'Frozen' makes its Long Island premiere at The Gateway

Charissa Hogeland and Emily Grace Tucker know a thing or two about “Frozen.”

The actors, who star as Elsa and Anna in the musical running through April 13 at The Gateway in Bellport, have years of experience in the roles. Hogeland understudied Elsa on Broadway, performing the role several times before the pandemic shut the production down in 2020. Tucker did Anna for the Disney Cruise Line’s version of the show before it ever hit Broadway.

No shocker then that they both have deep feelings for the musical, which is being presented for the first time as a full-length production on Long Island (the abridged “Frozen Jr.” has run at virtually every local youth theater at least once).

The 2013 movie, a celebration of sisterhood and resilience, is considered by many to be one of Disney’s best. A major blockbuster, it won two Academy Awards (best animated feature and best original song) and gave Syosset-raised Idina Menzel, who voiced Elsa in the film, a major hit with her recording of “Let It Go.”

“I’ve been in a lot of shows, and I do think ‘Frozen’ is my favorite,” says Hogeland, who first appeared at The Gateway in “The Cher Show.” It is a story about “two very strong women … it’s heartfelt and very relatable.’’ For Elsa, she says, “the thing that makes her magical is what she’s most terrified of. She has to learn to accept herself … only then will her magic become her superpower instead of her undoing.”

The Disney Princess diaries

Hogeland, who lives in New York City, says she “had no interest in being in the show until I saw it.” About a year into the run, she went begrudgingly with a friend who had a ticket. “I was like ‘whatever’.” By the end, she remembers, “we had tears streaming down our face multiple times … I couldn't believe how good it was.” After that, she says, “I had a one-track mind. I had to be in that show.”

Tucker was also moved to tears the first time she saw “Frozen” on Broadway, but by then, she’d played Anna for awhile, on three separate contracts with Disney Cruises. “I was really not prepared,” she says. “I was expecting more fluff…I walked out a mess.” The messages of the show “are very poignant to the time,” says the actress, who lives in Bloomfield, New Jersey. It’s about “fearing things that we don’t understand as humans…and making assumptions without having all the information and letting fear drive either panic or hate. Those are messages we’re dealing with right now,” she adds.

Disney princesses have been a major part of Tucker’s career path. She played Ariel in “Little Mermaid” at Gateway in 2022 and was on a cruise ship doing Rapunzel in “Tangled” when “Frozen” hit movie theaters.

“I don’t think anybody including myself was really prepared for what a massive, massive hit it would become,” she says. “It exploded in a way that we weren’t prepared for.”

Disney was quick to adapt the movie for the cruise line. The first time she appeared as Anna, says Tucker, “there was a wall of screams when I first entered. I couldn’t hear, it was deafening.”

Anna and Rapunzel have some things in common, says Tucker, noting that Disney changed the formula for what people consider “a proper Disney princess.” Both are a bit more awkward, she says, “more real.” they’re coming-of-age stories,” she says, and “there’s honesty in the awkwardness and even the anxiety of what it’s like to grow up.”

Destined for the stage

Bringing “Frozen” to the Gateway stage has been on Paul Allan’s mind since he saw the movie with his kids when it first came out. “I felt like I discovered something at my local movie theater, and suddenly the whole world’s exploding about it,” says Allan, Gateway’s executive artistic director. He immediately felt the show was destined for the stage—even more than other Disney animations.

“This is going to the biggest thing to ever hit Broadway,” he recalls thinking. “It’s such a great story, simple but very touching and heartfelt.” He was obviously excited to do the show, and just a little frustrated that it’s been released so slowly to regional theaters.

Now he faces a marketing challenge in letting audiences know this is the full-scale, Broadway version of the show. “It’s not just a children’s show,” says Allan. “There’s a serious storyline, and now it’s up to us to create this epic masterpiece.” Much of the magic, he says, will hinge on the theater’s technical abilities, especially lighting and projections. And not to worry, there will be plenty of snow.

It is a magical show, “a visual feast,” says director Larry Raben, back at The Gateway for his 14th production. Raben is a “Frozen” virgin. “I’m happy to be coming at it with fresh eyes and ears,” he says, noting that after just a few days of rehearsal he has determined that the play is about “trusting what makes you unique, about trusting your own power.”

Beyond that, he says, he’s enjoying working with the music—“it’s a beautiful, sweeping score”—alongside choreographer Angie Schworer, who he’s known since their days in “The Producers” on Broadway. “She’s Broadway royalty,” he says, “and she’s bringing her own choreographic magic to the show.”

Raben believes the musical has broad appeal. “The whole family will enjoy the show,” notes Raben, who sees it as a perfect for date nights. “Not that I’m being heavy-handed,” he says, “but I’m approaching this material as if it were ‘Les Miz.’ There are grand themes in the music and in the writing.”

Not just for children

Working for Disney for so many years, Tucker says she recognizes that audiences often think the show is for children. “Yes, the kids obviously love the magic and the puppet characters like Olaf and Sven,” she says, “but the messages in ‘Frozen’ aren’t necessarily aimed at kids.” She talks specifically about the song “What Do You Know About Love?,” which is fun and upbeat in the first act, but when repeated in act two becomes a symbol of Anna’s caring and vulnerability. “It’s a beautiful moment,” she says.

Adults are also taken with the humor in the show, says Tucker, especially when it comes to Anna. “I keep coming back to her awkwardness,” says Tucker, “there’s so much of that sprinkled throughout the show.” And there’s nothing better than making an audience laugh, she says. “It’s such a special thing when a whole group of people watching a show laugh together. They don’t make the choice, it just happens. And it’s usually infectious.”

Also infectious? The end of the first act, when Elsa magically transforms into the iconic image that is so recognizable and sings the song everyone’s been waiting for. The moment can be nerve-wracking, Hogeland acknowledges. “It’s one of the things people come for.”

“Let It Go” is about Elsa stepping into her power, says Hogeland. Elsa’s soul is “literally coming out of her body,” she says, noting that she makes the song her own by focusing on the lyrics. At one point she sings about how that perfect girl is gone. “It’s an incredible analogy for seeing you are a person of worth,” she continues, pointing out that while singing she is creating a towering ice palace. “A huge message of this show is that magic can come in many forms,” she says. “We all have it inside.”