Frozen Tour? Will it happen quicker than Aladdin?

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 2/24/18 at 5:06pm

The Aladdin tour took about 3 years to open up after the broadway opening. Do you think frozen will do it in a much quicker fashion or will they hold it off for a while?

also, does this seem like the kind of show to expect sit downs popping up, like Wicked and The Lion King?

Updated On: 2/24/18 at 05:06 PM

[SomethingPeculiar]

Posted: 2/24/18 at 5:51pm

According to IBDB, Newsies also waited ~ 2.5 years to start touring, though I guess that was more of a surprise hit. (Aladdin, too, in some respects.)

Frozen's future might depend on how the next month goes with sales, reviews, and opening (and then the Tonys). Book of Mormon, Kinky Boots, and Billy Elliot each took under a year and a half to open the tour, which seems likely for Frozen. (Or maybe it will do a sit-down somewhere like Hamilton, if it's the hit that Disney expects it will be.)

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 2/24/18 at 6:34pm

I believe the reason why Disney takes their time with launching tours is because they don't wanna end up putting out what appears to be watered down versions of what was on Broadway. They'd like to figure out how they can maintain the designs while also making it accessible to travel around the country.

Though I agree that a tour will have to depend on whether or not Frozen ends up being a hit on Broadway. After all, neither Tarzan or The Little Mermaid ended up going on tour after they flopped.

[trpguyy]

Posted: 2/24/18 at 8:45pm

Jeffrey Karasarides said: "I believe the reason why Disney takes their time with launching tours is because they don't wanna end up putting out what appears to be watered down versions of what was on Broadway. They'd like to figure out how they can maintain the designs while also making it accessible to travel around the country.

Though I agree that a tour will have to depend on whether or notFrozenends up being a hit on Broadway. After all, neitherTarzanorThe Little Mermaidended up going on tour after they flopped."

That, and a whole lot of projections and number crunching. The Mouse wants to know that its money will return sooner rather than later. 

[haterobics]

Posted: 2/24/18 at 9:54pm

Plus, tours are usually pretty booked solid as far as the subscription houses 2-3 years in advance. So, if they want Frozen to tour in three years, they need to be already locking it in... I think there was a Producer's perspective podcast with someone who handled booking tours that went into how long it takes to get slotted like that. That said, wondering when it will happen before it opens on Broadway is a bit early. I mean, it has sold well on name recognition in advance, but so did Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 2/25/18 at 12:02pm

After sitting through touring productions of Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast, I don't think I could bring myself to sit through another stage adaptation of a Disney movie.
If this does go on tour, hopefully it has a rock solid book and production before they consider taking that step.

[JennH]

Posted: 2/25/18 at 1:25pm

jimmycurry01 said: "After sitting through touring productions of Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast, I don't think I could bring myself to sit through another stage adaptation of a Disney movie.
If this does go on tour, hopefully it has a rock solid book and production before they consider taking that step."

I'm with you on Aladdin, it's just camp on stage without the core heart that the film has. At least B and the B had/has super solid new songs (mostly) and new book, it was tweaked a tad to make it work on stage. It's still a strongly written show. Although if you're referring to the non union tour, I can agree, it was quite tired. If Frozen tours, which it will but for sake of this conversation, it's not like it's going to change it's book for the tour. What we'll see on Broadway is what we'll get on tour. And from what I hear it sounds like the book is just as lackluster as it's screenplay without necessary changes. 

As for sit downs...is there anyone else other than me who's been noticing that sit downs really aren't a thing anymore unless it's surprise juggernaut of a hit ala Hamilton? I might be recalling wrong, but when Hamilton started announcing sit down productions, I was trying to think when the last time we saw a sit down production of any musical since Wicked. I don't think there's been any sit downs of any shows in between Wicked and Hamilton my recollection, and that's pretty long time...Feel from to correct me. I'm discounting West End here since it's London's "Broadway". I think Frozen has a better chance of a sit down merely due to title, BUT...even Aladdin isn't sitting down anywhere else, just touring and you'd think that title would sit down somewhere. In the end Frozen will tour, it's just a matter of when. Newsies was a surprise hit (although why the surprise I don't know..), but that's the fastest I've seen Disney put up one of their touring musicals.

