HURRICANE — If you still have some preconceived notion about what a community theater like Hurricane Theatrical can do inside the Hurricane Community Center, it’s time to let it go.
Opening the gates to one of Disney’s most popular animated features, Hurricane Theatrical presents Disney’s Frozen: The Broadway Musical, with music and lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, and book by Jennifer Lee, with a level of professionalism and style that has become synonymous with the Hurricane Theatrical brand.
While the outside temps were pushing 110, inside the set design featuring Elsa’s large ice castle portended of cooler things to come. With the ice castle on one side and a forest of snow-dusted trees on the other, the story of two sisters, Anna and Elsa, unfolded in between.
Blessed (or cursed) with the ability to wield winter’s magic from her fingertips, young Elsa and Anna happily explore the possibilities of Elsa’s powers, until Elsa accidentally strikes Anna in the head with ice. Their parents determine the safest course is to contain the magic, separating the girls and imploring Elsa to “conceal, don’t feel.” When the girls’ parents die in a shipwreck, the sisters are left to live side by side in the castle with no outside interactions until the day Elsa is crowned queen. On coronation day an overly exuberant Anna falls in love with the first man she meets, Prince Hans of the Southern Isles, and Elsa’s frustration unleashes a flurry of winter, setting the stage for a dramatic rescue, new friendships, and an act of true love.
The show is epic and sweeping, with songs to match the majesty of the messages found within, all deftly handled by director Kyle Myrick at the reigns. While his decision to cast his wife, Sammy Myrick, as Anna, and his daughter, Adeline Myrick, as Young Anna, might cause some to raise an eyebrow or two, those brows are quickly put back into place when these two female characters prove they are more than worthy of the task.
Adeline Myrick’s version of Young Anna is bursting with personality and youthful energy as she and Taylor Pierce as Young Elsa dream up the character of Olaf the snowman in “A Little Bit of You” and as she tries to entice her sister to play with her in “Do You Want to Build A Snowman?” Pierce holds her own in these scenes, commanding the magic of the on-stage snow and joining Anna in her playful revelry before turning her acting skills on a dime to portray the controlled and somber version of a child not allowed to feel her own emotions.
When the adult cast takes over, Sammy absolutely owns the stage as Anna. Filled with all the spunk and quirkiness for which this character is known, Sammy’s vocal talent, as showcased on well-known numbers like “For the First Time in Forever” and “Love Is an Open Door,” would be enough to carry the role, but she doesn’t stop there. Her seemingly effortless chemistry with counterparts including Jaiden Scott as Prince Hans, Haley-Shea as Elsa, and Brad Serage as Kristoff, allows the audience to feel these relationships are genuine, while giving space for all of the actors to fill their equally important roles.
Haley-Shea played the role of Elsa with class and poise, the perfect juxtaposition to Anna’s free-spirited approach to life. Haley-Shea’s controlled emotions eventually give way to some freedom in the soaring “Let It Go,” before quickly returning to her tranquil demeanor, maintaining her composure as the somewhat stiff older sister until the culminating finale where love allows her to really let it go.
Playing on the opposite end of the spectrum against Elsa’s necessary serious side, the musical offers several high-energy scenes featuring unforgettably lovable characters.
First up is Olaf, coming to life as a puppet at the skillful hands of Jonah LaVelle. LaVelle serves as voice and movement for everyone’s favorite snowman, endearing the audience with his naiveté during “In Summer” and his loyalty in attesting that, “some people are worth melting for.”
Next in the cast of delightfully eccentric characters is Adam Cheney’s version of Oaken, the shopkeeper who, along with a fantastic ensemble of dancers, introduces Anna and Kristof to the idea of “Hygge.” The choice to have the ensemble pop out of the stage pit en masse dancing with gusto in their robes and swim trunks was a particularly charming one.
The strength of the ensemble dance company is once again on full display when Anna and Kristof visit the trolls during “Fixer Upper.” The choreography (designed by Sammy Myrick) and costumes are giving Tarzan vibes in the best way, while Mattix Espinoza as Pabbie proves himself a triple threat, acting, singing and dancing his way through the scene as one of the leads, and in several other numbers as part of the ensemble.
Lastly in the line of specialty characters, Kristof’s dutiful, yet silent, reindeer Sven deserves a note of praise. Although you never see his face, as it is covered by the full-body reindeer costume, Damon Ericksen’s movements as Sven — including an ability to walk in a hunched position to create the four-legged animal illusion — were artful in their own way.
Sven’s costume is just one of the many pieces brought to life by costume designer Sammy Myrick, Grace Wells (seamstress/embellishments), and It’s The Little Things (puppet design), that raised the bar once again for community theater. From the elegant ballgowns to the ethereal white capes in which dancers were ensconced during “Colder by the Minute,” every scene brought a new level of interest in the costuming alone.
The only holes in the production that were surprisingly unfilled — or less filled than they could have been — was the overall set design (handled by Kyle Myrick). Beyond the ice castle and forest of trees that remained on stage throughout the play, the first act offered very little in the way of tactile set design, solely relying instead on the video projection screen. The projections, while extremely well done, left the stage feeling a little empty when even the smallest additions might have evened the score. For example, during the “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” scene, Anna famously knocks on the door to Elsa’s room. In this production, rather than having a simple door on stage to divide the space, director Kyle Myrick opted for Anna to knock on air, and to have the stage go dark between the two girls interactions, giving time for one to leave the stage and the other to enter while the digital backdrop changed scenes. Seeing the two girls on stage at once could have enhanced the feeling of separation by showcasing just how close, and yet how far apart, they were.
During the iconic “Let It Go” scene, there was a surprising lack of special effects on stage. Yes, Elsa’s cloak floats off magically into the wind, and the dress transformation was handled well, but the building of the frozen fortress was only depicted with a few spotlight snowflakes thrust above the audience by Elsa’s powerful hands. It feels like there could have been some fog, onstage snow flurries, set pieces flying in to illustrate the construction of the ice castle, or something else.
This issue was improved in the second act as more physical stage elements were introduced, such as Oaken’s shop. In this scene, the digital screen moved to a supporting role, rather than the main event, which worked much better. The eventual inclusion of the three-dimensional ice shards when Elsa has to defend her castle proved how powerful those scenic elements can be.
Popularity of the film notwithstanding, after attending Hurricane Theatrical’s production of Disney’s Frozen: the Broadway Musical it is clear why this show is so well loved. Thanks to the high caliber cast, talented crew, and overall smart direction, Frozen will thaw even the coldest heart and have you thinking about the musical for days.
MORE INFO: DISNEY’S FROZEN is currently playing at the Hurricane Community Center (63 S. 100 West, Hurricane). Performances are held at 7:00 PM on Mondays, Fridays, and Saturdays, with 2:00 PM matinees on Saturdays through September 12, 2026. Tickets for Frozen typically range from $20 to $28. For the most up-to-date schedule, performance details, and official ticketing, visit the Hurricane Theatrical website: https://www.hurricanetheatrical.com/
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