Being in a musical at Pittsburgh CLO throughout July was a full-circle moment for two Butler County performers, albeit the reason was different for each of them.

Justin Mock, who grew up in Butler, said the Benedum Center, where he performed in the ensemble for Disney’s “Frozen,” was where he fell in love with live performance, it being one of the first venues he attended as a child.

“Some of the first shows I saw were in the Pittsburgh CLO in the summer season,” Mock said. “They made me want to do theater.”

For Brittany Pent Rohm, of Harmony, joining the musical’s ensemble was a flashback to 2016, when she performed in the musical during its debut on Disney Cruise Lines.

“My first job professionally was on Disney Cruise Lines. That was where they did the premiere of ‘Frozen,’” Pent Rohm said. “That was the first time before going to Broadway or regional productions.”

“Frozen” showed in Pittsburgh from July 18 to 27 and is a coproduction with Pittsburgh CLO and theaters in Kansas City, Mo., and in Lincoln, Neb., where Mock and Pent Rohm also will be performing in the show.

While the musical will be performed in other cities, Mock and Pent Rohm each said they were happy to perform in a hometown theater and be able to look out into the audience at familiar faces.

“Doing the shows has been so wonderful because I have so much family in town,” Mock said. “I have four cousins between 3 and 13 and just getting to take them backstage after the show and share the thing that no one ever gets to see.”

Mock and Pent Rohm knew each other before being cast together in “Frozen,” having seen one another at prior CLO auditions.

Pent Rohm said she was paired with Mock during auditions for “Frozen,” and they played off one another through the audition process.

“Finally making it into the show together was really cool, and I got to partner with him in the show,” Pent Rohm said of Mock.

Rehearsals for the show took place over six days, Mock said, which was a quick turnaround, but manageable because the cast was in good hands. Pent Rohm said because some of the lead actors had performed the show prior, they anchored the show in rehearsals.

Mock said he was on stage pretty much “any time there is a group number.” He danced in songs like “For the First time in Forever,” “Dangerous to Dream,” “In Summer” and “Let it Go.” These numbers had support from the ensemble, who danced around the main performers in parts of the musical numbers.

The show also featured a three-story LED screen, which displayed backgrounds and other graphics for the story. Mock said seeing some of the technical elements and behind-the-scenes work for the Disney production was an interesting part of being in the show.

But it was the performances that Mock and Pent Rohm found to be the most exciting aspect of the show — an element made even better by the response of the audience watching.

“Every single time Cate, our Elsa, performed ‘Let it Go’ — I had never heard such an eruption of cheers,” Pent Rohm said. “You could hear people coming out of their seats … to hear her singing it live, it was just incredible.”

Mock grew up performing in the Butler theater scene, in shows like “Once Upon a Mattress” and shows at Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center, a school he began attending the first year it opened.

Mock now splits his time living in New York City and Pittsburgh, and has appeared in roles on “Étoile,” an Amazon Prime streaming series, and in two episodes of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”

Mock said that although he goes for on-screen roles, he still most enjoys performing in front of a live audience — which really hasn’t changed throughout his life.

“I love to tell stories through dancing and acting,” he said. “Theater is my first love.”

Pent Rohm has worked with Pittsburgh CLO twice in the past. Her first show was in 2023 in “Guys and Dolls,” and she returned to the company in 2024 to dance in “Seussical.”

Auditions for “Frozen” took place in February, shortly after Pent Rohm had her first child. For auditions, Pent Rohm and the other dancers performed “Fixer Upper,” a song from the musical, and then she performed songs from her own repertoire during callbacks.

Once the cast was assembled, the rehearsal process was short and sweet.

“We learn it in about four days, and then we have our first designer run,” Pent Rohm said. “It's quick but somehow it always comes together.”

Mock said the audience of the Pittsburgh production was not only receptive to the show, but pretty much packed every night.

Pent Rohm said the production has been one of her favorites to perform in. She owes a lot of that joy to the child audience.

“The fact that it’s ‘Frozen,’ there’s so many kids that come to see it. It’s so much fun,” Pent Rohm said. “I think the reason I love it so much is because a lot of times you are performing for kids who are seeing their very first show and their first time in the theater.”

Mock, too, said he got a lot of enjoyment seeing children not only respond to the show, but interact with it, which they got to do when a producer welcomed them to the show.

Mock said that this would generate a direct response from youths in the audience before the show even began.

“Every night, our executive producer, Mark, would come out and have whose first time seeing a show raise their hands,” Mock said. “It was inspiring to introduce theater to kids because it’s where I first saw shows.”