BTW Little Mermaid did tour, I believe it just finished, I had a friend on it. But it wasn't produced by Disney Theatricals, it was through a different company but can't recall who at all.

[BwayLB]

Posted: 2/25/18 at 1:29pm

The only Disney productions I've seen are Newsies when it was filmed and the High School Musical tour. I'll still see Aladdin if it's worth Why it ran for four years now

[Bwayfan292]

Posted: 2/25/18 at 2:55pm

I think they will wait, so they get more money. If your dying to see frozen you would make the trip to new york instead of just waiting for the tour. Expect 3-4 years ill say.

[trpguyy]

Posted: 2/25/18 at 3:36pm

JennH said: "jimmycurry01 said: "BUT...even Aladdin isn't sitting down anywhere else, just touring and you'd think that title would sit down somewhere.."

Aladdin also has sitdown productions (or, extremely long tour stops depending on how you want to look at it) in Japan, Germany, and Australia. 

Billy Elliot had an attempted sit in Chicago, as well as Book of Mormon.

[JennH]

Posted: 2/25/18 at 3:58pm

trpguyy said: "JennH said: "jimmycurry01 said: "BUT...even Aladdin isn't sitting down anywhere else, just touring and you'd think that title would sit down somewhere.."

Aladdin also has sitdown productions (or, extremelylong tour stops depending on how you want to look at it) in Japan, Germany, and Australia.

Billy Elliot had an attempted sit in Chicago, as well as Book of Mormon."

I keep forgetting the international ones, my apologies. I never seem to know about them, but It's not like it matters since I live in the US of A lolz. I'm more referring to US sit downs. I believe the Germany one is still running. 

[trpguyy]

Posted: 2/25/18 at 4:09pm

JennH said: "I keep forgetting the international ones, my apologies. I never seem to know about them, but It's not like it matters since I live in the US of A lolz.I'mmore referring to US sit downs. I believe theGermany one is still running."

Yes, Aladdin currently has companies in the US (x2), Japan, Germany, London, and Australia.


I believe we'll be seeing another Hamilton sit, and probably a Cursed Child or two down the road.

Updated On: 2/25/18 at 04:09 PM

[fashionguru_23]

Posted: 2/26/18 at 10:51am

I want to say that the Chicago and Boston runs of "Spelling Bee" sit-downs, but I could be wrong.

 

[bdn223]

Posted: 2/26/18 at 12:24pm

trpguyy said: "JennH said: "I keep forgetting the international ones, my apologies. I never seem to know about them, but It's not like it matters since I live in the US of A lolz.I'mmore referring to US sit downs. I believe theGermany one is still running."

Yes, Aladdin currently has companies in the US (x2), Japan, Germany, London, and Australia.


I believe we'll be seeing another Hamilton sit, and probably a Cursed Child or two down the road."

With the tight grip J.K. Rowling has on the entire Harry Potter Empire, I don't see Cursed Child touring. She will likely not want to do any of the stagecraft trimming that is necessary when a spectacle based theatrical production goes on tour. For example it can be easily argued that Mary Poppins Broadway and North American Tour were two separate productions, with the tour being inspired by the Broadway production. This would be due to the storybook set, instead of the Banks house, as that was the only way Disney could figure out how to build a tourable set. Add to that, Mary Poppin's flight paths had to be changed in each house due to each houses architectural set up, thus the final iconic moment where Mary flys into the raters above the audience had to be altered for the tour. With all of the renovations that are being made to the Lyric, just so that it can house Cursed Child, I can't imagine a standard touring house being able to house the production in its entirety as they currently stand.   Add to that its a 2 part epic, so it's going to have to have in tier 2 and 3 cities where most tours play maybe a week or two, it will have to play two weeks to a month, just to have the same number of performances. Therefore the fiances of a touring production would be nearly infeasible as well. 

