Frosty the Snowman

Frosty the Snowman
Book by William Francis
Music and lyrics by Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins
Produced by Adventure Theatre
Directed by Karl M. Kippola
Choreography by Michael J. Bobbitt
Reviewed by Tim Treanor

Let’s get to the bottom line first: Frosty the Snowman is Bubba^TM-approved and Bubba^TM-certified. Go see it and take your kids.

Now, let me give the background. Occasionally, this site sends me to review children’s theater. This is somewhat akin to sending Stevie Wonder to review a Picasso retrospective. So to perform my task, I armed myself with a real live child, 7-year-old Carlton “Bubba” Scott.. Let’s go to the interview:

DC Theatre Scene:  Bubba, what did you think of Frosty the Snowman?

Bubba: It was awesome!

DCTS: Give us the 411. What went on in the show?

Bubba: First, it was snowing. Then these kids built a snowman, and then Officer Bump, who hates winter, chased them away. But they came back and finished the snowman, and when they put a hat on him, he came to life!  He started to dance, and soon everyone was singing and dancing, except Officer Bump. When the cop saw what was going on, he tried to arrest Frosty, but the kids kept fooling him and Frosty got away.

DCTS: By “the kids” you mean Matthew McGloin as Charley, Zehra Fazal as Mary Ann, Brittany N. Williams as Geraldine, and Clinton R. Roane as Joey, don’t you? And Alex Perez played Officer Bump, and Raquis Da’Juan Petree was Frosty, right?

Bubba: You’re reading the program. Anyway, finally even Officer Bump starts to like Frosty, because Frosty is awful fun. And he starts to like winter, too.

DCTS: What were some of the parts you liked best?

Bubba: The snow looked real! But it was made of soap. I saw one of the flakes pop.

DCTS: Actually, I think they used artificial snow. See, water is first mixed with a nucleating material. It is then pressurized and forced through an atomizing nozzle …

Bubba: Soap is spelled s-o-a-p. Anyway, I also liked the part where the kids fooled Officer Bump by dressing Frosty up as a baby and Charley up as the mom. When Officer Bump tried to tickle Frosty under the chin, Frosty squirted him with his milk bottle. Then he bit him!

DCTS: Not hard, I hope.

Bubba: Officer Bump sure howled.

DCTS: I have to ask you – did the sun come out and melt Frosty at the end?

Bubba: Yeah. But it was o.k. It snowed again and Frosty was back to his old self.

DCTS: The eternal theme of death and redemption, here enacted in a children’s play, eh?

Bubba: You sure talk odd. Listen, can we eat now? You said we could have dinner and I’m very hungry.

DCTS: Just two more questions. How was the singing?

Bubba: It was good! Especially the kids, and the way that they sang together.

DCTS: How was the dancing?

Bubba: Awesome!  Frosty had some great moves. But everybody was a good dancer.

DCTS: You talked with Frosty after the show. What did he tell you?

Bubba: I asked him if his pipe was real. He said it was a fake.

DCTS: I see.

Bubba: You told me it was real.

DCTS: (nothing)

DCTS: Well, there you have it, folks. Frosty the Snowman, approved by Bubba. And, for what it’s worth, his hyper-adult companion had fun too. I particularly liked Scott Hengen’s swell set, an authentic-looking small town which could have existed in the 1930s, or today, and Artistic Director Michael Bobbitt’s exceptionally tight choreography, which showed off Petree’s considerable skills to maximum advantage. And McGloin, Roane, Williams and Fazal sang in something close to perfect harmony.

By way of full disclosure, I must tell you that Bobbitt also served (brilliantly) as the director of my dear bride’s entry into the 2007 Fringe Festival, Queen of the Bohemian Dream. This did not affect Bubba’s review of this play.

Running Time: 45 minutes.

When: Many of these shows have sold one. The shows still available as of  9.20 a.m. on Sunday, December 7, 2008, are:
Saturday, December 13, at 1.30 p.m.; Tuesday, December 16 at 10.30 a.m.; Thursday, December 18 at 10.30 a.m.; Friday, December 19 at 7.00 p.m.; Tuesday, December 23 at 7.00 p.m.; Friday, December 26 at 11.00 a.m. and 1.30 p.m.; Saturday, December 27 at 11 a.m., 1.30 p.m. and 4.00 p.m.; Sunday, December 28, at 11 a.m. and 1.30 p.m.; Monday, December 29 at 1.30 p.m.; Tuesday, December 30, at 1.30 p.m.; Friday, January 2, 11.00 a.m. and 1.30 p.m.; Saturday, January 3, 11.00 a.m., 1.30 p.m. and 4.00 p.m.; and Sunday, January 4, 11.00 a.m. and 4.00 p.m. (Experts in ASL will interpret this show).

Where: Adventure Theatre in Glen Echo Park, 7300 MacArthur Blvd., Glen Echo, MD.

Tickets: $12 on weekdays; on weekends it is $15 for those over 12. To order by phone ($2 per ticket surcharge) call 301.634.2270. To order online ($1.50 per ticket surcharge) go to the website.