A Director’s take on Disney’s FROZEN JR

Roughly 30 years ago, I took my first acting class from Deb Brown at Quincy Community Little Theatre and fell in love with live theatre and everything about it.  Roughly 40 years ago (please don’t do the age math), I visited Walt Disney World for the first time and began my life-long love of everything Disney.  My heart may just explode getting to work on a Disney production at the theatre that I grew up in!

I have the privilege of directing a cast of 36 talented,young performers and collaborating with an amazing team of adult designers to bring the story of Frozen to life on our stage.

I typically don’t label myself a “princess-type” of girl, but this princess story has captured my heart.  It’s a story of love, the love of a family and the love of two sisters, but it’s also a story of how fear can destroy love.  Often  when people think of Frozen, they think of the iconic songs, the hilarious snowman, or ALL THE SNOW, and I also enjoy all these elements of the story.  But as our patrons attend our version of Frozen Jr., I hope they are able to see deeper into the lives of these two sisters, Anna and Elsa.  I hope they can think about what these two sisters went through, being kept from each other, being told to “conceal and don’t feel”, and how it almost destroyed a Kingdom!

“But, Mindy, this a a kid’s Disney movie!”  Yes, it is, and I applaud Disney for the story.  I think we can all relate to a story of fear and how it affected us, and I hope maybe people can relate to a story of how the love of another person helped you overcome a fear that was harming you.

On top of all that, there’s going to be amazing songs, dances, costumes, puppets, and more!!  The QCT student theatre production of Frozen Jr is sure to delight all ages and is not one to miss!

-Mindy Holthaus

Photos by Julie Ginos of GS Photography