Cate Hayman – Frozen, The Broadway Musical

What is your current role?

I’m playing Elsa!

Years in the industry?

I’ve been doing this since I was five, but pursuing it professionally for five years.

What sparked your interest in the arts?

I started singing when I was five years old. No one in my family is in the arts so it was kind of a fluke accident. My parents enrolled me in kiddy soccer and they found it suspicious that instead of playing the game, I was holding hands with the opposing team singing Disney songs, so they thought maybe piano would be a better route. About half way through my first piano lesson, I asked if I could sing instead. I was VERY stubborn and incredibly passionate. The rest is history!

Who are the women in the arts that have influenced you the most?

For me, my education was really important. Coming from a family who was just as clueless as I was about theatre and were (probably) hoping this was a phase, I had to seek elsewhere to find guidance if I wanted to learn. All of my singing mentors to this day have been women and they have  sparked the joy and discipline that I carry with me in my work today.

Prior to college, almost all of my educators (singing, dancing, and acting) have been woman as well. They were able to see things in me I couldn’t see in myself and provided me with the skill set and the courage it took to take my career to a collegiate level. This is a hard question really, because along with the legendary performers who I look up to, the real influence comes from the women I immediately work with and learn from day to day. This is a really tough industry to make it in, particularly for girls, so anyone working with me or around me has something incredibly powerful to bring to the table that I can learn from.

What is one of your favorite behind-the-scenes moments or photos?

This process has been so much fun! Elsa is, excuse the pun, in a kingdom of isolation most of the show and never really interacts with the  cast. Because of this, I want to make up for it by finding time backstage with the people I never see onstage. During “do you wanna build a snowman” there  is a great little musical beat that happens, and backstage, we have choreographed a really silly dance to it. Every night before we go onstage, a little group of us circle up and groove it out.

Is there a costume or object that holds special meaning for you?

I have two costume pieces that I find to be really special in this show. First and probably most obvious is Elsa’s iconic blue dress. Without any spoilers, there is some amazing theatre magic that happens with that dress that is really breathtaking from the audience. People, both kids and adults, sit wondering how on earth Elsa does that.

The second costume piece I find special is the two piece outfit I wear towards the end of the show. More than it looking really cool, I think it is so amazing that for a second you see a really strong, powerful and fierce Disney queen NOT in a dress. To me, there is so much incredible symbolism in that and I am so stoked this production is leaning into Elsa’s power by putting her in an outfit that she realistically could actually save a kingdom in!