Frozen at Tuacahn Amphitheatre

Yesterday I left on a quick road trip to St. George to see Frozen at Tuacahn Amphitheatre.  Tuacahn is the first regional theatre in the U.S. to be given permission by Disney to produce this musical and it was spectacular!  I have seen the Broadway touring production and I think this version might be better!  A young Elsa (Harper Griffith) and a young Anna (Bentley Nulia) have fun building a snowman together but, when Elsa accidentally freezes Anna with her mysterious powers, the King and Queen tell her that she must hide herself away from Anna and the rest of Arendelle.  When the King and Queen are lost at sea, Elsa (Cayleigh Capaldi) must open the doors of the castle for her coronation.  She loses control of herself, with devastating consequences, when Anna (Daisy Wright) requests permission to marry Hans of the Southern Isles (Preston Taylor) and she flees Arendelle.  Anna follows her, hoping to save Arendelle from the endless winter, and is aided by an ice harvester named Kristoff (Joe Caskey) , his reindeer Sven (William Bishop), and Olaf (Kyle Kemph), the snowman she built with Anna when they were girls.  Elsa fears that she is a monster and Anna is injured again but it is her ability to love that ultimately saves Anna and Arendelle.  Tuacahn is known for its big productions and this is the most ambitious one yet!  The large set pieces, special effects, and projections are absolutely amazing!  I knew that the song "Let It Go" would probably be a highlight but I was not prepared for how epic it was.  There were moving set pieces that looked like giant icicles and projections of snow and ice on large LED panels in sync with all of Capaldi's dramatic gestures and her costume change happens in an instant (people in the audience gasped).  It seemed to snow in the entire amphitheatre and the song, which featured an incredibly powerful performance by Capaldi, concluded with fireworks!  I also really loved Capaldi's renditions of "Dangerous to Dream," "Monster," and "I Can't Lose You" with Wright because she has such a beautiful voice filled with so much emotion.  Wright's performance is also outstanding and I loved her voice, as well, but her physicality was so much fun to watch, especially in "Love is an Open Door" and "Fixer Upper."  The entire cast is fantastic (I was impressed with Caskey because he is the understudy) and it features a strong ensemble who made me laugh at all of their antics during the choreography in "Hygge."  The costumes are slightly different from those of the movie and the Broadway production but they are recognizable and gorgeous.  I also loved the puppets for Sven and Olaf.  This show is magical and I am so glad that I got to see it!  It is being performed in repertory with Anastasia and Jersey Boys through the middle of October (go here for tickets).