*“Frozen,” like you’ve never seen it before is a hit on Broadway. The Disney musical is a far cry from the all white animated movie released in 2013.
The musical is part of Disney’s Black History Month’s celebration. Nonah J. Ricketts plays Kristoff.
Aisha Jackson is the Anna stand-in, and Nicholas Ward is King Agnarr. I must say, however, after seeing the film I cringed every time I heard the song, “Let It Go.” After seeing Ricketts and Jackson’s fine performances, along with the mixed cast on stage, I walked out the theater singing “Let It Go.”
EUR sat down with Ricketts, who hails from Louisville, Kentucky, and Jackson from Atlanta, Georgia at Milk Studios where they were filming the Disney promo that is posted here.
EUR: How important is it for you to be a part of the Disney Black History Month celebration?
NOAH J. RICKETTS: It’s very important. I would say the last five years Broadway has changed so much in terms of representation. And so to see people globally accepting these stories, seeing them in a new way, and being a part of that change for a younger generation is just incredible.
AISHA JACKSON: I’m always honored and very, very glad to be able to play a black princess and represent on stage. The best moments are when little black girls sitting next to their moms say, ‘Mommy, she looks like me.’ So it’s like why I’m doing this, to inspire other little chocolate drops to see themselves as royalty.
EUR: Do you think your roles will make an impression on while theatergoers because we know children are taught racism?
AJ: Yes, racism can be taught because when it was announced that there were so many people of color in the cast, people were pissed! “Look at all the black people that they’re putting in this [‘Frozen’]. But we also got some celebratory messages.
I’ve gotten messages from people from Europe that said, ‘Oh, I didn’t know why Anna was a person of color. But then when I left the theater, I realized that like it didn’t matter. You’re just a person playing this and you taught me so much.’
NJR: Aisha is an incredible actress and she takes you on a journey that makes it so believable and so real that you can’t help but be changed by the end of this show. It’s either your choice to change or not. I think that’s the importance of bringing white people specifically to the show to see a black princess.
So yes, I do think it definitely affects people because you know their initial reaction is always going to be their initial reaction when they see a black princess. And to go back to Black History Month, that’s what we try to focus on, our responsibility to a younger generation and reflecting change here on the stage.
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