Interview: She Does Like Warm Hugs! Ryann Redmond Talks Taking Over as Olaf in FROZEN

Ryann Redmond is an icon all on her own, but she's making a splash in an icy pond as the first ever female actress to portray Olaf in Frozen on Broadway. We took a moment to speak with Redmond about her experiences playing the lovable snowman and the powerful statement of adding yet another female lead to Frozen's girl-power narrative!

So I have to ask, how did this come to happen, how did you get this part?

It was kind of crazy because when I first got the appointment back in November, I got the email from my agents and I thought it was a mistake. The breakdown still said 'Male,' and still had the song in a male key and I said 'Um, I think you guys sent me the wrong appointment.' They said, 'No, this is correct. This was for you.' And my agent said 'I wish we could say we submitted you but they asked for you.'

I don't know who exactly asked for me but I need to get to the bottom of it because I owe them a drink or 100. I went in and it was kind of fun because as everyone knows, Olaf's been played by a man this whole time and I had the freedom to do what I wanted with it and make my own version of him.

Throughout the entire process the company has been really supportive of that and Disney's been wonderful throughout helping me find what my version is. I certainly did not expect that going into a well-oiled machine, but I was very welcomed.

Did you get any specific sort of direction? What was the collaboration like?

A lot of my audition time leading up to my final callback was with the associate director, Adrian Sarple. He prepped me for meeting all of the creatives at the end of the line when I had my final callback. He would help me with specific beats, but it was mostly him letting me play and guiding me in a certain direction in regards to the overall theme of the show. We worked on honing in on the heart of Olaf and how he is a really big heartbeat of the show and how he is so beloved by so many people.

I had a rehearsal session with the puppet but it wasn't really built for my body, it was built for Greg [Hildreth], so that was a little difficult just because, you know, not ergonomically correct. But they all knew that going in, they just wanted to see if I could take direction with the puppet and translate my performance into the puppet. We got to the end with all the creatives and Tom Schumacher, the Head of Disney Theatrical and he just had me play a little bit and that was that. I found out just after Thanksgiving that I got it. It was pretty cool.

That must have been so nice, going into the holidays knowing you had that waiting for you.

It was! It was extremely hard for my family and I to keep it a secret, too. We love Frozen so much and we've loved it from the beginning. I was doing If/Then with Idina Menzel when the movie excitement started. We were out of town in DC at the National Theatre and she rented out a movie theatre for us to watch it before it came out in theatres. It's been kind of a full circle experience, getting to this day. It's funny because I never thought in a million years, watching that movie for the first time, that I would get to play Olaf!

What has the audience response been like?

I go out to the stage door every night and so many women and girls are putting their fists up and saying they're so excited that Olaf is being played by a female, it's been nothing but support. I've gotten the best response each and every time I go out there.

Frozen is such a girl power Disney show, a female-led story. What's it like to be able to contribute to that?

It's really amazing. I've always loved that part of the storyline in Frozen, that neither of these girls end up needing a man to help them do anything. Elsa's such a pillar of female empowerment. It's so cool to be able to put my lady-spin on Olaf, but it's fun to just grab the reigns with them and celebrate that wonderful theme of the show. And, of course, Caissie and Patti are just wonderful to be in this process with. They embody those things outside of the theatre as well, so it's wonderful.

What's it like acting with the puppet? What are the challenges you face there?

It's quite wild. Nothing I could have ever prepared myself for. I like to compare it to having a toddler standing on your feet and kind of walking around with it. It's not extremely heavy, but it's feet are attached to my feet.

I would say the most challenging part has just been my arms getting used to the stamina of it all and a lot of repetitive motion, a lot of really interesting muscles that we don't use in our everyday life. But I've been in the gym and I have a personal trainer and I get physical therapy. Disney's really taking care of me to support me in that realm because it is pretty intense on your arms and sort of the core because you're holding him up the entire time.

Also, he's got to blink like a regular person, so that's something that I've had to really put in the back of my mind. If he's not blinking then his eyes are just open so he kinda looks a little dead, which is not what we want! Or he just constantly looks surprised all the time, so I have to throw in blinks whenever I think about it, which is a lot harder than you'd imagine. So the physical aspect of it and his blinking have been the biggest challenges.

Finally, I've just got to ask, do you like warm hugs?

I do like warm hugs! Who doesn't? People have been asking me at the stage door for warm hugs and it's kind of funny because it's a domino effect so if one person asks then everybody down the line wants one. So I might get myself in trouble saying this!