I know we were all supposed to be “holding space” for "Defying Gravity" at this time last year, but if I’m being honest, the iconic movie musical moment between two young women that really destroyed me appeared on screens long before Wicked (spoiler alert—if you’ve been living under a rock for quite some time): Anna using the last of her strength to save her sister instead of herself in Disney’s Frozen in 2013.

And thanks to Dexter’s Encore Musical Theatre Company, you (alongside lots of little ones in sparkly blue Elsa dresses) can now see that moment reenacted live via its production of Frozen: The Broadway Musical.

Why did that moment elicit such a strong reaction in me?

Well, for one thing, I had two young daughters, then ages 5 and 2, and I’d desperately wanted to cultivate closeness between them. But even more than that, the moment felt like a significant but painfully late-coming shift in Disney’s depiction of young women in animated features. On the heels of Brave (2012), wherein Merida resists choosing a suitor (thus going against generations of tradition), Frozen slyly set us up to believe Anna’s love triangle between Prince Hans and ice peddler Kristoff would provide the rescue/act of true love she needs to survive, as we’d been long conditioned to expect, and then utterly subverts that by centering the sisters’ tie to each other.

I mean, how could a feminist mom resist?

Yet the process of translating these tightly paced animated feature films into stage musicals is inherently fraught with challenges. Songs are inevitably added to “fill out” the show for live theater, largely to satisfy theatergoers’ expectations that new, “deeper” narrative additions will bring flashes of surprise to a familiar story—and, by extension, help justify the not-cheap cost of a family night at the theater. Often, the tunes feel like pale bits of padding that you listen to while waiting for the original bangers and belters you already love, and the longer run times for stage musicals inevitably make it tough for really young ones to stay engaged in their seats, and make the shows feel a bit bloated. (The Encore’s production, directed by co-founder Dan Cooney, runs two hours and 10 minutes, with an intermission.)

Plus, the limitless flights of imagination that are available to animators must inevitably, when adapting a property for live theater, be brought down to Earth, where we have to deal with pesky things like gravity, physics, and stage clean-up. Theatrical illusions, physical movements, projections (here by Tim Brown), and lighting (Rachel Lauren) can achieve a lot, but as imaginative as kids are, they are also, at times, brutal literalists. (See: my oldest daughter, after seeing Clifford the Big Red Dog at a library event, told me, “That wasn’t really Clifford. He’s way, way bigger than that.”)

So yes, Frozen, like all adapted animated properties, struggles against these conventions. But the original movie became a worldwide sensation because it has great bones—and Encore has deep wells of talent to draw from to make the show, in its best moments, soar.

On Saturday, pint-sized charmers Cici Hubbard (Elsa) and Lolly Cooney (Anna) winningly set the story in motion as young versions of the sisters. (These roles rotate among three pairs of young actors throughout Encore’s run.) When U-M musical theater students Madeline Dick (Anna) and Vanessa Dominguez (Elsa) step in to take over, you know pretty immediately you’re in terrific hands. They both deliver powerhouse vocals while affectingly conveying aspects of their character (longing paired with a goofy brand of spunk for Anna, fear and rigidity for Elsa).

Encore regulars will likely recognize Conor Jordan (previously Tony from West Side Story), perfectly cast as the seemingly dreamy Hans, and Ash Moran (Into the Woods and Little Shop of Horrors), who brings sweet, silly Olaf to life. But it’s comedic actors Sarah Stevens (Weselton) and David Moan (Oaken) who briefly threaten to steal the show with their hilarious antics. (Indeed, Moan’s largely improvised bit of audience interaction at the top of the second act was, for me, a highlight.)

Finally, the show’s ensemble—my God, the ensemble. Just hearing them sing the larger production numbers, courtesy of R. Mackenzie Lewis’ marvelous music direction, was a pure joy.

Hair and wigs play a larger-than-normal role in Frozen, so a well-deserved shout-out goes to Theodore Place. I also appreciated that Abby Sage Hall’s costume design took inspiration from the animated feature’s clothes, but didn’t aim to be so literal as to copy them. (Elsa’s dress, after her transformation, is a triumph in this regard.) Sarah Tanner’s scenic design takes ambitious swings to place us experientially in these varied, enchanted locales, and Liana Wise’s choreography is top-notch, achieving its most beautiful effect at the show’s climax.

So while the show as a property has its challenges, Encore’s execution can’t be faulted. Parents will have to make their own call about their child’s capacity for sitting still, quietly, for two hours—but having said that, I will also say that part of the fun of my own experience was seeing lots and lots of little girls in the audience wearing Elsa dresses. Seeing them reminded me of my own daughters (now teenagers) wearing the same while dancing to “Let It Go” in our kitchen years ago.

And by the way, I’m not saying it’s all because of Frozen that my daughters are now super-close. But it probably didn’t hurt.

Jenn McKee is a former staff arts reporter for The Ann Arbor News, where she primarily covered theater and film events, and also wrote general features and occasional articles on books and music.     

"Frozen: The Broadway Musical" is at the Encore Musical Theatre, 7714 Ann Arbor Street, Dexter, through January 11. Visit theencoretheatre.org for tickets, showtimes, and more information.