Why no Demand for Frozen? Any Thoughts ?- Page 3

[followspot]

Posted: 4/19/18 at 2:44pm

Updated On: 4/19/18 at 02:44 PM

[haterobics]

Posted: 4/19/18 at 2:49pm

I appreciate a good pile-on, but where is the lack of demand for Frozen except in the secondary market?! Is that really indicative of a problem for the show in general? It got mixed reviews, people like to trash it... but that also describes Wicked. So, until we keep offering proof points as to why, where is the proof point that it's true?

[a-mad]

Posted: 4/19/18 at 4:54pm

It's interesting to hear so many of you argue that one of Frozen's "issues" is that the Broadway musical came too soon after the film was released.  Here is the timing of the two biggest screen-to-stage musicals that Disney Theatrical produced:

Beauty and the Beast - film was released November 1991, opened on Broadway in April 1994 (less than 3 years)

The Lion King - film was released June 1994, opened on Broadway in October 1997 (3 1/2 years)

And what was Frozen's trajectory?

Film release - November 2013, opened on Broadway in March 2018 (4 1/2 years)

[bdn223]

Posted: 4/19/18 at 5:04pm

haterobics said: "I appreciate a good pile-on, but where is the lack of demand for Frozen except in the secondary market?! Is that really indicative of a problem for the show in general? It got mixed reviews, people like to trash it... but that also describes Wicked. So, until we keep offering proof points as to why, where is the proof point that it's true?"

That's what I was thinking. It not Charlie and the Chocolate Factory level bad. My mother who loves everything, saw Charlie and texted me after saying "Can I ask for my Money back?". She saw Frozen last week and thought it was great, and has told all of her friends to see it. I don't understand why everyone on here is rooting for it to fail? Are people still upset that Disney sidelined Hunchaback to make way for Frozen? The show is SRO for the next 4 months, and has a $68 million dollar advance. I don't know about you, but that means there is clearly some demand for the production.

I am honestly happy the secondary market is crashing and burning, and it serves scalpers right for breaking the law.

Updated On: 4/19/18 at 05:04 PM

[Dolly80]

Posted: 4/19/18 at 5:05pm

Am I missing something ? It’s doing over $2million a week isn’t it?

[a-mad]

Posted: 4/19/18 at 7:07pm

bdn223 said: "haterobics said: "I appreciate a good pile-on, but where is the lack of demand for Frozen except in the secondary market?! Is that really indicative of a problem for the show in general? It got mixed reviews, people like to trash it... but that also describes Wicked. So, until we keep offering proof points as to why, where is the proof point that it's true?"

That's what I was thinking. It not Charlie and the Chocolate Factorylevel bad. My mother who loves everything, sawCharlieand texted me after saying "Can I ask for my Money back?". She sawFrozenlast week and thought it was great, and has told all of her friends to see it. I don't understand why everyone on here is rooting for it to fail? Are people still upset that Disney sidelinedHunchabackto make way forFrozen?The show is SRO for the next 4 months, and has a $68 million dollar advance. I don't know about you, but that means there is clearly some demand for the production.

I am honestly happy the secondary market is crashing and burning, and it serves scalpers right for breaking the law."

Amen to everything you've said.  I've never seen a show that has been reviled more through it's development process, tryout and eventual opening than this one has on this board.  I truly don't think any production would have made everyone happy.  First it was no Betsy Wolfe, then it was Michael Grandage, then it was no Ice Castle... Seriously.  I completely understand and respect the opinions of those who have seen and have disliked the show.  That's entirely your view, and I respect that - but for every person on this board that has said that it's a disaster and a "this decade's Tarzan", I've found 3 other people who loved it, thought it was beautifully designed, expertly performed, and incredibly entertaining.  The loud cheers at the end of the first and second act and standing ovations certainly don't indicate that a majority of the viewing public are hating what they are seeing... 

 

[haterobics]

Posted: 4/19/18 at 7:18pm

bdn223 said: "I am honestly happy the secondary market is crashing and burning, and it serves scalpers right for breaking the law."

