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[0:00] Mo Brady: You're listening to The Ensemblist, the only podcast that shows you Broadway from the inside out. I'm Mo Brady.

[0:12] Mo Brady: This is a rough one, guys. The Broadway adaptation of Disney's Frozen announced that it will not be reopening after the pandemic, which means it took its final bow on March 11th and ran for 26 previews and 825 regular performances.

[0:24] Mo Brady: Somehow this one feels sadder than the other closings. Personally, I just wasn't expecting a long-running show, especially a Disney on Broadway show, to be one of the first to close. It really makes me feel like anything could happen.

[0:37] Mo Brady: That being said, I did want to take a moment to honor and celebrate the wonderful cast of Frozen and all of the conversations that we've shared with them through their run on Broadway. In this episode, you'll hear some of my favorite moments of conversations about Frozen, first from Aisha Jackson, who was the original stand-by for Anna, then from Stephen Oremus, the show's music supervisor, followed by Ann Sanders, who originated the role of Queen Iduna on Broadway, and Tracee Beazer, who was an original company member of Frozen. Enjoy.

[1:38] Aisha Jackson: The roles that I see myself in, I ask to go in for. And sometimes roles that I don't see myself in are offered to me, or I'm asked to be seen for them. And I'm like, oh, they want to see me for that? Okay.

[1:51] Aisha Jackson: That was the case with Anna, correct?

[1:53] Aisha Jackson: That was funny. I went in for Elsa first. And that was the case when my agent called me and was like, hey, they want to see you for Elsa. And I was like, huh? And he was like, yeah. And it wasn't like, I know I can sing Elsa. I know that I could possibly play that role. But immediately, my thought was, they want to see a person of color for Elsa? Are they actually going to? Because I do know oftentimes, there are equity rules. You have to see all ethnicities and things for these roles. And so they do call us into the room sometimes. That doesn't always mean that you're ready to take that leap and be like, yes, we want a person of color to be the leading lady in our show.

[2:31] Aisha Jackson: As a Disney character, as a Disney princess, there's a lot of layers of audience expectation of what characters in Frozen look and sound like.

[2:41] Aisha Jackson: Yeah. So I was surprised. That's how it should be. That's great. Because these are fictional characters. So yeah, I went in for Elsa. And then they told me that I was too young and bubbly. And I was like, I'm an older sister. I have a little sister. But they want to see you as Anna. And I was like, oh, okay, cool. Let's do it. Like she, she's a leading lady. She goes on a journey. She falls in love. I was like, sure, let's do it. And so I went in for it. And even in that process, I had someone in casting sit me down and be like, we're looking at you. Bring yourself into the room. Have fun. Make it yours. We're not just seeing people of color to check that box off. We are looking at you. We are considering you highly for this role. And I was like, okay, thank you. Thank you for saying that.

[3:41] Mo Brady: For something like Frozen, how much of that original company did you had you worked with before? Were you familiar with versus someone who's completely new as part of the audition process?

[3:52] Aisha Jackson: I think there were a lot of I mean, there were a lot of people that had Broadway credits. There were some that did not. And there were some, you know, even some principals that did not have Broadway credits. You're asking the wrong person, because I've been around a while. So I know a lot of these people, even if I haven't worked with them, I've seen them in auditions and whatnot. So there's a lot of people that I've seen, you know, or that have been in a later company of one of the shows that I've worked on, and I visited a tour and been there. There's certainly a fair amount of ensemble members that, you know, had either worked with the choreographer before or choreographer, the director or worked with me before or like, you know, people that were a known quantity, that got in the room and continued to, you know, to be the right fit for what we were putting together for sure.

[4:51] Stephen Oremus: Disney has always been champions of this. I remember going through the whole audition process for Frozen. And very often in the waiting rooms, you might guess, oh, who's reading for what role. And throughout that process, I never could figure out who was auditioning for what. They were completely open to all the possibilities. Later, when the King and Queen became this interracial couple, I just love that one of the first images that our audience members get to see in Frozen is this completely diverse family, this King and Queen trusted, loved by their community. And all of them are sharing in the love of the children. It really makes me happy that they kept themselves open to the possibilities and that it shook down that way.

As actors, I feel like we need to recognize that we have power and speaking up and sharing vulnerable stories and things that connect us to the characters. And then if we're not right for something, or if we're unable to do it, to go ahead and recommend somebody else, share in that information. And then for other people in power to actively seek out and welcome contributions from everybody. Because it is getting better. But my hope is that we can make history right now by now making it an assumption for our younger generations that these opportunities are real.

[6:19] Mo Brady: Let's talk about creating new Broadway shows. Many of those shows have been based on previous IP, but your roles may have not been in the original intellectual property, right? How are you inspired by something like Ghost or Frozen when you're not playing Whoopi Goldberg or Elsa?

[6:48] Tracee Beazer: That's a hard one. I think my cast is very inspirational. I think we like to play. I have always had the attitude that even though I'm in the ensemble, I'm very important to the show. And so I find ways of, I'm notorious for this, like if there is a silent moment, I will fill it. I have given myself lines that are in the show right now. So it's just making sure that you realize how important you are and that you're not just in the background and that you are telling a story, have your story and make it clear and just creating.

[7:21] Tracee Beazer: Over at Frozen, I had a fan who made me a doll, beautiful doll, chocolate little princess, and it's a little Anna. And when I would go on, I would see young girls with the Anna doll. And of course, the doll that we have at the merch is a white doll, because that's the character from the movie. That's like Patty and Casey are. And so, but when I went on, I'm like, I want them to be able to have a little Anna that looks like them, you know? And growing up, my mother made sure we had dolls and toys that looked like this so that we were like, oh, we are beautiful, too. We see ourselves represented in this way. And so I reached out to the fan and I asked her to make some dolls. And so she made a bunch of them.

And when I'm on and I see a young lady who looks like me, I give them that doll. I'm like, this is the Anna that you saw. And this Anna also looks like you. And I want you to be able to take this little nugget home and like feel seen and represented. And so that's something that I did. And to me, that is a way to be the change that I wish to see.

[8:46] Mo Brady: How do they respond?

[8:48] Tracee Beazer: Oh my God, the first person I gave it to this first. Her eyes got so big. She I was just like, do you want this doll? She was like, yeah, like my heart burst into a million pieces. And I was like, Okay, here you go. You can have it. And she was just so happy to take home a little piece of something that looked like the Anna she saw, but also looked like her.

[9:09] Mo Brady: Special thanks to Tracee Beazer, Aisha Jackson, Stephen Oremus, and Ann Sanders for allowing us to reshare their stories today. The Ensemblist was produced today by Jackson Klein and me, Mo Brady. There are two great ways you can be helping The Ensemblist right now. One is by leaving us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. And the other one is by becoming a Patreon member, which you can do at patreon.com slash The Ensemblist. Please support us by following us wherever you listen to podcasts, whether that be on Spotify, on Apple Podcasts, or at Broadway Podcast Network. You can find us there at bpn.fm slash The Ensemblist, and make sure you're following us on Instagram. Thanks for listening, guys. Until next time.