By D’Arcy Morrell –
As young Anna and Elsa bring a particularly cuddly snowman to life on Gilliam Stage, Zoe Velling and Kailey Kyle can be found getting into their own sisterly mischief in a dressing room downstairs.
Velling and Kyle, who, respectively, play Elsa and Anna in Disney’s Frozen, have learned to soak up as much “sister time” as they can, reveling in the extra 20 minutes they get to themselves before the madness starts. “We spend so much of the play not together, famously, that it’s so fun and a really good emotional check-in,” Velling said.
The on-stage sisters were “friends from the second we walked through the door,” when Zoe was serendipitously picked to mentor Kailey her first year as a Barter Player. “Zoe instilled so much confidence in me that first summer,” said Kyle, “Anna is such a dream role…I never would have imagined that I’d be doing this, but the confidence that Zoe has in me gives me so much,” she continued.
It’s a fitting foundation for characters who spend the show fighting through fear and misunderstanding just to find their way back to each other. “They’re always reaching for each other,” Zoe says of the two sisters, “and they don’t know quite how to make it. Every single choice they make is rooted in love.”
For Zoe, stepping into Elsa’s shoes has been a long time coming. She first performed “Let It Go” in 2020 during Barter’s stint at the Moonlite Drive-In, and returning to the role now feels “like a really full circle moment.” Working alongside director Katy Brown, Zoe has had the opportunity to dive deeper into the emotional roots of sisterhood. “Katy always cares about the heart of a piece,” she says, and their collaboration has focused on exploring not just Elsa’s power, but her protective love for Anna, and the distance that sometimes creates.
That emotional core is something Producing Artistic Director Katy Brown is known for at Barter, and in Frozen, that heart is everything. From Elsa’s soaring “Let It Go” to Anna’s relentless optimism, Brown’s direction keeps the focus on what matters: two sisters doing everything they can to protect and understand each other.
For Kailey, that is precisely what makes Anna’s journey so moving. “In the more difficult moments in the play where Anna and Elsa are butting heads, from the inside, Anna is trying to understand so much,” she explains. “She’s running into her own roadblocks, but the number one thing that she wants is to understand what’s going on with Elsa, to help her, and to bring her back home. There is no higher amount of love that Anna can have for Elsa than in that moment.”
For audiences, Frozen offers the kind of story that lives beyond its fairytale frame. Yes, there’s magic and whimsy and laughter, but at its core, it’s a story about love — messy, enduring, imperfect love; the kind between two people who keep showing up even when the way forward isn’t clear.
Of course, no production of Frozen would be complete without its visual magic, and Barter’s delivers. Between the snow, the costumes, and the unforgettable score, this production captures everything audiences love about the Disney hit, but it’s the heart at its center that sets it apart.
Whether you’re a longtime fan or visiting Arendelle for the first time, Barter’s production of Disney’s Frozen is more than just a fairytale. It’s a reminder of the power of love, the strength of connection, and the kind of magic that only happens in live theatre.
Barter Theatre’s production of Disney’s Frozen runs until August 17th on Gilliam Stage in Abingdon, VA.