I'm with you... until you think they are breaking the law. Scalping is 100% legal in NY state by law. On U2's last tour, NY was the ONLY North America stop that wasn't Credit Card Entry Only because it had to comply with the state law saying a ticket holder has the right to resell their tickets. Using bots and other tings may have been made illegal, but that's about it for now.

[KayGlass2]

Posted: 4/19/18 at 10:13pm

I mean...the show is wretched.  Patti Murin is doing an admirable job, but Caissie Levy is shockingly terrible.  Let It Go was just...so bad.  SO BAD. From the Ice Themed Prom set to the horrific new screaming way she ends the song to the UTTERLY JOYLESS AND BLAND dress change, it's just awful.  

I was there two weeks ago, post-opening, and there were HUGE blocks of empty seats.  I got mine on Ticketmaster resale, and it seemed like a solid 1/3 of the seats listed were resale ones.  I was up in the nosebleed balcony, and it was only about 1/4 full up there.

[EllieRose2]

Posted: 4/19/18 at 11:26pm

I miss Caissie laying across my table during Murder Ballad.  She deserves better than Disney crap.  

[Tippy2]

Posted: 4/20/18 at 9:42am

I always find it interesting when people bash brokers.  It's very short sighted to not realize that they are very important part of the ticket landscape.  Frozen would be in the toilet if they hadn't purchased so much inventory and yeah, who cares if they are eating their tickets or selling at .50 on the dollar.  Look how many people are getting to see Frozen for half price!  Win for the public.  They also taught producers how to price their own tickets.  Now large sums of money are going right back into the productions and the pockets of the backers and performers.  Hamilton learned that it could command $800 for it's premium ticket because of brokers.  Brokers take huge risks and nobody has a crystal ball...they have been the reason that many a show runs longer than it should have.  The Band's Visit is another case where a snooze fest of a show was bought heavily and brokers are selling great seats at half price. This show is going to win a TONY for best musical and it was kept afloat financially because of brokers buying tickets.

[Lot666]

Posted: 4/20/18 at 9:43am

bdn223 said: "haterobics said: "I don't understand why everyone on here is rooting for it to fail?"

Because this board includes a sizable number of Michael Riedel wannabees.

[Lot666]

Posted: 4/20/18 at 9:45am

a-mad said: "bdn223 said: "I've never seen a show that has been reviled more through it's development process, tryout and eventual opening than this one has on this board."

Try searching this message board for Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. It was a blood feast.

[bdn223]

Posted: 4/20/18 at 10:33am

Lot666 said: "a-mad said: "bdn223 said: "I've never seen a show that has been reviled more through it's development process, tryout and eventual opening than this one has on this board."

Try searching this message board for Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. It was a blood feast."

I never said this. A-mad did.....

 Bringing Frozen to Broadway so quickly was not the choice of Thomas  Shumacher, it came directly from CEO Bob Iger less then 2 months after the movie premiered and became a phenomenon. Do I think the show is perfect? No, but I don't think its bad. Its a middle of the line musical, with great production values.

I think people set their expectations wayyyyyy toooo high for this production. I think many were expecting Disney Imagineering level of ingenuity for the magic, aka building the castle or at least the staircase like they do in Disneyland. The irony is that many who saw the Disneyland production originally complained that the set was all projections outside of the staircase. There was no way this show would please everyone. I am not normally one to defend shows either, but it honestly feels like people on this board saw Mean Girls, and took away the wrong message.

 

[haterobics]

Posted: 4/20/18 at 10:50am

bdn223 said: "I never said this. A-mad did....."

Just like I didn't say the quote above this one, you did. Lot666 doesn't quite have the quoting thing down.

[haterobics]

Posted: 4/20/18 at 10:52am

Tippy2 said: "Frozen would be in the toilet if they hadn't purchased so much inventory and yeah, who cares if they are eating their tickets or selling at .50 on the dollar. Look how many people are getting to see Frozen for half price! Win for the public."

It may be a win for the public, but there is no way of knowing that Frozen would otherwise be in the toilet. If people went looking for tickets when it first went on sale, and a lot of the good seats were gone, they may not have bought other seats. But they would have bought the better seats. So, it would probably be doing the exact same numbers right now. 

