Interview: Caroline Bowman On Her Warmth for Disney's FROZEN

On Broadway and on tour, Caroline Bowman has played some of theater’s best-known female leads, from Elphaba in “Wicked” to Eva Perón in “Evita” and Rizzo in “Grease.” She says, however, that her current role as Elsa in the North American tour of “Disney Frozen: The Hit Broadway Musical” – which Broadway In Boston will present at Citizens Bank Opera House October 25 to November 12 – just may be her favorite.

Based on the animated Disney feature of the same name – which was inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s 1844 fairy tale “The Snow Queen” and won the 2013 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature – “Frozen” features an expanded score with a dozen new numbers by the film’s songwriters, Oscar winner Kristen Anderson-Lopez and EGOT winner Robert Lopez.

Also on the creative team are Oscar winner Jennifer Lee (book), Tony and Olivier Award winner Michael Grandage (director), and Tony winner Rob Ashford (choreographer). The stage adaptation of “Frozen” had a 2017 pre-Broadway tryout in Denver, before opening at New York’s St. James Theatre on March 22, 2018, and going on to earn three Tony Award nominations.

The story centers on two sisters, Princesses Elsa and Anna of Arendelle. Elsa is bedeviled by her inability to control her magical powers to freeze objects and people. After inheriting the throne, Elsa flees, unintentionally freezing the kingdom in an endless winter, and nearly killing her sister.

In addition to “Wicked,” Bowman’s other Broadway credits include Nicola in “Kinky Boots.”  Local audiences may also remember her as Louise in the 2017 production of “Gypsy” at the Cape Playhouse in Dennis.

A Concord native who grew up in Maryland, Bowman and her husband and fellow performer Austin Colby, who played Hans on the first year of the “Frozen” tour, will celebrate their sixth wedding anniversary next month.

Bowman was driving to a Richmond, Virginia, tour stop recently – with her dog, Kodak, keeping her company in the backseat – when she took a telephone call to talk about “Frozen” and more.

You’ve played some major characters in musical theater including, of course, your current one. Do you have a favorite and why?

It’s so hard for me to pick a favorite. Usually, it is the one I’m playing at the time. Elsa, however, is the one I’ve played the most so she’s more than just the one I am playing now. I’ve really come to love her. Elsa is very complex. She was originally going to be an evil Ice Queen, but instead they made her likable. Elsa is someone who hides what makes her special and unique and, as such, she is a very relatable character.

What’s it like to portray a Disney Princess?

It’s a dream come true. I always thought I’d be a villain. With Elsa, some people are afraid of her because she is such a complicated individual. When it comes to other Disney princesses, I would love to play Belle in “Beauty and the Beast.” She’s always been a favorite of mine.

Elsa’s relationship with her sister Anna is a central plot point. Do you have your own siblings that help you to understand that part of Elsa’s life?

I have a younger brother, Bobby, so I know how much a young sibling looks up to an older one. I had an older sister, Meghan, who passed away when she was only six and I was just three years old. When I first played Elsa, I remember texting my mother about the trauma I felt, which was very unexpected. I feel my sister’s presence every day and some days are definitely harder than others. As an actor, however, you have to put your emotions aside. Initially, that wasn't easy to do. Now, I think it’s a gift to have my sister’s memory with me always.

You have some powerhouse numbers in this show. What’s it like to do “Let It Go” – the 2013 Academy Award winner for Best Original Song – eight shows a week?

Each time I sing “Let it Go,” I feel like I’ve run a mile – my adrenalin pumps and it’s almost like giving birth. You have to bear down and handle it. Idina Menzel really defined this song in the movie version, but I try to deliver it in my own way for the audience night after night.

What other songs from the show do you especially like?

Bobby and Kristen wrote so many great new songs for Broadway, including “I Can’t Lose You,” an act-two duet between Elsa and Anna that was added to the show on the North American tour in 2019. I was on the recording, along with Caroline Innerbichler who was playing Anna on the tour at the time, when the song was released as a single in March 2022 to mark Caroline’s departure from the cast.

You’ve been with this tour since 2019, but didn’t your first experience come even earlier?

Yes, I was actually part of the movie. While I was in “Kinky Boots” on Broadway in 2013, Bobby Lopez asked the show’s music supervisor, Stephen Oremus, to have all the women in the cast come in and record the song “Fixer Upper” for a film we knew nothing about. When it came out that fall, I thought, “I think I’m in that movie.” When I first saw it, I had no idea it would become such a phenomenon. Now, I’m thrilled to be even a small part of the movie.

Photo captions: At top, Caroline Bowman plays Elsa in the North American tour of “Frozen” Photo by Deenvan Meer. At left, Caroline Bowman. Photo courtesy of Broadway In Boston.