No company knows better than Disney how to maximize it assets. What better time would there be for the Broadway musical Frozen to hit the road than when Frozen 2 is topping worldwide box office charts. After a brief warm-up in Schenectady, Disney’s Frozen has settled into the Hollywood Pantages Theatre where it will run through February 5th.
The musical is, of course, inspired by the Academy Award-winning film that gave us the song Let It Go. The film did not have enough songs to fill out a full stage musical, so songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez have added a dozen new ones. Michael Grandage, the director of Red and the revival of Evita, directed Disney’s Frozen. Jennifer Lee wrote the book and Rob Ashford is the choreographer.
Starring as sisters Elsa and Anna are Caroline Bowman and Caroline Innerbichler. Olaf is played by F. Michael Haynie; Mason Reeves portrays Kristoff; Austin Colby plays Hans and Collin Baja and Evan Strand alternate in the role of Sven. There is puppetry involved in the roles of Olaf and Sven with the realization of Sven being most impressive.
One key challenge of bringing a film like Frozen to the stage is how do you create the vast expanse of the world of the film on stage. The other key challenge is adding songs that have the magic of, not just Let It Go, but also songs like Do You Want to Build a Snowman?
Given the tremendous success Disney Theatrical has had on Broadway both in terms of box office and awards, it was rather surprising that Frozen received only three Tony Award nominations without winning any. Fans, however, are flocking to the show. Disney’s Frozen continues to run at the St. James Theatre in New York.
Disney’s Frozen runs approximately 2-1/2 hours which includes the intermission.
For tickets go here.
Photo: Caroline Bowman and Caroline Innerbichler in “Disney’s Frozen”/ Photo by Deen van Meer courtesy of Disney Theatrical Productions