[Kad]

Posted: 4/20/18 at 10:58am

Disney productions need to answer the question, "why should I spend $$$ on this when I can watch the movie at home?"

The Lion King is the only one that gives the most convincing answer. Beauty and the Beast comes very close, too.

The others? Save time and money and pop in the DVD.

[broadwayboy223]

Posted: 4/20/18 at 11:07am

For me it just came down to the core message of the show which I found definitely changed. I wanted to see more Elsa/Anna moments and any time we did get to see them on stage together it was magic. Unfortunately almost all of the new material isnt for them as a pair. I think besides Elsas new solos and Anna's solo song the new songs suck. And I'm sorry but like when you build the show around and get buzz about the dress change and then it doesnt happen (the performance I was at) Let It Go doesnt work. You can add as many extra high notes you want, but we are supposed to see Elsa let loose and start to accept who she is. When in reality all she does is run around the stage waving her arms and then rips off her dress it's just not as exciting as an ice castle could have been. Also doesnt let it go take place like 10 minutes into the movie? I think they should have wrote perhaps a new duet for Anna and Elsa as an act one finale.

[10086sunset]

Posted: 4/20/18 at 8:09pm

The current grosses are propped up by the amount of tickets bought by scalpers.

Once that next block of tickets go on sale, the demand will not be there. Once those shows start playing, those grosses are going to take a serious dip from the current.

Why no demand? Simply put, the show is not very good.

[mimitchi33]

Posted: 4/22/18 at 3:04pm

The Frozen craze is dying out, and not only because it's overexposed. A little movie called Trolls took away the film's target audience. Many  little girls nowadays are either into that, Jojo Siwa or PAW Patrol (which appeals to younger kids of both genders). The movie's theme song was a big hit on the radio, merchandise sells pretty well to the point where blindbags sell out in all the stores I've been to, the TV special they had last November drew in seven and a half million viewers and they even have a Trolls series on Netflix. Meanwhile, I still see merchandise from the recent Frozen short sitting on shelves while Trolls, Jojo Siwa and blind bag collectible toys like LOL Surprise! and Shopkins fly off the shelves. The "craze dying out" thing can also be said for why SpongeBob may not be doing well. In recent years it's been beaten by both Teen Titans Go and Nickelodeon's latest show The Loud House in ratings. I haven't seen people SpongeBob stuff in a long time, and when I do see people with SpongeBob stuff, it's either toddlers (possibly because their parents watched it as kids and want to show it to their toddlers) or the adults and teens who grew up with it when it was huge.

TLDR: The Frozen franchise's popularity is dying out and little girls are into other things now.

[BroadwayNoob]

Posted: 4/22/18 at 4:26pm

How cheap are the tickets if I want to get them right before curtain? I actually really would like to see this show despite all of the negativity surrounding it. I also really liked Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Spongebob, so I doubt that I wouldn't enjoy it. I do agree that there is way too much franchising going on though. For people who want to take their kid to a show, it's expensive, especially since Disney on Ice will probably roll around to the Barclays Center or somewhere else. 

[Alessio2]

Posted: 4/22/18 at 4:50pm

Cause it's not very good...plain and simple.

[haterobics]

Posted: 4/22/18 at 8:15pm

BroadwayNoob said: "I also really liked Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Spongebob, so I doubt that I wouldn't enjoy it."

It pays to have low standards sometimes!

[EllieRose2]

Posted: 4/23/18 at 4:06am

^^^^^

[pac2015]

Posted: 4/23/18 at 6:15am

it wasn't terrible.  i went for a date night.  only expectations I went in with were "it's a disney production."  scored $70 seats thanks to that snow storm in February.  felt like it was worth that price; thought the cast was talented, honestly.

[uncageg]

Posted: 4/23/18 at 11:31am

This is only a thought but, is it possible that "... Cursed Child" has stolen some of Frozen's thunder? Both family shows but ".. Cursed Child" is a two parter and, of course, will cost more for a family to attend. It is selling very well. I also figure Frozen attracts more little girls but a lot of them have probably read the Potter books by now. Just a thought.