Photo by Deen Van Meer, courtesy of Patti Murin.
Patti Murin
Photo by Deen Van Meer, courtesy of Patti Murin.
Editor's Note: After press time, Patti Murin had to postpone her October appearance in Baton Rouge, which will be rescheduled to a later date TBA.
For Patti Murin, April 17, 2018, was supposed to be just another work day. Instead, it became a reckoning. The thirty-eight-year-old actress and singer was at the top of her game. She had originated the starring role of Princess Anna in the Broadway production of Disney’s Frozen and, since the musical’s March opening, Murin had been playing to packed houses at New York’s St. James Theatre eight times a week. Then one Tuesday, something inside snapped. “Twenty minutes before the show I had a panic attack,” Murin recalled. “I said, ‘I can’t do this!’ I called out of the show. My standby went on and was glorious and wonderful, but I had to go home.” The following day, Murin, who despite having reached the top of her profession, had battled bouts of anxiety and depression, and posted about her experience on Instagram. She admitted to having had a massive anxiety attack and acknowledged the toll the production was taking on her mental health. “I’ve learned that these situations aren’t something to ‘deal with’ or ‘push through,’ she wrote. “Anxiety and depression are real diseases that affect so many of us … Just remember that you’re not alone, your feelings are real, and this is not your fault. Even princesses are terrified sometimes.”
Murin’s post got a lot of attention. More than a thousand people commented. Hundreds of letters—some from people describing terrible experiences—began arriving at the theatre. “I saved every letter,” she said. “So many people wrote to say, ‘thank you for reaching out.’ I realized that this is so much bigger than me. It got me on my crusade about mental health in the arts and in business, and general life.” In March 2020, when the pandemic brought down the curtain on the Broadway run of Frozen, Murin continued advocating about mental health issues. “I felt like finally I could be a helper, I’d been dealing with it for so long,” she said. “So, when people were having panic attacks and not understanding, I could say ‘I understand this.’ I love to be a resource for another people.”
This month, Patti Murin will bring her crusade to Baton Rouge as keynote speaker for the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge’s Louisiana Arts Summit. Murin will share stories from her life and career, including frank discussion about her personal struggles with anxiety and depression, in a talk titled “The Next Right Thing.” Murin named her presentation for a song sung by Princess Anna, that will be immediately familiar to Frozen fans. “[The song has] become such an anthem for me because it’s about what it means to get from this moment to the next to survive,” she explained. “So, at the conference I’ll talk about a lot of very personal experiences, and I’m going to sing that song.” By doing so as a successful actor, mother, and—let’s face it—a Broadway princess, Murin hopes to further break down the stigma surrounding mental health issues, both in the arts and in everyday life. “Instead of presenting myself as a successful actress, I like to tell stories about what makes me human. And about what makes us, in the arts, human,” she said. “To take it down to the day-to-day, and what I struggle with, that’s what’s important.”
