Frozen on Broadway - Where did they go wrong?

If anyone on the board knows anything its probably that Frozen was never the financial hit that it couldve been. It also had a turbulent development, yet a rushed one. Im curious to know what people think Disney got wrong and how they shouldve handled the property in the first place.

I have a couple of thoughts:
I think they rushed this. As the film hit the billion dollar mark in box office sales they went full steam ahead at bringing the property to the stage. I dont think it gave them enough time to actually build momentum for the show. I think they were trying to recreate the magic and success of the lion king, but nothing is going to be as successful as the lion king. If they gave it 10-15 years, I think it couldve been different. It would have let the original audience grow up and eventually gain nostalgia for the property. See Aladdin or Newsies. Not only are children fan of those shows, but their parents are too. Parents weren’t bringing their kids to Frozen, because Frozen wasn’t a property they grew up with. It also seems like there was years of material being worked on at Disney Theatricals that ended up being shelved in favor for Frozen. Imagine if Hunchback had gotten to broadway or The Princess Bride being done by now.

Updated On: 5/19/20 at 12:20 PM

I actually don't think they went wrong with Frozen.  Yes, the Broadway production will go down as losing money and therefore be considered a flop.  But Frozen as a brand on the whole is still going to make a ton of money, and now this will spawn regional productions, high school productions, community theatre productions, etc. that will more than make up for any Broadway losses.  It was the same thing with Newsies--Newsies will have ended up only running about 6 months more than Frozen did, but has more than made up for it with amateur and regional productions.  I truly think that was the whole idea behind Frozen to begin with--come up with as much of a replica of the film as you can to bring in Broadway audiences for a couple of years, then live off that tour, regional and amateur production money that comes in from it.  If they wanted something completely innovative and new like Lion King, they would have kept Alex Timbers.

Updated On: 5/15/20 at 12:35 PM

I saw FROZEN roughly several times on Broadway and there were families with kids who attended the show. I did notice that in its first year most families were in the balcony section but there were a few who sat in orch/front mezz. In the past year with lower seat prices, I definitely saw more and more kids and families in the orchestra. 

I had seen the movie beforehand and loved it so I had a lot of expectations on how they'd do "Let it Go" scene. Well... I was underwhelmed. I expected more from Disney and perhaps other people did as well. 

I agree that they may have rushed this. Ultimately, I think they priced the tickets so high that only the top 2% families can afford to go. I think the cheapest seat in balcony was $99? In addition, word of mouth could have been better. 

Updated On: 5/15/20 at 12:52 PM

When I saw it, I was very underwhelmed. It felt like they rushed through the creative process. Like they wanted to get it onstage while the hype from the movie was still strong. I like the movie, but the show felt like it could have been better if the creatives took more time working on the show. 

I was curious about this as well. For those who didn't care for it, why not? 

I did not like it -- did not hate it either.  I thought the first act was modestly enjoyable, but that the secondactcontained not one but two of the worst production numbers I have overseen in a show.  And I HONESTLY am not exaggerating that point.  Hygge and another one were atrociously bad.

I also felt that the leading ladies could've been anyone, despite posters on this board being so positive about them.  They were thoroughly okay and I truly believe that anyone with reasonable talent (one a belter) would have been just as good.  That says as much about the writing of the characters as the performances.  I just didn't care about them.

I thought the sets were okay, but wanted more magic.  I will also admit thatI missed the big, applause getting, costume change during Let It Go because I was distracted by a fidgeting 5 year old sitting next to me who decided just before that point kick me in the thigh at a Thursday night performance.

The other issue is that expectations were just too big.  After the monumental hit movie, people were expecting too much...they were expecting a gold medal and they got 6th place.

I will also acknowledge that my wife and female friend, who knew it was not great, still managed to love it, so who knows.

