Broadway Gives Young Elsa a Royal Send-Off

Disney’s Broadway productions of The Lion King, Aladdin, and Frozen have been back on stage in the past few months (with the Aladdin shows, unfortunately, being canceled repeatedly due to COVID-19), and many people often forget that stage productions involve child actors and young performers! Natalia Artigas, who has been playing the young version of Elsa the snow queen in the Tony Award-nominated Broadway musical version of Frozen, recently ended her role on the show’s North American tour–and the show’s cast gave her a very sweet farewell!

Credit: frozenthemusical.com

Broadway’s Frozen production went on Instagram to show photos from the farewell and a video of the North America tour’s ensemble singing to Natalia as she prepared to go on her way. Caroline Bowman, who plays the adult version of Elsa in the musical, also crowned Natalia with a little crown during the song, which seems to be an adaptation of the iconic song “Vuelie” from the 2013 movie Frozen and its 2019 sequel, Frozen 2.

Natalia Artigas and Caroline Bowman. Credit: Natalia Artigas Instagram

Caroline Bowman as Elsa in Frozen on Broadway. Credit: eclecticartswa.blogspot.com

Olivia Jones as young Anna and Natalia Artigas as young Elsa. Credit: Olivia Jones Instagram

According to IMDB.com, the original version of the song “Vuelie” was written and produced by Frode Fjellheim and Christophe Beck, and it was conducted by Tove Ramlo-Ystad. The song was originally performed by Cantus, but the Broadway show’s touring cast does a beautiful job too! You can see the video of Natalia’s send-off here.

Caroline Bowman as Elsa in Frozen on Broadway. Credit: laweekly.com

Until now, Natalia has alternated the role of young Elsa with Natalie Grace Chan, while Olivia Jones and Victoria Hope Chan have been alternating the role of young Anna (Natalie and Victoria are also sisters in real life!). Arwen Monzon will be making her debut as young Elsa in Natalia’s place; Arwen previously played Anna in the 2019 tour!

Victoria Chan as young Anna and Natalie Chan as young Elsa with swing Kristen Davis Smith. Credit: Victoria Chan Instagram

Caroline Innerbichler plays adult Anna, Mason Reeves plays Kristoff, and Austin Colby plays Prince Hans of the Southern Isles (fun fact: Austin and Caroline Bowman are married!). The show is currently at the Cadillac Palace Theatre in Chicago on this leg of the North American tour, and it was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2018. Are you going to see Frozen on stage during its run through North America, and if so, are you excited to see Olaf (played by F. Michael Haynie), Sven (played by Collin Baja), and the rest of the characters in their adventures between Arendelle, the North Mountain, and Northuldra?