Frozen beyond Caissie Levy (Elsa) and Patti Murin (Anna)...casting news? - Page 2

[RWPrincess]

Posted: 1/13/20 at 3:41pm

SouthernCakes said: "Was gonna say, I don’t think Park has the belt for Elsa.

I think casting blind is awesome, but what I dislike is that KRISTOFF will never not be a POC because he was originated by a POC. Which, I get the argument, but just wish casting was more fluid in both aspects."

This does seem to the trend so far however, the Kristoff understudy on tour is white. 

 

[Lavieboheme3090]

Posted: 1/13/20 at 4:11pm

SouthernCakes said: "Was gonna say, I don’t think Park has the belt for Elsa.

I think casting blind is awesome, but what I dislike is that KRISTOFF will never not be a POC because he was originated by a POC. Which, I get the argument, but just wish casting was more fluid in both aspects. "

I’ve seen Jake Smith play the role. Don’t worry white actors will still be considered 🙄

[matineeidol2591]

Posted: 1/13/20 at 8:49pm

Ciara Renee

[SouthernCakes]

Posted: 1/13/20 at 10:13pm

Actually I don’t know why I said that! Ha a friend who is white is a tour cover.

[all_that_jazz]

Posted: 1/14/20 at 11:17am

I think casting blind is awesome, but what I dislike is that KRISTOFF will never not be a POC because he was originated by a POC. Which, I get the argument, but just wish casting was more fluid in both aspects. "

I’ve seen Jake Smith play the role. Don’t worry white actors will still be considered ?"

In Toronto they had a casting call for Kristoff for the tour version and the notice said "african american" only.

[BillyComet]

Posted: 1/14/20 at 12:23pm

Taylor Lauderman?

[copathetiic]

Posted: 1/14/20 at 12:35pm

BillyComet said: "Taylor Lauderman?"

I don’t think Taylor Louderman is coming back to broadway any time soon. I think she wants to focus more on film and television. 

[James Kerrigan2]

Posted: 1/14/20 at 12:46pm

Betsy Wolfe would be incredible as Elsa.

[trpguyy]

Posted: 1/14/20 at 1:17pm

James Kerrigan2 said: "Betsy Wolfe would be incredible as Elsa."

Yes, she certainly was. 

[Melissa25]

Posted: 1/15/20 at 9:12am

https://broadwaynews.com/2020/01/15/ciara-renee-to-star-as-elsa-in-frozen-opposite-mckenzie-kurtz/

[Andres_Zayas]

Posted: 1/15/20 at 9:21am

Melissa25 said: "https://broadwaynews.com/2020/01/15/ciara-renee-to-star-as-elsa-in-frozen-opposite-mckenzie-kurtz/"

I honestly suggested Ciara Renée as Elsa just as a fun guess, so it’s amazing to see it come true!

[Ado Annie D'Ysquith]

Posted: 1/15/20 at 10:11am

I hope they adjust the actress playing Young Elsa accordingly. I'm all for suspension of disbelief, but having a character change ethnicity mid-show could be confusing for some, especially younger audience members.

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 1/15/20 at 10:31am

It hasn’t been confusing when Aisha Jackson has gone on.....

Posted: 1/15/20 at 10:36am

I saw the show with Aisha. They don’t even have her and Young Anna wear the same color wig but besides some light murmuring at first people got it. As long as Ciara’s wearing the iconic outfits it shouldn’t be an issue.

[KathyNYC2]

Posted: 1/15/20 at 10:52am

Call_me_jorge said: "It hasn’t been confusing when Aisha Jackson has gone on....."

It also hasn’t been confusing when the King has always been a person of color and the children cast have been white. 
 

One of the current young Elsa’s is white. The other is of Indian/Asian decent (and came from playing Young Nala in The Lion King)  and it’s not a problem with white Elsa Caissie. I’m sure they will work well with new Elsa as well. 
 


  

 

Updated On: 1/15/20 at 10:52 AM

[KathyNYC2]

Posted: 1/15/20 at 10:52am

Oops. Sorry. Double post. 
  

 

Updated On: 1/15/20 at 10:52 AM

[RWPrincess]

Posted: 1/15/20 at 11:29am

One of the Young Elsas in the tour production is Asian and Caroline Bowman is white.

Glad to see this finally announced. I'm not seeing a lot of comments about Mckenzie so I'm excited to see what she brings to the role of Anna. Hopefully the show will get a nice boost of new energy in late February. 

[GiantsInTheSky2]

Posted: 1/15/20 at 11:50am

I never desired to see this (loved the movie, don’t need to see the exact same thing just on stage) but my friends have two daughters who are not only POC, but Frozen is their favorite movie and they’re currently struggling with the fact that most Princesses they see are white. They’ve also flat out said that they don’t feel as pretty as their friends at school who are white.

I cannot wait to bring them to see this, same with Wicked when Brittany Johnson is in for Glinda. Representation matters more than a lot of people realize and I applaud this casting.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 1/15/20 at 12:27pm

Oh how I wish I could be there to see the reaction of middle America mom and daughter tourists when a black Elsa walks on stage. I am very happy about this casting though. Good progress.

[trpguyy]

Posted: 1/15/20 at 12:33pm

Call_me_jorge said: "It hasn’t been confusing when Aisha Jackson has gone on....."

It most certainly has confused children. 

[azleafcat]

Posted: 1/15/20 at 9:19pm

Laura Nicole Chapman will be replacing Alisha Jackson as the Anna standby after Cassie and Patti’s final performance on Feb 16.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B7WZDtkpk7l/?igshid=zxegiu5oqbfs

[broadway86]

Posted: 2/12/20 at 12:01am

Not sure how I’ve missed Ciara Renée all this time, but I just heard her sing for the very first time and immediately got a ticket to see this in March.

[mailhandler777]

Posted: 2/13/20 at 12:30am

Ado Annie D'Ysquith said: "I hope they adjust the actress playing Young Elsa accordingly. I'm all for suspension of disbelief, but having a character change ethnicity mid-show could be confusing for some, especially younger audience members."

The father has been played by an African American man and the mother has been played by a woman of Asian descent. People never got confused when the younger girls were white or that the older Elsa and Anna were white either. Or when Aisha Jackson went on as Anna or when Ashley Blanchet or Alyssa Fox went on as Elsa. 

[trpguyy]

Posted: 2/13/20 at 7:59am

^^ again, whenever the phrase “people never,” is used, the rest of the sentence is probably going to be wrong. Most people, especially adults, are not and will not be confused by “colorblind casting,” especially when race is irrelevant to the plot. But to suggest that nobody has ever been confused by a character changing ethnicity mid-show is flat out wrong. It has confused children (the target audience) countless times. Is it a problem? No. But I know first hand that plenty of parents have had to shush their inquisitive children when a princess changes race in front of their eyes.

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 2/13/20 at 11:16pm

Didn’t know where to mention this, but a couple of the frozen cast members have posted from the show that they are going through “tech.” I thought that was interesting. Could they be re-teching the show to incorporate elements from the tour?