If you know anything about me, you know that I absolutely LOVE musicals, any kind, Broadway or not. I do the best that I can to get to as many as I can but they’re expensive so I don’t get to as many as I wish. I was a season ticket holder a few years ago when Hamilton came around, because I wanted to see Hamilton so badly, and that was AMAZING. I definitely want to try and do that again in the future. Anyway, I keep an eye on the musicals that are in town. I knew Frozen was in town and I’ve heard nothing but great things but honestly, I just don’t have the money for it, sadly. Not after Christmas and putting money into my Seattle birthday trip next month.

A friend of mine posted last week that they were doing an online lottery for $25 tickets for the show and I thought, well I should give it a shot, why not. $25 is SO cheap for Broadway. I tried for the same lotteries for Hamilton (I know, even though I’d seen it twice – I was trying to take my dad haha) and for Wicked and had absolutely NO luck whatsoever. But I thought it was worth a try and it paid off because I got tickets! I decided to take my dad with me because I know that its been a long time since he went to a show and that it would be fun and it definitely was!

First off, we picked up our tickets and with the lottery, you could be sitting anywhere, but anywhere you sit is a deal because, again, $25 tickets! We got super lucky on a lot when it came to our tickets – we sat side orchestra with an amazing view, I sat directly behind a child so no tall person to block my way AND we were at the end, at an angle, so my dad had PLENTY of room to stretch out – the seats at Pantages are VERY close together so it isn’t fluffy people friendly. Even I feel super squished in those chairs sometime and I’m only 4’11.

Secondly, this show was AMAZING. I had heard good things, let’s be fair, but I had two thoughts about it. I thought it was probably going to be a reiteration of the movie – I’ve never seen a Disney movie turned musical on stage so I wasn’t sure how they changed or didn’t change it for stage. I also thought it might be just a longer version of what you see on stage at the Hyperion at Disney’s California Adventure.

I was totally wrong.

This musical was AMAZING. To be fair, I’m a huge fan of the movie. I understand people think its overrated, has no plot line OR has plot holes and all of that but I just honestly truly enjoy it. The music is truly awesome in that movie and I love that its a sister story (yes, yes, we hear you, its not the first one, Lilo and Stitch, my god, just shut up and enjoy stuff…) I really like the movie. Its fun and the cast is great and they took that and brought it to the stage and made it BETTER.

The sets were absolutely incredible. I mean, I get it, Disney magic but seriously I was SO impressed by the sets and how they flowed so seamlessly from scene to scene. I really felt like they made the sets look like they jumped straight from the movie. I also thought the effects they used with the sets were incredible and some of them made me gasp out loud. I was unsure how they were going to achieve Elsa’s magic but it was INCREDIBLE – the first time she uses it at her coronation ball, it actually startled me! The dancing and effects they used when Anna froze near the end, saving her sister, was BEAUTIFUL.

But I think my favorite was when Elsa changed her dress during Let It Go – I expected it to be like the one at DCA but it was amazing, it was flawless and I literally gasped. I think the entire audience gasped because of how well it was done. It truly felt like Disney magic and I was blown away by it. They really pulled that off well. Like I can’t even describe that. Even this GIF doesn’t do it justice.

I also really liked that they changed things about it – rearranged scenes, added scenes – it wasn’t just a carbon copy of the movie. It made it so I actually wasn’t entirely sure what was going to happen next and it also kept me on the edge of my seat. I also really, really loved that some of the songs from the movie were changed just a little bit and I loved that there were new songs. “What Do You Know About Love” was fantastic and the entire Wandering Oaken’s song was HILARIOUS. I loved that they really took their time with this and made it just amazing.

I think its easy to maybe assume that Disney was taking advantage of the Frozen cash cow – I worked at Disneyland during this – and I know that it was a cash cow for SURE. But I genuinely have a lot of respect for this musical. It was done beautiful. The costumes, the songs – old and new -, the story, all of it. They didn’t just go, look, you love the movie, just come see it live. They actually made a fantastic musical. Its definitely something that I would see again, hands down, and if you’re a Disney fan, a Frozen fan or a Broadway or some mix of those, I definitely think you’d enjoy it. Get. Out. There.