They can finish each other’s sandwiches.
For music director Geoffrey Ko and actor Leah Platt, doing the musical “Frozen” together at Paper Mill Playhouse isn’t just a special experience for the on-stage magic it provides, but it’s also the first time the newlyweds have gotten to work on a full show together.
“It’s really nice,” Ko (Broadway’s “Be More Chill,” “The Notebook”) said, with Platt adding “it’s the dream.”
Geoffrey Ko and Leah Platt begin rehearsals for Paper Mill Playhouse’s production of “Frozen.”
The pair met as freshman in a student theater group at Northwestern University, started dating a few years later and have been together ever since.
“This is the first time we’re working together professionally on a process like this,” Ko said. “But we went to school together. We were in acting class together. Being in this business we’ve run lines together. We’ve done auditions, I’ve read for her, I’ve played for her. I’ve gotten little chances to see what it’s like. It has really been nice to go to work with my person and come home from work with my person, and see each other on lunch breaks and commute together and figure out dog-sitting together and combining elements of our lives in that way makes it really fun to not be away from you for eight hours a day.”
The pair are equally appreciative to work on a show as beloved as Disney’s “Frozen,” which runs from Nov. 26 to Jan. 11 at the famed Millburn theater.
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“Frozen,” based on the smash-hit movie, features music and lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez and a book by Jennifer Lee.
Paper Mill’s production is directed by Paige Price and stars Mary Kate Morrissey (“Wicked”) as Elsa, Samantha Williams (“Pirates! The Penzance Musical”) as Anna, Daniel Yearwood (“Hamilton”) as Kristoff, Sam Gravitte (“Wicked”) as Hans, Todd Buonopane (“Chicago”) as Olaf, Mark Price (“Mary Poppins”) as Lord Weselton and Thomas Whitcomb (“Miguel Wants to Fight”) as Sven, with Anjali Roa in her Paper Mill debut as Young Anna and Hazel Vogel (“Annie” at Madison Square Garden) as Young Elsa.
‘Stepping into her power’
Platt, an ensemble member who understudies Elsa, says her favorite part of the show is the sister relationship it encompasses.
“I have an older sister, and she’s my only sibling. The first time I saw this movie, I was so drawn to the story, and actually made my sister watch it with me. I think the concept of your true love being your sibling is just the sweetest, most heartbreaking and heartwarming thing at the same time,” she said.
Mary Kate Morrissey (Elsa) and Samantha Williams (Anna), with Juliette Meris (understudy), Anjali Roa (Young Anna) and Hazel Vogel, in rehearsals for “Frozen.”
It’s not Platt’s first experience embodying Elsa, having played the role with Disney Cruise Line.
“What’s fun about Elsa is that she gets to go through the journey of stepping into her power and figuring out what she’s capable of,” she said.
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She says she relates to the ice queen’s struggles and complexities.
“Where I really relate to Elsa is the absolute anxiety that enwraps her the entire show. She is taught from such a young age to push everything down, and she spends the entire journey of this show trying to suppress all these emotions. We literally have a moment in the show that we call the panic attack, and I can relate to that. There’s both the really fun side of this role and this character, of getting to be powerful and create and explore your inner being, but also this flip side of absolute anxiety that is totally relatable.”
‘Frozen’ score
So what exactly does a music director do?
“I’m responsible for all the music that happens in the show and making sure it happens on stage every night and in the pit the way that the authors intended it to,” Ko said. That means doing everything from teaching the music to actors and musicians in rehearsals to ensuring the integrity of the music as choreography and staging are added in to working with stage management on the timing for scene transitions. He also will conduct the show during performances.
Ko particularly enjoys the diversity of the musical’s lush score.
“For me as a music director or conductor, it really toes the line in an exciting way I thing between this giant choral, orchestral movie score, the end of ‘Do You Want to Build a Snowman’ and end of ‘First Time in Forever’ are these giant choir sounds, it’s the full orchestra. The other half is the ‘Let It Go,’ ‘Monster,’ ‘Love Is An Open Door,’ that sort of feels like a pop band in a studio, and something that you can really like, jam along and groove to,” he said.
He said there also are newer songs in the show that people may not be as familiar with that provide intricacies and opportunities for the cast.
Todd Buonopane (Olaf), Daniel Yearwood (Kristoff) and Sam Gravitte (Hans), in rehearsal for “Frozen.”
“MK (Mary Kate Morrissey) and I were having a conversation about how so much of the new stuff that was written, both for the New York production and the new stuff that was written for the tour, is storytelling and rich in text and actor-focused,” Ko said. “There are beautiful internal pieces that you can grapple with a million different choices in there, which must be really exciting as an actor.”
Paper Mill Playhouse
Working at Paper Mill Playhouse is a homecoming for Ko, who grew up in nearby Westfield. He saw shows at the theater growing up, participated in its summer conservatory and was awarded a prestigious Paper Mill Rising Star Award in high school in 2012.
Professionally, he’s worked on Paper Mill productions like “Jersey Boys,” “Take the Lead,” “Jolly Holiday” and “The Honeymooners.”
Samantha Williams (Anna) and Mary Kate Morrissey (Elsa) in rehearsals for “Frozen.”
“The people there are fantastic,” Ko said. “They start to feel like family, the more I work there, the more we we talk and socialize and get to know each other as artists. Then they can find the right shows to bring me in on, and I know how to work with them. Everyone there is really lovely.”
Young audiences
Platt is looking forward not only to hearing the massive vocal reactions from kids in the audience during times like Sven’s first appearance or Olaf’s entrance, but the knowledge that seeing “Frozen” is a big moment for young audience members.
“We all remember our first big show that we saw,” she said. “We all remember these things from when we’re a kid, and they’re so impactful and they’re so informative to who we become as artists, or even just people who enjoy watching theater. Future theater-goers are going to be in our audience watching this.”
Go: “Frozen”; Nov. 26 to Jan. 11; Paper Mill Playhouse, 22 Brookside Dr., Millburn. For tickets and more information, visit papermill.org/frozen.
Ilana Keller is an award-winning journalist and lifelong New Jersey resident who loves Broadway and really bad puns. Reach out: [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Frozen the Broadway musical comes to Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn
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