Mad T Party) area. They put up temporary barricades so you cannot walk down Hollywood Blvd and turn left at the end of the street.

As mentioned, the Frozen FP is disconnected from the rest of the FP system, so you can get it and then go get another FP. They are scanning tickets now (they did not on Friday), so like all FPs, everyone's tickets must have been used to enter a park before they can be used to get a Frozen FP.

The FP has a return time printed on it (it starts an hour before the show time). On Friday, they did not open the queue area until the time printed on FP, which lead to a kind of messy scene. There was quite a bunch of people "hanging around" the entrance to FP area prior to that and when they opened the queue, it was kind of a mad dash to get in. On Saturday and Sunday, the queue area was open prior to the time on the FP (I don't know how early they opened it up, because it was open by the time I got there about 5 to 10 minutes before the time on the FP).

FPs enter the queue area through the double doors under the main marquee (and the end of Hollywood Blvd).

Once inside the queue area, it's very similiar to the Aladdin queue - you select which queue you want (Orchestra, Mezzanine, Balcony) and then it's more waiting. They have bottled drinks and candy vendors walking along the queue (candy is $4.25 each, cash only). It was interesting, but all three times, the orchestra and mezzanine queues filled up and the balcony queue remained fairly empty until much closer to show time.

There is a standby line, which enters from the second door along Sunset Blvd. There kind of appears to be two standby area. The first is against the far wall side the main queue area. These are the ones most likely to get in. Once that fills up,they hold the rest of the standby over by the standby entrance along Sunset Blvd. The CMs in the queue were saying those guests were unlikely to get in.

If you have to leave the queue, make sure you see a CM before leaving the queue area. They will issue you a re-admit pass, which you will need to get back into the queue area. Note that it can be quite tough to get back to your group because they do ask everyone to "fill in all available space" in the queue area, so you have to thread your way through the crowds to get back to your group.

They allow the handicap to enter about 20 minutes before show time. The rest of the audience enters the theater about 15 minutes before show time. Once in theater, you can select any seat you want within your section (e.g., Orchestra, Mezzanine, Balcony). They will ask you to fill in every available seat and CMs will come through and ask guests to move down if there are gaps.

The show has a runtime of 58 minutes according to one of the CMs. It ran slightly longer all three times I saw it, due to some technical glitches. So allow about 60 to 70 minutes to be safe (if planning dining or something immediately afterwards).

They do not allow strollers in the theater, but there are two stroller parking areas. One is within the queue area and the second is over where the FPs are distributed. They were announcing as you exit that if you cannot find your stroller in the queue area stroller parking area, check the one over by the FP distribution location (so it sounds like the CMs may move strollers if needed).

 

[DLandgirlie]

Saw the show and it was wonderful!
I'm not a frozen fan, but the musical was so well done and immersive that I would gladly go see it again.
We arrived at Mickey and Friends Parking lot around 7:50am. Waited about 15 minutes to get parking pass, parked, took the tram and headed straight for DCA (bag check went smoothly, no metal detector stop). Headed towards the Mad Hatter Party area and followed the cast members directions to the FP distribution area.
We were able to get FP for the second show at 2:35pm.
We then went to grab FP for RSR with a return time of 11:25-12:25am

So yes, head to Frozen first. Then to RSR; there wasn't a line for FP.

To view the show, we hung around the theater around 1:15 pm (FP ticket said come back from 1:35pm & 2:15 pm)
Cast members were telling people with FP to come back. Of course, no one listened, including my group. So we grabbed some water, sat on a nearby bench and waited 10 mins. The crowd was growing, so we got up and hovered again. They opened at 1:30pm and we headed for the Orchestra section.
They were reminding people that your party must be together, no saving spots etc. No leaving the line unless you receive a return to the line pass from one of the cast members walking around. When the doors open, it's everyone rushing/running to find the best seats. We sat near the middle but slightly off to the right.

Anna, Olaf, Sven, and the Duke had great comedic timing, Anna was adorable and Elsa was regal. The cast did a great job. The singing was on point, esp. for Elsa and Anna who have to hit those soprano high notes. Olaf sounds pretty spot on like Josh Gad. A few technical difficulties but didn't last long enough to ruin the flow. I did wish they used more physical props but the technology they used was amazing!

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

Well, we got in a minor car accident on our way to DLR this morning which caused us to miss getting 12:30 FPs by 3 minutes (we would have been there about 20 minutes earlier). If anyone is here is a party of 4 and willing to trade for 2:35 I'd love you forever!

 

[larie21]

What time are the fastpasses for Frozen show running out? We are hoping to do the last showing one day next week. Just wondering what time I should hop over to get a FP.

Also, which level is the best place to sit?

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

I believe they have been running out a couple of hours after the park opens.

I've sat in middle front orchestra section (see 1st post for levels), and the back area of orchestra section, and preferred that. I haven't sat in the mezzanine or balcony yet, but the video in the first post is from the upper level. I prefer orchestra, back section, just off center (not directly in the middle). I already have some actor preferences, but they are all great.

 

[figment_jii]

I agree that if you want to get a FP, I would be there within the first 90 minutes of the day to be safe. I'm curious to see what happens during the weekdays for the next few weeks (before the peak summer crowds arrive) and then what happens when peak summer crowds start to arrive.

In terms of seating, I also like the orchestra. Just note that if you sit under the mezzanine overhang, part of your view of one of the special effects may be obstructed.

 

[thewelts]

We saw the 7th show on Sunday, May 29 at 12:30.

I lined up at Carthay Circle at 7:45 AM (MMH) while my husband and son explored the park. At 8 AM the line begins to move very fast - by 8:21 I has 3 FPs for the 12:30 show.
It is well worth it and I highly recommend this.

The more challenging part was returning to the Hyperion Theater. We arrived shortly after 11 AM and they started to let FP holders into the queue (even though the FP states 11:30 to 12:10 return time).

We decided to sit in the Balcony and we were among the first in the balcony queue. We had to wait in a very tight holding area for over an hour - it was a long wait. They do allow people to leave the holding area to use the bathroom, but food, etc. The doors opened promptly 10 minutes prior to show time - 12:20 in our case.

We had 1st row, center seats in the balcony.

The show was wonderful and should not be missed. We are NOT fans of the Frozen movie, but we really enjoyed this production. If you loved Aladdin, you don't want to miss a chance to see this Broadway quality show.

 

[ckb_nc]

Saw it twice - opening day (I think the video aboce was my show) and yesterday. Enjoyed a good bit but strangely liked the Sing a Long better. The Elsa in the video is quite good. Did have a glitch in the second show I saw.