Disney on Ice: Froze to turn Royal Farms Arena into Arendelle
They’ll be coming in waves, Elsas and Annas of every size and shape, from toddlers to adults, descending upon downtown Baltimore, where Disney on Ice: Frozen will turn Royal Farms Arena into Arendelle.
It will be a scene that will be replicated from Jan. 31 – Feb. 4, as the arena will host a dozen performances of Frozen, a movie so big that if you haven’t heard of it, please stop reading now.
It wasn’t a question of when Disney would transform Frozen from the big screen, where it’s the fifth-highest grossing film of all time ($1.276 billion), to ice, it was only a matter of time.
Call it the ultimate show of girl power: a huge portion of the capacity crowd dressed as Elsa, the magical, pessimistic queen of Arendelle, while others chose to look like her sister, the optimistic Anna, who wants to reunite with Elsa after a childhood accident severed their relationship.
Anna, Elsa and Kristoff – the Norwegian cutie who wants to hook up with Anna – will set the tone with smooth skating and acting as they lip-sync the storyline, just as they did when the show last visited Baltimore in 2015.
The movie remains so popular, the crowd will recite the lines with the characters. But it will be the music that’s made Frozen so hot it hasn’t come close to melting since it hit theaters in November 2013 that will turn the arena into a karaoke bar. Whether it is Do You Want to Build a Snowman?, Fixer Upper, In Summer, Love is an Open Door, For the First Time in Forever and of course, Let It Go, the crowd will take over, creating one big sing-a-long.
After the intermission following the first of two acts, the crowd will be greeted by Frozen’s unsung hero, Olaf – the most popular snowman since Frosty – who’s brought to life by Elsa’s magic.
Olaf’s witty charm will provide comedic relief during Anna and Kristoff’s journey to find the exiled Elsa who has turned Arendelle into a never-ending winter wonderland.
The producers will exceptional attention to detail, as Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, Olaf and Sven – Kristoff’s trusted reindeer – will be mirror images of their cartoon counterparts who have driven a franchise to become the No. 1 animated movie of all time.
Frozen’s use of props, lighting, pyrotechnics, projections, strands of illuminated “ice” and shiny snow that descends from rafters helps tell the story and will make it feel like winter.
The second act will feature the show’s best effect – a massive ice monster that grows before the crowd’s eyes before going after Anna, Olaf, Kristoff and Sven.
Disney and Feld Entertainment, which produces the Disney on Ice shows, uses some inventing staging to complement the skating. Olaf performs his iconic song In Summer while skaters dressed as flowers, insects and birds zoom across the ice.
Since Frozen’s movie version is just 102 minutes, Disney needs something to fill time to make the show two hours, which is why Mickey and Minnie open the show by introducing all of their friends – Goofy, Snow White, Ariel, Snow White Cinderella, Woody, Buzz Lightyear,
Disney on Ice: Frozen
Where: Royal Farms Arena
When: Jan. 31 – Feb. 4
Show times: Jan. 31: 7:30 p.m; Feb. 1: 7:30 p.m.; Feb.. 2: 10:30 a.m., 7:30 p.m.; Feb. 3: 11 a.m., 2:30 p.m., 6:30 p.m.; Feb. 4: 11 a.m., 3 p.m.
Tickets: $23 – $78 and can be purchased here.
Jon Gallo is an award-winning journalist and editor with 19 years of experience, including stints as a staff writer at The Washington Post and sports editor at The Baltimore Examiner. He also believes the government should declare federal holidays in honor of the following: the Round of 64 of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament; the Friday of the Sweet 16; the Monday after the Super Bowl; and of course, the day after the release of the latest Madden NFL video game.