Frozen on Broadway

[JeanGreyForever]

https://nypost.com/2018/04/21/broadways ... ritaville/

This article was an interesting read on how Frozen isn't really doing as well as thought, hence the flood of cheap tickets. It's certainly no Hamilton or even a Dear Evan Hansen right now. I wonder if Disney thought it would be a juggernaut along the lines of those shows, since it was at the box office.

[PatrickvD]

Not very surprising. It looks lifeless. And the new music is average at best.

I think Disney was expecting this to be the next Wicked if anything. I think it will be their next Little Mermaid; a beloved animated feature, but a boring, useless Broadway adaptation.

Meanwhile, Aladdin and The Lion King are still doing well on Broadway and internationally, proving it can be done right.

[unprincess]

it does seem that the Frozen franchise is suffering from a bit of a backlash and an image problem right now. Its this thing like Barney and Dora thats only good for toddlers and little girls and annoying for anyone else. That's going to be a big problem for Disney when the sequel comes round. They're going to have to find away to get the boys and older male audience to watch the sequel and this time using Olaf is not going to work like it did the first time, as he's now seen by a lot in that target demo as the franchise's JarJar thanks to the short.

[JeanGreyForever]

Frozen is definitely suffering from backlash right now and a lot of the hardcore fans have been turned off. The core fanbase isn't nearly as universal anymore as it was when the film first came out. I think the extreme hype may have sold merchandise, but it won't sustain the franchise. I'm curious to see if Frozen 2 will beat the box office records of its predecessor.

[Disney's Divinity]

I think Frozen is suffering from the same backlash anything popular that's "girly" receives. I don't think the people who actually liked the first film have suddenly turned on it. I think it's more that the people who didn't like the first from the beginning have just become louder.

I hope the show doesn't flop, but I'm not sure that article proves it will. I think the truth is it's a family show, and nobody's stupid enough to pay those prices to see it when they can just wait a couple months for lower prices.

[Sotiris]

Frozen on Broadway is a success; they're selling out every night. It's just not as big as The Lion King or Wicked. Scalpers overestimated the demand and thought they had another juggernaut in their hands for which people would be willing to pay super expensive tickets. When demand wasn't on those levels, they tried getting rid of them en masse resulting in cheap tickets in the resale market.

Regarding Frozen's popularity, I agree there's been somewhat of a fatigue. It's mostly due to overexposure. Disney is much bigger and powerful now than it was in the '90s with a much more aggressive emphasis on cross-promotion and franchising. The Internet also contributes to a faster burnout when it comes to entertainment brands.

Something similar happened to Titanic. It was everywhere for such a prolonged period of time that people started getting sick of it. My Heart Will Go On, one of the most acclaimed songs of all time, both critically and commercially, is now considered one the worst songs of the '90s and one of the worst Oscar-winning songs. I'm starting to hear similar discontent for Let It Go. If Disney isn't careful, the public is going to end up hating it as well.

Of course, there's the obvious factor of misogyny. Projects that are targeted towards a female demographic, have a mostly female fanbase or are perceived to be feminine in any way, tend to be disproportionately mocked and derided than their male counterparts. When such a project turns out to be very successful, then the backlash grows even stronger.

Adding to that, the stage version was a straight-forward, conventional adaptation that didn't feature significant re-imagining that would take advantage of the theatrical medium to its fullest extend, so it didn't generate hype and curiosity for anyone other than the fans of the movie.

Taking all these into consideration, it's understandable how Frozen didn't reach The Lion King levels of success. This doesn't make it a failure though. I'm confident it will run for years, if not decades, on Broadway.

[Sotiris]

The award season is upon us!

Frozen has been nominated for 9 Broadway.com Audience Choice Awards. Update: The results are in and Frozen did not win in any category.

