Frozen Live at the Hyperion

After 13 years, the "Aladdin Live at the Hyperion" show at Disneyland's California Adventure theme park has closed its doors. It's not surprising then that with the phenomenal success of Disney's "Frozen" that they would switch productions to reflect their biggest moneymaker of all time.

Beginning May 27, 2016, "Frozen Live at the Hyperion" opens to mesmerize audiences with a truncated 50-minute version of the uber-popular film. While most theme park shows can be cheap and cheesy, this is Disney so expectations are high. So does it live up to the hype?

Yes and No.

Truth be told there is an actual Broadway stage show for "Frozen" being developed as we speak. So this is sort of the baby version, but Disney still spared no expense. With current Tony nominee Liesl Tommy ("Eclipsed") as director and Tony nominee Robert Brill ("Cabaret") as the Set Designer, this is a bit more elaborate than the previous "Aladdin" show, but to be fair, it's not as big as a real Broadway spectacular, which is to be expected. This is a free show that is one of the many offerings at a theme park. But with that in mind, it's fairly well done.

The best parts are things like the enormous LCD screen in the background that changes scenes and transports the audience through the land of Arendelle. Additional projections expand that screen to include the walls of the theatre itself, so if you are in the orchestra you really feel a part of the world and the action.

As for special effects, there's a nifty sleigh ride sequence, an icy staircase that rises above the audience in the first few rows of the theatre, and some fun troll magic. The orchestrations by Jason Michael Webb are concise and work well with the shortened running time.

As for casting, there are 107 performers that have been cast in the show, as it runs about four times a day. So the cast will vary. On opening night, Olaf and Sven were standouts -- both played by performers that manipulated elaborate puppets while providing the voice and mimicking the character's facial expressions and emotions. They were a lot of fun.

The portions of the show that didn't work that well are varied. The casting of the "young" versions of Anna and Elsa have to be played by adults considering the daytime shows. As a result, you have older actors raising the tone of their voices and "acting" like children which can either be amusing or annoying depending on your tolerance for that sort of thing.

The adult versions were consummate performers, but their voices were hit or miss and the Anna that we saw looked to be in her mid-40s. (She isn't, but for some reason she looked way too old for the part.) Elsa was regal and the color-blind casting was a nice touch, but to take over from Idina Menzel, you really need to knock it out of the park.

A few of the special effects either didn't work or were simply confusing. A rolling stone (clearly utilizing the BB-8 technology from "The Force Awakens") was a head-scratcher as it rolled out onto stage, stopped in the middle for about thirty seconds, then rolled away. The entire audience expected something to happen, yet nothing did. There were also some mic and screen problems. However, those were minor and not something every audience should expect.

The biggest disappointment was that the show's creators stated they wanted to make something better and bigger than a Broadway show. But this isn't it. Elsa's first reveal of her powers at the Coronation Ball was lackluster and the choice to not make a big deal about her building her ice castle was an odd choice. It could have been done, but instead this is just a projection. There's also a beautiful chandelier that hangs high above the orchestra, but unless you look up you never really see it.

I suppose all in all these points are minor. Again, this is a theme park show so we aren't expecting a something that people would normally pay over a hundred dollars to see. With that in mind, it's well directed and entertaining. The addition of a reprise song at the end of the show was a lovely touch and the entire cast seems to be having a great time.

This is certainly a step above the "Aladdin" show which started to feel dated. I do think the average Disneyland audience will completely enjoy the show so any issues are probably moot.

It was also the first public performance so technical glitches and actor nerves are to be expected. Perhaps some tweaks can be made to make it a bit more eye-popping, but for the most part it is a sweet and dazzling little show that will whet appetites until the (expectedly) more elaborate Broadway production is unveiled.

"Frozen Live at the Hyperion" runs daily at Disney's California Adventure Theme Park and is included in admission. Fast passes are suggested. For more information and for ticket information for the Parks, please visit https://disneyland.disney.go.com/destinations/disneyland/