Act I

The full company comes forward to sing “Just Like You,” which is an invitation to the audience to imagine themselves in the story.

Kai and Gerda are best friends who share adventures and delight in stories, when they aren’t tending to a Rose that grows between their windows (“Up Here”). One day Gerda is tall enough to reach a dusty book on her Grandmother’s shelf (“Once Upon a Time”). The book tells the story of the Snow Queen and her two mirrors— one that reflects all that is good and beautiful, and another its opposite. Gerda’s Grandmother catches them reading the book and reveals more of the story. She tells them how a Troll stole the Queen’s dark mirror and raised it above the world, but it shattered— sending shards into the eyes and hearts of unsuspecting people, giving them negative feelings and a cynical outlook. Grandmother says the Snow Queen takes children to her ice palace and breathes the cold into their lungs with a kiss in order to create a Snow Flake army. Kai and Gerda ask if the story is true, but the Grandmother is vague.

That night, the Snow Queen comes by their windows (“So Far Away”). Kai sees her and is entranced. When she leaves, the wind kicks up pieces of the shattered mirror, infecting Kai in his heart and eye. The Troll appears and explains the “Real Reality” of Kai’s situation before disappearing to cause mischief elsewhere.

Gerda finds Kai the next morning, but he is changed. He sees the world as cold and dark and cruelly tells Gerda he doesn’t want to play with her anymore. Gerda is upset and wonders what happened to her friend (“That’s Not My Best Friend”).

Kai begins to see the world differently, intoxicated with the beauty and logic of numbers and geometric patterns. The Snow Queen appears, drawn to the mirror fragments in his eye and heart (“You are Mine”). She breathes her icy breath into his lungs with a kiss and offers to take him to her ice palace, where everything is clean and beautiful. Kai eagerly agrees to go but wants her to “Kiss Me Again.” The Snow Queen declines, telling Kai that three kisses will kill him. The ice from the first kiss has already begun to freeze all the aspects of his humanity.

Gerda watches as Kai leaves with the Snow Queen. Determined to go after him, she disobeys her Grandmother and starts her journey (“Gone”). When she reaches the river, the Troll pushes her in. In order to not drown, she must get rid of all her belongings and trust the flow of the River (“The Witch and the River"). A Witch notices Gerda in the water and helps her get out. The Witch is a gardener and, once she learns Gerda loves flowers, weaves a magic spell causing Gerda to forget who she is and accept the Witch as her mother (“Through You”).

Kai, meanwhile, begs the Snow Queen for another kiss (“Kiss Me Again–Reprise”). She says no and shows Kai her remaining Mirror, the Mirror of Reason. She believes he has the power to solve the Riddle of Eternity locked within it. Because he has the mirror pieces lodged in his eye and heart, she gives him another kiss to open his eyes to the wonders of the ice (“Kiss You to Death”) and his mind to the complexity of the riddle.

The spell on Gerda is broken when she sees a rose and confronts the Witch. Armed with petals from the flowers, she continues her journey, realizing for the first time she is alone. Kai, in the ice palace, realizes the same thing and thinks about Gerda (“Alone Together”). Gerda is about to give up when she meets a Crow who tells her that a boy matching Kai’s description just married the Princess. He summons his bird squadron, and they teach her to fly (“Flying”).

Act II

The Lady Crow brings Gerda into the bedroom of the Prince and Princess. Gerda discovers that the Prince is not Kai. Dejected, she tells her story to the always up-beat and highly caffeinated royal couple. When Gerda says she should just give up, the Princess tells her she just lacks conviction (“Never Give Up”) and promises to help Gerda find her friend.

The Royals give Gerda new clothes and a carriage, and the Crow escorts her to the Fierce Forest of Extremity where they must part. Gerda bravely goes into the forest alone only to be jumped by a Robber Gang. The daughter of the gang leader, the Robber Girl, terrifies everyone with one of her tantrums and demands everything for herself (“I Want That”). She proclaims that Gerda is now her new puppy.

Kai, becoming more and more like the ice around him, is busy creating equations (“Equations”) in the snow to impress the Queen. The Snow Queen is pleased with his abilities but must leave him to cool the planet down (“Balance”). She vows to return soon.

Tied up and tired, Gerda finds herself, along with two Pigeons and a Reindeer, the Robber Girl’s captive. Something awakens in Gerda, and she finds a new strength to break free (“Suddenly a Stranger”). She takes the Robber Girl’s knife and demands she and the others be released. The Robber Girl concedes.

The Reindeer and Gerda set off to the north, and he shows her the beauty and mysticism of the Aurora Borealis (“Aurora”). Cold, exhausted, and running out of hope, the pair arrives at the home of the Wise Woman of the North. The Wise Woman looks deep into her book of runes and discovers that Kai has been infected by the malicious dark mirror. Gerda is more determined than ever to save her friend. The Wise Woman reminds Gerda that she has strength and all she has to do is “Breathe” to defeat the Queen.

The Reindeer takes Gerda to the ice palace. Gerda fights with the Snowflake Army. She remembers to calm down and breathe, and her breath melts them (“Snow Flake Battle”). She enters the palace to find Kai frozen and completely assimilated. She begs the Snow Queen to release him. The Snow Queen says that he can leave whenever he wants. Kai doesn’t want to go, for he is now part of the ice and has lost his humanity. He tells Gerda to leave, but she insists that he needs her help (“Here I Am”).

Gerda remembers the rose and forces Kai to remember home. She removes two rose petals from her pocket— placing one on his eye and one on his heart. The mirror shards fall out and Kai begins to thaw. He sees Gerda and is happy, but he convulses and falls to the floor. The Snow Queen says that the mirror shards must have been keeping him alive. But, if Gerda can solve the Riddle of Eternity, maybe she can save him. Gerda looks into the Mirror. She sees herself and Kai. She sees the answer. And it is “Love” (“Gerda Saves Kai”). She kisses Kai and he wakes up. The Snow Queen is left to ponder how a simple word can have so much power.

The company comes forward and sings “The End (Eternity),” summing up the show and detailing how this journey had an end, but ends are just beginnings.