Favorite New Musical
The Band’s Visit
Frozen
Mean Girls
Prince of Broadway
SpongeBob SquarePants

Favorite Leading Actress in a Musical
Frozen (Caissie Levy)
Frozen (Patti Murin)
Mean Girls (Erika Henningsen)
Mean Girls (Taylor Louderman)
Once on This Island (Hailey Kilgore)

Favorite Featured Actor in a Musical
Frozen (Jelani Alladin)
Mean Girls (Grey Henson)
My Fair Lady (Norbert Leo Butz)
Once on This Island (Alex Newell)
SpongeBob SquarePants (Gavin Lee)

Favorite Diva Performance
Frozen (Caissie Levy)
Mean Girls (Taylor Louderman)
Once on This Island (Alex Newell)
Once on This Island (Lea Salonga)
Summer: The Donna Summer Musical (Ariana DeBose)

Favorite Onstage Pair
Frozen (Caissie Levy & Patti Murin)
Frozen (Jelani Alladin & Patti Murin)
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Anthony Boyle & Sam Clemmett)
Mean Girls (Grey Henson & Barrett Wilbert Weed)
SpongeBob SquarePants (Lilli Cooper & Ethan Slater)

Favorite Breakthrough Performance (Male)
Frozen (Jelani Alladin)
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Anthony Boyle)
Mean Girls (Grey Henson)
Once on This Island (Alex Newell)
SpongeBob SquarePants (Ethan Slater)

Favorite New Song
Frozen (Monster)
Mean Girls (I’d Rather Be Me)
SpongeBob SquarePants (Bikini Bottom Day)
SpongeBob SquarePants (Hero Is My Middle Name)
SpongeBob SquarePants (Just a Simple Sponge)


Frozen has been nominated for 8 BroadwayWorld Theater Fans' Choice Awards. Update: The results are in and Frozen did not win in any category.

Best Musical
The Band's Visit
Escape to Margaritaville
Frozen
Mean Girls
SpongeBob SquarePants
Summer: The Donna Summer Musical

Best Book of a Musical
The Band's Visit
Escape to Margaritaville
Frozen
Mean Girls
SpongeBob SquarePants
Summer: The Donna Summer Musical

Best Score
The Band's Visit
Frozen
Mean Girls
SpongeBob SquarePants

Best Orchestrations
The Band's Visit
Carousel
Frozen
Mean Girls
Once on This Island
SpongeBob SquarePants

Best Leading Actress in a Musical
The Band's Visit (Katrina Lenk)
Carousel (Jessie Mueller)
Frozen (Caissie Levy)
Mean Girls (Erika Henningsen)
Mean Girls (Taylor Louderman)
Once on This Island (Hailey Kilgore)

Best Costume Design
Frozen
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Mean Girls
My Fair Lady
Once on This Island
SpongeBob SquarePants

Best Lighting Design
Angels in America
Frozen
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Mean Girls
Once on This Island
SpongeBob SquarePants

Best Scenic Design
Escape to Margaritaville
Frozen
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Mean Girls
Once on This Island
SpongeBob SquarePants


Frozen has been nominated for 3 Drama League Awards. Update: The results are in and Frozen did not win in any category.

Outstanding Production of a Musical
The Band's Visit
Bella: An American Tall Tale
Frozen
Hundred Days
KPOP
Mean Girls
SpongeBob SquarePants
Summer: The Donna Summer Musical
Woody Sez: The Life and Music of Woody Guthrie

Distinguished Performance Award
Frozen (Jelani Alladin)
Frozen (Patti Murin)


Frozen has been nominated for 2 Drama Desk Awards. Update: The results are in and Frozen won in the Outstanding Puppet Design category.

Outstanding Actor in a Musical
Bastard Jones (Evan Ruggiero)
Carousel (Joshua Henry)
Frozen (Jelani Alladin)
My Fair Lady (Harry Hadden-Paton)
SpongeBob SquarePants (Ethan Slater)

Outstanding Puppet Design
Angels in America
The Artificial Jungle
Frozen
A Hunger Artist


Frozen has been nominated for 4 Outer Critics Circle Awards. Update: The results are in and Frozen did not win in any category.

Outstanding New Broadway Musical
Escape to Margaritaville
Frozen
Mean Girls
Prince of Broadway
SpongeBob SquarePants

Outstanding New Score
Desperate Measures
Frozen
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Miss You Like Hell
SpongeBob SquarePants

Outstanding Projection Design
1984
Frozen
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
In the Body of the World
Mean Girls

Outstanding Actress in a Musical
Frozen (Patti Murin)
Mean Girls (Erika Henningsen)
Mean Girls (Taylor Louderman)
My Fair Lady (Lauren Ambrose)
Once on This Island (Hailey Kilgore)


Frozen has been nominated for 3 Tony Awards. Update: The results are in and Frozen did not win in any category.

