There's really no need for a lot of songs to be added to the show in order for it to work on stage. Frozen is a very different type of story than Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, or The Little Mermaid, and therefore doesn't need quite the same amount of songs that you'd need for those kinds of shows. Around 20 songs is more than enough to convey the story, and not every single character in the show needs to sing multiple songs.
Now, more thoughts on how to break things down:
1) I'd thought about breaking up "Do You Wanna Build a Snowman?" into multiple parts, which could be done very easily, but, based on the way the song is structured, it actually makes more sense to do it as a single 'montage piece', especially on stage
2) If you're going to use both, MtJtS actually works better if it comes before FtFTiF
3) Although they were written to happen at about the same place in the story as it's presented on film, "For the First Time in Forever, Reprise" and "Life's Too Short" actually do very different things narratively; FtFiFR is a 'reunion song', and LtS is a 'confrontation song', and, in a stage musical, you really need to have both, which is why it makes sense to include both
The only reason I broke up the songs into 3 sections is because I was trying to illustrate story structure, but you'd probably want to break things down more like they do in "Tarzan", which would give you a breakdown as follows:
- Act One -
"Eatnemen Vuelie (Overture)"
"Frozen Heart"
"We Know Better"
"Do You Wanna Build a Snowman?" 'montage piece')
"More Than Just the Spare"
"Spring Pageant"
"For the First Time in Forever"
"Love is An Open Door"
"Let It Go"
- Act Two -
Entr'acte (instrumental cues)
"Reindeer[s] are Better Than People"
"In Summer"
"For the First Time in Forever, Reprise"
"Life's Too Short"
"You're You"
"Fixer Upper"
"Life's Too Short, Reprise"
"Do You Wanna Build a Snowman? Reprise" (new song)
"Eatnemen Vuelie Reprise"/Finale
That's only 19 songs, but for a show like Frozen, that's actually enough since it's not 'sung-through'.
As far as staging goes, I have the following thoughts:
1) Sven needs to pretty much be a 'pantomime reindeer' because, even if it looks 'cheesy', it's actually the best way to bring him to life without it looking goofy
2) Olaf needs to done as a 'Puppet Costume' (ala Timon)
3) The Snow Monster isn't needed for a stage version of the show
4) "Let It Go" could be very much staged with a 'revolving-door' set, as Elsa's Ice Castle doesn't actually need to be as elaborate on stage as it is in the film
Updated On: 2/3/14 at 10:53 AM
