Disney’s ‘Frozen’ Is Headed To Broadway
Tony Award-winning actress and singer Idina Menzel poses on July 28, 2015 with Elsa, Anna and Olaf from Disney’s ‘Frozen’ during ‘Frozen Summer Fun’ at Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Menzel took a break from her world tour to visit Walt Disney World Resort. (Photo by Matt Stroshane/Disney Parks via Getty Images)
It started as a popular animated film and went on to become one of the best-selling soundtracks of all time. Now the Frozen brand has theater in its future, as an adaptation of the Disney kids movie is reportedly being written, and it will eventually end up on Broadway.
The musical has been expected for some time, but now there is a timeline, and fans around the world are likely already wondering where they can purchase tickets. Frozen will begin showing outside of New York next summer, and then it will come to Broadway at some point in 2018. That may seem like a long time from now, but there is a lot of work that goes into creating a top-notch musical, and it sounds like the crew that’s been hired is just getting started.
Plenty of the people who developed the story for the cinema have signed on to do the same for the theater. Married songwriting duoKristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez are back on board to recreate the songs that the world fell in love with (some people are still singing “Let It Go”), and the film’s writer and co-director, Jennifer Lee, will direct. While she may have gotten her start on Broadway, there is no word if original “Go” singer Idina Menzel will have a spot in the show, but for those hoping: don’t hold your breath.
Sending Frozen to Broadway is a smart decision on Disney’s part, and there is no reason to believe it won’t be successful. The film was created with a $150 million budget, and it went on to gross just under $1.3 billion, making it the highest-grossing animated film of all time. Add on the millions upon millions in merchandise that the familiar characters have shifted throughout the past few years, and it’s clear that the public is ready to spend their hard-earned cash on all things Frozen. There is an entire generation of young people who are currently growing up with the title, and it is sure to become a staple for families visiting New York City who want to see an age-appropriate and crowd-pleasing musical while they are in town.
The Frozen soundtrack was expected to be a success when it was first released, but few could have anticipated just how well the album would eventually go on to be. While it debuted at number eighteen on the Billboard 200, it eventually made its way to the top of the charts, where it would lead for thirteen nonconsecutive weeks. It ended up being one of the best-selling soundtracks ever. The album also launched the hit single “Let It Go”, which peaked at number five and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, as well as the Grammy for Best Song Written For Visual Media.