I know we've been over this before. But, it was not "rushed" to the stage in relation to other Disney stage productions. Could they have taken more time? Sure.  It may have been "rushed" because the show had "flaws" that they didn't take time to fix - and that may have been due to a sense that the Frozen momentum was slowing and the moment to capitalize was fading - whether true or not. "Nostalgia" didn't bring in the crowds for The Little Mermaid - that film opened in November 1989 but the stage version didn't open on Broadway until January 2008 - eighteen years! So, to me, Frozen's flaws are Frozen's flaws - it was just an okay show without much of the magic - and, to me, the stage version exposed flaws in the film.  The stage show could have been more - it could have been less.  

For reference, Beauty & the Beast and The Lion King opened on Broadway in less time from the opening of the film on which they were based.. 

Beauty & the Beast opened in movie theatres in November 1991. The stage version opened on Broadway in April 1994. That's roughly 2.5 years.

The Lion King opened in movie theatres in June 1994. The stage version opened on Broadway in October 1997.That's roughly 3.3 years.

Frozen opened in movie theatres in November 2013. The stage version opened on Broadway in March 2018. That's roughly 4.5 years.

I strangely really love this musical, even though I can never watch the movie again and didn't care for the sequel. I've seen it on Broadway twice and saw it on tour in LA twice. I much prefer this show over TLK and Aladdin. 

Much as I adore Caissie Levy, I found her Elsa so underwhelming. You just didn't see much transformation from scared Elsa in the beginning to "Let It Go" Elsa. Add that to an underwhelming set, and it just didn't have the impact I was hoping for. I wish they did more effects a la Cursed Child where they transformed the ENTIRE theatre, instead of the easy-to-do projection mapping/screens. I've seen the stair case in the Disneyland version, and that always gets more reaction out of the audience than the dress change does.

I think the problem with the show in the beginning was that they took it TOO seriously. It was such a dark show. I remember when I first saw the tour, it immediately felt like everything was brighter. The set, the lighting, even the screen. It was like they were too scared to make it seem too cartoon-y or too much like the theme park version. I think if they implemented the tour changes earlier, it could have found its footing. It was a much snappier, faster-paced and coherent show. 

Then there's the confusing character development. Hans' reveal never made much sense to me. I kind of wished there were hints of it throughout the show instead of just "a-ha! I'm actually the villain!" For a show that focused on fleshing out Elsa, Anna and Kristoff, they kind of just didn't do much with Hans, or Wesselton. 

Not like there was much else they could do, but using the same puppet structure for Olaf in the theme park version and then the Broadway version felt kind of meh to me. 

I was really hoping to see the new cast and the changes implemented to Broadway. 

I saw the show on December and it was by far my least favorite, out of the 7 shows I saw on my trip. I agree with everything others have said but am I the only one that really hated the score ? Besides Let it Go and maybe a couple of other numbers, all the new songs fell flat on their face. It was boring and unispiring ballad after ballad, for no reason and without driving the story forward. I had such high hopes for this, I love Disney, love Lopez, loved the film but at some point, I just couldn't wait for it to be over.

Updated On: 5/15/20 at 04:20 PM

One of the major problems is the lack of spectacle.  When I first heard Frozen was coming to Broadway, I thought, "Wow, the set will be incredible."  And it just wasn't.  The set was very ordinary.  Projections are not spectacle. And the ice coming out of the floor looked plastic and cheap.

Beauty and the Beast has a big, elaborate production number, and the beast transformation is really well-done.  Aladdin has a big number, too.  Mary Poppins has lots of magic tricks, a huge house that goes up and down, and Mary flying over the audience.  The Lion King has several spectacle moments.  Frozen didn't have a "wow!" moment.  It needed to have moments where the audience thinks, "That was amazing, and worth our spending hundreds of dollars and going through the trouble of bringing the whole family here."  But, instead, we have Elsa stomping her foot on the floor and a video image of an ice crack is seen.  I can see that on homemade YouTube videos every day.

Billis2 - YES... No spectacle in Mermaid either. Another bad move show.