A talking snowman. Magic ice powers. A story of two sisters. The 2013 Disney film Frozen earned its place as one of the most popular kids movies within the last decade, making over 1 billion dollars and being the highest grossing animated film until 2019.
Last winter, Mercy High School in Farmington Hills in Michigan became one of the fifty states in the US to earn the exclusive rights to put on a production of Frozen: The Broadway Musical. Being the only school in the state to do so, they spent months on this project. From auditions to painting sets for the show, there were hundreds of students across elementary to high school transforming this into a reality.
Auditions for the musical were first posted in September of 2023. Eager to participate, girls from local elementary and middle schools auditioned to be young Anna or Elsa while boys from the University of Detroit Jesuit High School hoped that the roles of Kristoff, Sven and Hans were theirs. A month later, senior Keira Streather and junior Bryce Costa were officially announced as Anna and Elsa. Along with that, Caden Rivers & Declan O’Brien, both seniors at University of Detroit Jesuit High School, were announced as Kristoff and Hans.
“I really enjoyed working on this project because it’s been in the works for so long. I’m really glad that it all came together so neatly,” University of Detroit Jesuit High School senior Caden Rivers said.
Attending the musical was an unforgettable experience. From the minute the lights dimmed to the cast and crew’s final bow, it was a phenomenal experience and perfectly portrayed the sisters’ straining relationship and their own journey to finding themselves and most importantly, each other.
“I really liked how they portrayed the dynamic between the two sisters. It was very entertaining and there was not one moment where I was left bored,” sophomore Ainsley Henderson said.
The audience wasn’t the only one to enjoy the show. The cast and crew reflect back on opening night, about to play the biggest play in Mercy High School history to date. For some, this is a new experience, and for others it will be their very last high school play.
“For me personally it was a way to meet new people especially since I was in my fourth year at U of D. By the time I started at Mercy theater it was filled with so many talented people, so it helped me stay motivated to keep bettering myself for the shows,” University of Detroit Jesuit senior Jax Douglas.
The production itself was stunning, the visuals were a success, and viewers gave it a ten out of ten. The cast and crew are one big family. They remember all of the memories Mercy Theater gave them, and Frozen was just another one to add to the list.