Frozen the Musical has been slammed for casting decisions that saw characters change race midway through the show.
During its three-year West End run, the role of Young Elsa was played by black child actors Minaii Barrowes and Sasha Watson-Lobo at different times, with the character later transforming into adult Elsa, portrayed by white actress Samantha Barks, 34.
Young Anna was played by black actress Asanda Masike as well as Asian actor Kanon Narumi before the character was portrayed as an adult by white actress Stephanie McKeon, 37.
Mr Bates vs The Post Office actor Will Mellor has hit out at the decision to have actors of different ethnicity play the same character, saying it ‘confused the whole audience’.
Speaking on his Two Pints with Will & Ralf podcast, the 48-year-old said: ‘People might get uncomfortable with what I’m going to say here because of the subject matter.
‘I’m allowed to say it. I went to the Frozen premiere with my daughter when she was really little. When it came round (the stage musical) she was a bit older, she was 13, 14.
Mr Bates vs The Post Office actor Will Mellor has hit out at the decision to have actors of different ethnicity play the same character, saying it ‘confused the whole audience’
Frozen the Musical has been slammed for casting decisions that saw characters change race midway through the show (pictured Minaii Barrowes who plays young Elsa)
During its three-year West End run, the role of Young Elsa was played by black child actors Minaii Barrowes and Sasha Watson-Lobo at different times, with the character later transforming into adult Elsa, portrayed by white actress Samantha Barks, 34 (pictured)
‘Show starts, and you’ve got Anna and Elsa, the sisters, walk out on stage, one’s white, one’s black.
‘Straight away the kids are going “Who’s that, who’s that?” So straight away “Ok, that’s what we’re going with, that’s fine”.
‘It’s like “that’s what you can do nowadays, it doesn’t have to be the same as the film.”
‘The problem I had with it is at the second half, when they’ve grown up, they come out and they’re both white. So one of them’s changed colour.
‘And all the kids are going ‘Who’s that?’ And I went “f*ck knows”. If you’re going to go with it, stick with it.
‘You can’t have them change colour, so when you get to 12 you turn white if you’re black.
‘I just think it confused the whole audience, and for the rest of the show that was the talking point. It was so distracting, my daughter was just like ‘But hang on’.
The Broadchurch star added: ‘Nowadays obviously, playing a character, whatever colour you are, race you are, whatever it is on a film, they can change that. ‘
Sasha Watson-Lobo played young Elsa in the production – later transforming into older Elsa played by Samantha
He continued: ‘That’s just the way it can be done – and fair enough. I just think I draw the line at people changing colour mid-show. That was proper confusing.’
Similar casting approaches have been seen in other productions.
In the Disneyland Resort’s Frozen: Live at the Hyperion, young Kristoff was portrayed by a Caucasian or Asian actor, while adult Kristoff was then played by an African American actor.
Meanwhile, in Broadway’s Frozen, Young Elsa was played by Suri Marrero, who is of Hispanic descent, while the adult Elsa was played by Caissie Levy, 43, a white actress.
Similar casting approaches have been seen in other productions. In the Disneyland Resort’s Frozen: Live at the Hyperion, young Kristoff was portrayed by a Caucasian or Asian actor, while adult Kristoff was then played by an African American actor