Best Musical
The Band’s Visit
Frozen
Mean Girls
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical

Best Book of a Musical
The Band’s Visit
Frozen
Mean Girls
SpongeBob SquarePants

Best Original Score
Angels in America
The Band’s Visit
Frozen
Mean Girls
SpongeBob SquarePants


Frozen has been nominated for a Make-Up Artists & Hair Stylists Guild Award. Update: The results are in and Frozen did not win in the category.

Best Hair Styling (Theatrical Productions: Live Stage)
Frozen
Frozen: Live at the Hyperion
Hamilton
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Little Shop of Horrors


Frozen has been nominated for an Artios Award. Update: The results are in and Frozen did not win in the category.

New York Broadway Theater (Musical)
Escape to Margaritaville
Frozen
Mean Girls
Prince of Broadway
Summer: The Donna Summer Musical


Frozen: The North American Tour has been nominated for an Artios Award. Update: The results are in and Frozen did not win in the category.

Theater Tours
The Band's Visit
Frozen
Mean Girls
Once on This Island
Summer: The Donna Summer Musical


Frozen: The West End Musical has been nominated for 13 WhatsOnStage Awards 2021. Update: The results are in and Frozen won in the Best Direction, Best Musical Direction, Best Choreography, Best Set Design, Best Costume Design, Best Video Design, and Best Graphic Design categories.

Best Performer in a Female-Identifying Role in a Musical
Cabaret (Jessie Buckley)
Cinderella (Carrie Hope Fletcher)
The Drifters Girl (Beverley Knight)
Frozen (Samantha Barks)
Frozen (Stephanie McKeon)
Pretty Woman (Aimie Atkinson)

Best Supporting Performer in a Male-Identifying Role in a Musical
Anything Goes (Robert Lindsay)
Back to the Future (Cedric Neal)
Back to the Future (Hugh Coles)
Be More Chill (Blake Patrick Anderson)
Frozen (Obioma Ugoala)
Frozen (Oliver Ormson)

Best New Musical
Back to the Future
Cinderella
Frozen
Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical
Pretty Woman
Moulin Rouge!

Best Direction
Cabaret
Cyrano de Bergerac
Frozen
Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical
The Ocean at the End of the Lane
The Tragedy of Macbeth

Best Choreography
Anything Goes
Carousel
Frozen
Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical
Moulin Rouge!
South Pacific

Best Set Design
Back to the Future
Bedknobs and Broomsticks
Cabaret
Frozen
Moulin Rouge!
The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Best Costume Design
Bedknobs and Broomsticks
Cabaret
Cinderella
Frozen
Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical
Moulin Rouge!

Best Lighting Design
Back to the Future
Cabaret
Cinderella
Frozen
Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical
Moulin Rouge!

Best Musical Direction
Carousel
Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical
Frozen
The Last Five Years
Moulin Rouge!
Rent

Best Video Design
Anna X
Back to the Future
Frozen
Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical
The Shark Is Broken
What's New Pussycat?

Best Graphic Design
Frozen
Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical
Re:Emerge Season
Rent
Romeo and Juliet
The Wiz


Frozen: The West End Musical has been nominated for a WhatsOnStage Award 2022.

Best Professional Debut Performance
Back to the Future: The Musical (Oliver Nicholas)
Frozen (Djavan van de Fliert)
The Great British Bake Off Musical (Aharon Rayner)
A Midsummer Night's Dream (Nadine Shah)
The Play That Goes Wrong (Tomisin Ajani)
The Trials (Joe Locke)


Frozen: The West End Musical has been nominated for 6 BroadwayWorld UK Awards. Update: The results are in and Frozen did not win in any category.