In regards to a sit down, I think the only way it will get a sit down is if Universal finally beats Disney to the punch and builds theaters to house Curse Child within or right outside of The Wizarding Worlds of Harry Potter in its Orlando or Hollywood theme parks. It would be much more logical then a traditional sit down, as the play logically has difficulties selling to tourists, unless they are specifically coming to New York or London to see Cursed Child, since will take up 2 nights of a tourists life. This would be much more easily justified on a week long vacation to Orlando,  then it is a 2-3 day trip to Chicago. I don't see this happening or even being rumored about until after the Tony's as its producers do not want it to be seen as a Theme Park production. 

[Lot666]

Posted: 2/26/18 at 12:35pm

bdn223 said: "I think the only way it will get a sit down is if Universal finally beats Disney to the punch and builds theaters to house Curse Child within or right outside of The Wizarding Worlds of Harry Potter in its Orlando or Hollywood theme parks."

Why would Universal have to "beat Disney" to anything related to Harry Potter?

[Fosse76]

Posted: 2/26/18 at 1:00pm

trpguyy said: "Billy Elliot had an attempted sit in Chicago, as well as Book of Mormon."

Billy Elliot did have a sit-down in Chicago. The fact that it only ran 9 months doesn't mean it was "attempted", just that the market couldn't sustain a longer run.

Book of Mormon was never a sit down in Chicago, it was an extended run of a new tour.

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 2/26/18 at 1:04pm

Jersey boys also had a sit down in Chicago.

[bdn223]

Posted: 2/26/18 at 1:48pm

Lot666 said: "bdn223 said: "I think the only way it will get a sit down is if Universal finally beats Disney to the punch and builds theaters to houseCurse Childwithin or right outside ofThe Wizarding Worlds of Harry Potterin its Orlando or Hollywood theme parks."

Why would Universal have to "beat Disney" to anything related to Harry Potter?"

Because there have been rumors on this board for years, that Disney would open a Broadway theater at Magic Kingdom or in its Disney Springs (formerly Downtown Disney) where it would showcase one of its current or former Broadway productions. This was further ignited when Disney announced at D23 last year that Disney would be building a replica of Kansas City's former Willis Wood theater in Magic Kingdom, with press releases reading "Disney to build Broadway Style Theater on Main Street". This is after Disney had already built a theater to specifically house Julie Taymor's Lion King at its Shanghai Resort. Therefore many speculated that Disney Theatrical might finally get a foothold in Orlando, which has seemed like a no brainer for years now. Unfortunately rumor has it the the theater has been cancelled due to budget cuts. 

Therefore if Universal were to build a theater in one of its parks to house a Broadway production, it would ie beat Disney in terms of merging the two mediums/divisions into one. It should also be noted that Universal did have Wicked Wednesdays during the LA sit down production where members of the cast would perform portions of the show within the Universal Studios Hollywood Park on select Wednesdays. 

[Lot666]

Posted: 2/26/18 at 1:58pm

bdn223 said: "if Universal were to build a theater in one of its parks to house a Broadway production, it would ie beat Disney in terms of merging the two mediums/divisions into one."

Gotcha. The way your original post was worded, it sounded (to me) as though you were suggesting that Universal had to beat Disney in a race to build a theatre for Harry Potter (Disney has no rights to HP and therefore will not be producing anything HP-related).

[trpguyy]

Posted: 2/26/18 at 3:09pm

Fosse76 said: "trpguyy said: "Billy Elliot had an attempted sit in Chicago, as well as Book of Mormon."

Billy Elliot did have a sit-down in Chicago. The fact that it only ran 9 months doesn't mean it was "attempted", just that the market couldn't sustain a longer run.

Book of Mormon was never a sit down in Chicago, it was an extended run of a new tour."

