When I saw the Denver production of Frozen last fall in its pre-Broadway engagement, I walked away with a few of the new songs stuck in my head. “Monster” was not one that stayed with me and in my original review I even dared to call it unnecessary. The show took its first bow on the great white way last night and in anticipation of the upcoming Original Cast Recording, Walt Disney Records has dropped the first digital single with “Monster.”
This song appears in the middle of Act II when Hans and his guards are on their way to capture Elsa. It’s another solo for her and in the context of the show, I felt like it stopped the story to re-express feelings that the character had already established. However, listening to it separately from the show allowed me to see the beauty of it.
Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez have written another winner, a ballad for Elsa that gives her a little more depth. While it’s mostly a solo, the ensemble and Hans join in at parts to expand the scope of the piece. This is also the first release of Caissie Levy as Elsa and her performance wowed me in the Denver version of the show. She has a gorgeous voice and audiences are going to be singing her praises every night on Broadway.
“Monster” is the first of four promised releases every Friday for the next four weeks. The rest of the schedule is as follows:
- March 2nd – “What Do You Know About Love?”
- March 9th – “Dangerous to Dream”
- March 16th – “True Love”
These singles serve as a countdown to the March 22nd official opening night of Frozen: The Broadway Musical. The first preview was on Thursday, February 22nd, and Disney released the following images from curtain call at the first performance.
“Monster” is now on sale at every major digital music provider, as well as streaming on services like Apple Music, Amazon Unlimited, and Pandora.