Frozen on Broadway - Where did they go wrong? — Page 2

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

I agree with all of those that have cited the lack of magic leading to its mediocrity. The thing that I really found it to be missing was heart. This could be due to the fact that it was rushed. I still think Anna's 11 o'clock number was totally misguided. You have this magical snowman that is the link of happy times between these two estranged sisters and you don't let them impart the lesson. They have one of the greatest lines in the movie "some people are worth melting for" and you don't choose to make that moment the song?

MrsSallyAdams said: "The film's structure did not lend itself to a musical. The songs are front loaded and the second half is a road trip. The book's attempts to compensate were unsuccessful.

This. The first few films of Disney's renaissance are written within a structure that can naturally flow into a successful stage musical. There is very little about the Frozen property that can translate into something theatrical without a major revision.

They just wanted to capitalize on the franchise, and it once more backfired. Broadway is not always a sucker for mediocre efforts, as many out there think.

I'd be very interested to see Bob Crowley's designs. He is a brilliant craftsman.

Complacency

Which leads to shoddiness.

By which I mean Disney made the same mistake they did with Tarzan and The Little Mermaid and assumed the Disney brand in itself would be a home run and sell shows, they took their eye off the ball and forgot you still need to make a show very special, have that wow moment only that Disney can deliver as they did with their other shows.

Frozen was permission to print money, sure wasn’t this meant to be a massive hit, with every little girl walking out of the St James looking like Elsa via the Disnay gift shop. When this was announced for the St James, I though this was a massive coup for Jujamcyn and would be a massive cash cow.

Disney got sloppy and assumed Frozen brand would sell, they forgot about the product.

Frozen has closed at a loss, hell who would have thought that Frozen would be a flop.

I don't feel like this show was rushed at all. Schumacher and team learned a lot from The Little Mermaid and Tarzan and have been very careful not to repeat those mistakes. Frozen got its out of town tryout just like most other shows get and had a fair development process.

Having seen this show several times as well as the tour version one time, I do think the tour version was superior as it helped fill in the plot holes that existed in the Broadway production. It's a shame that most won't get to this new version on Broadway now. I feel for the cast and crew involved.

The show was definitely more of a one and done for most but it also wasn't performing too terribly each week either. It seemed to have more last minute sales rather than advance sales.

I do believe the shutdown is due to Disney pivoting based on COVID-19. Disney fans were not happy when Chapek took over earlier this year and it's because he's known as being a cost cutter. Numerous theme park examples of him cutting budgets on projects--in particular whenever there is a downturn, live entertainment at the parks is one of the first things he cuts. So this seems in line with that. Disney On Broadway rolls up under the Disney Studios line officially so with all the postponed movie premieres and straight to Disney Plus premieres coupled with live shows shut down, that division is no doubt struggling right now.

The good news is they still have 3 shows on Broadway in The Lion King, Aladdin, and Mrs. Doubtfire. Hopefully they will all be there when everything reopens. The Disney on Broadway Playbill bio was updated a few months ago to include Buena Vista Theatricals which covers the Fox shows like Mrs. Doubtfire and Anastasia.

Having done a lot of Shakespeare in the past, director Michael Grandage decided to tap further into the character's emotions. At times, that worked, but it usually didn't.

As others have said, the show lacked spectacle and "Let It Go" was underwhelming. The costume change and the offstage ensemble backing Levy/Renée up for the final chorus were nice additions though. Much like The Little Mermaid was over a decade ago, this was a DTP project that had potential but was unfortunately placed in the wrong hands. The new songs were poor, with a couple of notable exceptions. The supporting characters were not given much more depth than the far-superior movie. The first 20 minutes were fantastic and sent chills up my spine (quite literally), but the rest of the show seemed to drag. It certainly doesn't help matters that Elsa and Anna are not on stage together for much of the show.

I wish we all could've seen how Alex Timbers would have approached Frozen. He gave both Beetlejuice and Moulin Rouge! the spectacle they needed and beyond. Disney Theatricals has gone downhill big-time since Chapek replaced Eisner.

When I first heard they were making Let It Go into the Act One closer, my reaction was 'What!?' The song appears 30 minutes into the movie, and is also the end of the first act, except that's act one out of three. In the movie it's an emotional turning point for Elsa and it happens right after she's kickstarted the plot. I never saw the show onstage, but if you move the song to a later point in the story, isn't it just an empty spectacle? That is, if you achieve the spectacle.

As others have said, the songs don't follow the structure of a stage musical and the whole story would need a lot of fleshing out to work onstage. It sounds like the creative team just didn't do the adaptation work it needed. They probably decided early on that Let It Go should be like Defying Gravity, except the midpoint of the movie is more like For the First Time in Forever Reprise. It's just occurred to me - that moment when Elsa turns Anna away using violent magic could have been a spectacle if they'd wanted it to be, as well as being a meaningful moment for the characters. Were they afraid fans of the movie would get angry if they changed too much?

I guess we can say Disney didn't let it go out of their wallets. This musical could have been everything the movie isn't, but they went for a glorified Disneyland musical

I really don't buy the nostalgia argument. Tootsie is from 1982. The potential audience doesn't need time to build up nostalgia and nostalgia only goes so far if the show is mediocre.

The argument for a longer gestational period only works if you think they were aiming for a more coherent, theatrical book, more spectacle and stage magic, and more compelling, memorable songs. They were trying to get by with "good enough" when audiences wanted a show that matched or even improved upon the movie.

I think everyone said why: Constant changes in creative team, lack of nostalgia, and just thinking of greed over creativity.

I think the big problem with Frozen was the lack of Let It Go/Elsa. Let It Go was the biggest let down. The animated scene is iconic because you see Elsa grow confident and strong with her powers. You see her build a castle. The Broadway show where there are working pieces to build the "castle"......happens all behind a curtain. No excitement whatsoever. The Disneyland show does a much better job!

That being said, when I read how they change up the plot in Act 1 to accomdiate Let It Go, I assumed that we would have one or two scenes with Elsa and her coming with terms of what have happened. Instead, she disappears for 20-30 minutes until the very end of Act 1. There's no journey here. In the movie, Let It Go happens two minutes after she runs away.

This is my 2 cents after seeing it back in January.



It felt sterile and cold (and not because of the snow) it just felt at one time like a theme park show, yet shallow. Perhaps the effects could have been better although I loved the projections.

There is something about Lion King I love, the aesthetic and all that makes you feel like you are watching something special (faults asside), with Frozen I felt like I was almost watching a film, there was a strange disconnect between the show and the audience that I dont usually get with shows I love. It is hard to explain, it almost felt like I am here in my seat and you are up there on the stage, it sounds silly but i cant explain it better, there was just this disconnect, perhaps it was too polished.

Another thing that bugs me but I dont think was a factor is the story, why they ALWAYS feel they HAVE to change the script from the movie. and NO, not having a staircase did not make a difference, lol.

But I was not surprised by the closure, the theatre was 2/3 full back in january when ALL the other shows I saw were FULL. so I believe COVID or not, it would have closed this year at some point,



Perhaps it would have done better at a smaller venue