Best Leading Performer in a New Production of a Musical
Anything Goes (Sutton Foster)
Back to the Future (Olly Dobson)
Bedknobs and Broomsticks (Dianne Pilkington)
Cabaret (Eddie Redmayne)
Cabaret (Jessie Buckley)
Cinderella (Ivano Turco)
The Drifters Girl (Beverley Knight)
Frozen (Stephanie McKeon)
Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical (Arinzé Kene)
Rent (Tom Francis)
South Pacific (Julian Ovenden)

Best Supporting Performer in a New Production of a Musical
Back to the Future (Cedric Neal)
Cabaret (Liza Sadovy)
Cabaret (Omari Douglas)
Carousel (Joanna Riding)
Cinderella (Rebecca Trehearn)
Cinderella (Victoria Hamilton-Barritt)
The Drifters Girl (Tosh Wanogho-Maud)
Frozen (Craig Gallivan)
Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical (Gabrielle Brooks)
Moulin Rouge! (Jason Pennycooke)
Pretty Woman (Rachael Wooding)
Rent (Dom Hartley-Harris)

Best Performance By An Understudy/Alternate in Any Play or Musical
Back to the Future (Mark Oxtoby)
The Drifters Girl (Ethan Davis)
Frozen (Danielle Fiamanya)
Hamilton (Nuno Queimado)
Six (Hana Stewart)
Wicked (Rebecca Botterill)

Best New Production of a Musical
Anything Goes
Back to the Future
Cabaret
Cinderella
Frozen
Moulin Rouge!

Best Direction of a New Production of a Musical
Anything Goes
Back to the Future
Bedknobs and Broomsticks
Cabaret
Frozen
Spring Awakening

Best Set Design of a New Production of a Play or Musical
Bach & Sons
Back to the Future
Cabaret
Frozen
A Little Night Music
The Ocean at the End of the Lane


Frozen: The West End Musical has been nominated for 4 Olivier Awards. Update: The results are in and Frozen did not win in any category.

Best Actress in a Musical
Anything Goes (Sutton Foster)
Cabaret (Jessie Buckley)
The Drifters Girl (Beverley Knight)
Frozen (Stephanie McKeon)

Best New Musical
Back to the Future
The Drifters Girl
Frozen
Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical
Moulin Rouge!

Best Costume Design
Anything Goes
Cabaret
Frozen
Moulin Rouge!

Best Lighting Design
Back to the Future
Cabaret
Frozen
Life of Pi

[Sotiris]

With the Tony Award nominations out today, let's see how the Broadway projects by Disney Theatrical Productions rank based on the number of Tony Award nominations they garnered.

The Lion King: 11 nominations, 6 wins
Peter and the Starcatcher: 9 nominations, 5 wins
Beauty and the Beast: 9 nominations, 1 win
Newsies: 8 nominations, 2 wins
Mary Poppins: 7 nominations, 1 win
Aida: 5 nominations, 4 wins
Aladdin: 5 nominations, 1 win
Sister Act: 5 nominations, 0 wins
Frozen: 3 nominations, 0 wins
The Little Mermaid: 2 nominations, 0 wins
Tarzan: 1 nomination, 0 wins

[Sotiris]

The cast recording for Frozen will be released on May 11th on digital and June 5th on CD.

• Behind-the-scenes video of the recording

Track listing

Act One:
Vuelie / Let the Sun Shine On – Company
A Little Bit of You – Young Elsa, Young Anna
Do You Want to Build a Snowman? –Young Anna, Anna, Elsa
For the First Time in Forever – Anna, Elsa, Townspeople
Hans of the Southern Isles – Hans
Queen Anointed – Townspeople
Dangerous to Dream – Elsa, Townspeople
Love Is an Open Door – Anna, Hans
Reindeer(S) Are Better Than People – Kristoff
What Do You Know About Love? – Anna, Kristoff
In Summer – Olaf
Hans of the Southern Isles (reprise) – Hans, Weselton, Townspeople
Let It Go – Elsa

Act Two:
Hygge – Oaken, Kristoff, Anna, Olaf, Family & Friends
For the First Time in Forever (reprise) – Elsa, Anna
Fixer Upper – Bulda, Pabbie, Olaf, Hidden Folk
Kristoff Lullaby – Kristoff
Monster – Elsa, Hans, Men
True Love – Anna
Colder by the Minute – Anna, Kristoff, Elsa, Hans, Townspeople
Finale / Let It Go – Company

Bonus Track:
When Everything Falls ApartOuttake – Olaf, Kristoff, Anna

Source: https://www.laughingplace.com/w/news/20 ... announced/

[D82]

Thanks for all these updates, Sotiris! I'm surprised they released such a long featurette about the cast recording. I'm looking forward to listening to the rest of the new songs.