I refer to BOM Chicago as an attempted sit-down, because while there were tour dates booked afterwards, had the market supported it, they would have kept running in Chicago and started another company for those tour dates. At least that was the plan when it was explained to me. 

[azleafcat]

Posted: 2/27/18 at 1:07am

bdn223 said: 
Because there have been rumors on this board for years, that Disney would open a Broadway theater at Magic Kingdom or in its Disney Springs (formerly Downtown Disney) where it would showcase one of its current or former Broadway productions. This was further ignited when Disney announced at D23 last year that Disney would be building a replica of Kansas City's former Willis Wood theater in Magic Kingdom, with press releases reading "Disney to build Broadway Style Theater on Main Street". This is after Disney had already built a theater to specifically house Julie Taymor's Lion Kingat its Shanghai Resort. Therefore many speculated that Disney Theatrical might finally get a foothold in Orlando, which has seemed like a no brainer for years now. Unfortunately rumor has it the the theater has been cancelled due to budget cuts.

Therefore if Universal were to build a theater in one of its parks to house a Broadway production, it would ie beat Disney in terms of merging the two mediums/divisions into one. It should also be noted that Universal did haveWicked Wednesdaysduring the LA sit down production where members of the cast would perform portions of the show within the Universal Studios Hollywood Park on select Wednesdays."

I think the Magic Kingdom Main Street Theater wasn't supposed to host Disney on Broadway productions.  I think it was supposed to host either its number driven covered stage shows (such as Mickey and the Magical Map at Disneyland) or its more lavish Broadway style productions (such as Frozen - Live at the Hyperion at Disney California Adventure).  Either type of show would have be a great addition regardless to the Magic Kingdom (which lacks a covered stage) but it would not have involved Disney Theatrical Productions. 

I guess it would be interesting if Walt Disney World or Disneyland built a Broadway sized theater outside the parks for the sole purpose of hosting Disney on Broadway productions.  Even though Cirque Du Soleil has been at Disney Springs/Downtown Disney at WDW quite a while, I wonder if a long term Disney theatrical production would thrive at either resort.  Either Disney Theatrical Productions (part of the Walt Disney Studios) would have to be in charge of the theater (and Disney Parks would have minimal involvement in its operations), or Disney Theatrical Productions would have to let Disney Parks' Creative Entertainment run the productions based there.

Ironically, the theater now used for Broadway tour productions at Orlando's Dr. Philips Center for the Performing Arts is called the Walt Disney Theater (likely because Disney contributed to the center).

I did get to see Frozen's closing performance in Denver and it was excellent.  Can't wait to get the Cast album in the mail (which they took preorders for in Denver).  I do hope to see it again when the inevitable National Tour occurs.

 

[TheGingerBreadMan]

Posted: 5/15/18 at 11:12am

Launching fall next year.

[JennH]

Posted: 5/15/18 at 11:48am

TheGingerBreadMan said: "Launching fall next year."

That link is just the BWW Home page...if it is next fall then that is for sure the fastest one of their shows began touring.

Also, I forgot about this thread, it was discussed elsewhere but yeah CC won’t tour the more I think about it. Whether Universal will “beat Disney to the punch” or even wants to do something like that remains another discussion entirely. 

[TheGingerBreadMan]

Posted: 5/15/18 at 11:53am

Hmm.... it seems that BWW has removed the article. It stated that the tour would launch from the Hollywood Pantages fall 2019.

 

The direct link also now takes you to the BWW hompage...

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/FROZEN-To-Launch-National-Tour-At-Hollywood-Pantages-Fall-2019-20180515

[JennH]

Posted: 5/15/18 at 12:18pm

TheGingerBreadMan said: "Hmm.... it seems that BWW has removed the article. It stated that the tour would launch from the Hollywood Pantages fall 2019.



The direct link also now takes you to the BWW hompage...

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/FROZEN-To-Launch-National-Tour-At-Hollywood-Pantages-Fall-2019-20180515"

Weird...jumped the gun I guess? Well, can't unsee that now LOLZ