Interview: Patti Murin’s Return to Frozen Is for Her Two Daughters

Three weeks before the world shut down in 2020, Patti Murin played her final performance as Anna in Frozen on Broadway. At that point, she had been in the show for two years, and the Denver run before that, with a handful of workshops and readings even earlier. She did not have any unfinished business in the kingdom of Arendelle.

And yet, when this year’s Tony-winning regional theater, the Muny, announced that it was doing Frozen this season, the first thing Murin did was pick up the phone to ask if she could take a swing at her old gig.

The reason, she says, was personal. She wanted her daughters, neither of whom was born when she was doing the show in New York, to see their mom as Anna. That’s why she placed the call.

This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Was it like riding a bike when you got back to the rehearsal room?
The physicality of it came back. I still wake up the morning after feeling like I’ve been hit by a truck. It’s constant movement, and here, it’s outside and running across many more feet of stage. But it’s just natural. I was still the only one carrying around my script, because it’s been five years and two kids.

The show is different from when I did it, because they cut a lot, and they put in the new duet. But honestly, it’s the first time I’ve done a show at the Muny where I don’t have to be thinking, “Oh, my God, what’s next?” It takes those big anxieties away and makes it way more fun.

Because you did it on Broadway for—
Two years.

I didn’t realize it was that long. And you were involved for a long time before that, too.
I’ve literally done every single iteration of Frozen, the Broadway musical. I did the very first reading, the next two workshops, Denver, Broadway, and this changed version. Every single version, except Frozen Jr. I haven’t done Frozen Jr. yet.

The day is young.
Yeah, I know. And so am I. [Laughs] It’s really fun, though. It’s Muny-sized. It’s big and epic. This is probably one of the most complicated technical shows that they’ve ever done, but it’s still the same story. They’ve crafted a very special entrance for Anna and Elsa in this one, and I cry every single night.

How much convincing did it take for you to agree to do it?
Actually, I was the one who reached out to them. I was pregnant when I left Broadway and watching my daughters—who are now five and two—go through their Frozen phases, I realized they’d never seen mommy as Anna. This was the opportunity to do it, at my favorite theater in the country, and this is my husband’s hometown. So, it’s not just me coming to do a show. It’s meaningful for a million reasons.

Have the girls seen it yet?
They’re seeing it tonight. Even if they make it through one act, I’ll be happy. I showed Lorelai a picture of me as Anna and I said, “Who’s that?” And she said, “That’s Anna.” And I said, “That’s Mommy as Anna.” And she said, “No, that’s Anna.” She met Olaf over FaceTime and she didn’t see anything that that was making Olaf happen. She only saw Olaf. It’s that beautiful tunnel vision.

We met Anna and Elsa last week at Walt Disney World a couple of weeks ago, and it was a torrential rainstorm, so we were soaking wet, but it was magical.
They’re so good. We’ve met Anna and Elsa multiple times, and they’re on the ball.

I just want to shout out those women who do it at the parks, because they’re awesome.
Absolutely. They must see it all, and they are so gracious. I don’t know that I’d be able to play one of those characters. I don’t think I’m good enough at the improv and always staying in character.

Did you feel like you had unfinished business with Frozen?
I didn’t. That’s the thing. Caissie Levy and I left three weeks before the world shut down and we got all the fanfare. Whenever I hear that someone who was in the show when it closed during the pandemic is going back and doing a production of it, I’m so happy, because I feel like they really needed that closure. I got that.

It’s something else that I wanted to get out of it. Being a mom, I just wanted to share it with my girls, and revisit it on my favorite stage. There have been a lot of regional productions of it, and I haven’t felt the need to call any other theater and be like “I would do it for you.”

What is it about the Muny?
The Muny is different. Kwofe Coleman and Mike Isaacson and Michael Baxter, they lead with love, and John Tartaglia, our director, and Patrick O’Neill, our choreographer, they are right there with them. They assembled a truly phenomenal group of human beings who happen to be insanely talented.

Jared Gertner, who plays Weselton, I’ve known him since 2008. I somehow had never met Hannah Corneau before, but we have billions of mutual friends, and instantly, we clicked. I also have Ann Sanders here who was the Queen on Broadway. I love having her around to be giggly with, and so I can remember things without being annoying and telling other people our stupid stories from Broadway.

Does having kids now change your perspective on any of it?
Not overall. I was always honed into what this story means to children. There are kids seeing their first Muny show, or their first Broadway show, and that was always my favorite part of doing it.

Personally, selfishly, it’s gonna mean everything to me to have my girls see me do this insanely iconic part. They’re still young, so I don’t know how much they’re going to remember.

But you’ll remember.
Exactly.