Something similar happened to Titanic. It was everywhere for such a prolonged period of time that people started getting sick of it. My Heart Will Go On, one of them most acclaimed songs of all time, both critically and commercially, is now considered one the worst songs of the '90s and one of the worst Oscar-winning songs. I'm starting to hear similar discontent for Let It Go. If Disney isn't careful, the public is going to end up hating it as well.

I didn't know people hated "My Heart Will Go On" so much. It has never been one of my favorites, but it's not a bad song by any means. In the same article about the Oscar-winning songs "Let It Go" appears as one of the best, but, after hearing what has happened to the Titanic song, I wouldn't be surprised if in a few years it appeared in the other category.

[Sotiris]

The cast recording for Frozen: The Broadway Musical is now available on YouTube, Spotify, Amazon, iTunes, Google Play, Napster, and Tidal.




You can watch the music video for "Let It Go" on YouTube and read an interview with the songwriters about "Love Is an Open Door" on Billboard.

[DisneyJedi]

I listened to the cast recording and I have to say that I’m in love with the finale.

[Sotiris]

Frozen's going on tour! This must be the fastest a Disney show has gone on tour after opening on Broadway. You can watch the trailer for the North American tour, here.


Source: https://twitter.com/FrozenBroadway/stat ... 8084764673

[DisneyJedi]

Frozen's going on tour! This must be the fastest a Disney show has gone on tour after opening on Broadway.

Are you serious?? It hasn’t even been officially on Broadway (not including previews) for two months yet!

[rodrigo_ca]

It's strange because Disney usually waits until the show recoups on Broadway to announce a tour, but I guess it's just a crazy new trend, since Mean Girls and My Fair Lady have been on Broadway for kinda the same time and they also announced tours last week.

[Disney's Divinity]

Finally got the time to sit down and listen to the soundtrack. "A Little Bit of You," "Dangerous to Dream," "True Love," "Monster," "Queen Anointed," "Kristoff Lullaby," and the finale all vary between being great to decent additions (wish the film had had an ending choral reprise of LIG for sure). "Hans of the Southern Isles" and its reprise are alright, nothing special; pretty much the same with the opening "Let the Sun Shine On." I don't care for "Hygge," "WDYKAL?" and "Colder by the Minute," but I can see the purpose for them. I'm really glad "When Things Fall Apart" is an outtake only--unnecessary. I've read there's supposedly a "Dangerous to Dream (reprise)," but couldn't find it anywhere? I couldn't find "Hidden Folk" on YouTube either.

As for the songs from the film, I love that they added on the lyrics from the end credits version of "Let It Go" to the front of "For the First Time in Forever (reprise)." Even though Murin reminds me a lot of Bell, her voice isn't as pretty to me (maybe because it's not quite as naturally high?). That's the main reason LiaOD and FtFTiF are adequate, just nowhere as good as the film's for me. "In Summer"'s in that same area of adequate/serviceable. The take of "Let It Go" on this soundtrack is good for the first 1/3, but the rest of it just doesn't have the euphoric feeling from the movie (Levy'll probably have more emotion live than on this recording). "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" is perfect though. And "Fixer Upper" is improved, but I don't think you can really save that song.

[rodrigo_ca]

The cast performed For The First Time in Forever live on GMA

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2dh2AyX-Ic[/youtube]

[Sotiris]

The cast of Frozen on Broadway performed For the First Time in Forever and Love Is an Open Door on Good Morning America, and Let It Go on The View.

[disneyprincess11]

Director: Do you know what we need to do for the castle transformation, which is the highlight and emotional buildup of Let It Go? Block it with curtains, of course

[JeanGreyForever]

Frozen also played at the Tony Awards although it didn't win anything.