Freezing leaves a chill

Freezing is the kind of show that leaves me cold. It is low on original storyline, high on stereotypes and clichés and irritatingly silly.

Both hollow and exploitive, Freezing relies heavily on other genres to give the illusion that it has substance. It includes a dame (traditionally played by a man in English pantomime), a villain, complete with cape and moustache (drawn from melodrama), a couple of princesses (one of whom is apparently intended to look like the snow queen from the television series Once Upon a Time.) The general impression is that the creators have chosen to throw anything into the pot without regard to delivering a cohesive drama at any level.

Particularly offensive is the inclusion of a lengthy message from a sponsor on the screen behind the action. I initially thought that the announcement was going to be a joke, but no, the presenters apparently reasoned that kids were used to seeing ads on TV, so they might as well see one as part of a live performance.

The most entertaining and honest moment in the show was when a small boy brought up on stage for a hockey scene, took aim and scored. The scene itself had no reason to be there, except as an excuse to bring kids into the performance area.

Most of the rest of what was billed as “a witty, wintery family musical” missed by a mile.

The music and songs — often, new lyrics to well-known songs—are frequently oddly arranged. The choreography is intentionally repetitive, probably on the assumption that youngsters in the audience would enjoy the patterning. As directed by Bob Lackey, the performers try their best with the material, but there are only a few moments that work. Among them are the soaring singing voice of Esther Vallins as Princess Hanna and the hard work of Cara Pantalone as Beavertail and Shelley Simester as Rubble in trying to connect with the audience.

Freezing continues until January 4, 2015.

Freezing

By Ken MacDougall
Equity Collective production at the Gladstone

Director; Bob Lackey
Musical director: Wendy Berkelaar
Composer/Musical supervisor: Jonathan Evans
Choreographers: Michael Falcucci and Gabriel Wolinsky
Costumes: Lu-Anne Connell

Cast:

Selfie on the Shelfie……………………………..Declan Cassidy
Krisco……………………………………………Chad Connell
Gerda…………………………………………….Gab Desmond
Hans……………………………………………..Will Lamond
Beavertail………………………………………..Cara Pantalone
Rubble……………………………………………Shelley Simester
Hanna…………………………………………….Esther Vallins
Adele……………………………………………..Jessica Vandenburg