Will Frozen Melbourne

[JoshTodos]

Posted: 3/3/19 at 4:39am

Frozen Melbourne will it be better?

[BritCrit]

Posted: 3/3/19 at 6:12am

Given its underwhelming reviews and poor award season performance, I think we can all expect Frozen to be edited for its international transfers. However, I expect that the changes made for the Australian premiere will be less substantial than the changes made for the West End. The West End version will be a higher priority, (due in no small part to director Michael Grandage's status as a West End icon) and it looks like the transfer to Drury Lane has been locked down by now. The West End version will premiere a couple of months later, but it will probably feature more improvements...

I don't expect too many alterations to the story and characterization (which have always been the biggest problem with Frozen) but I do expect better set designs and special effects (the failure to get any technical nominations at the Tonys must have hit Disney Theatrical hardest). I don't think the international versions will change too many minds, but I expect them to make some positive changes....

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 3/3/19 at 3:01pm

BritCrit said: "I don't expect too many alterations to the story and characterization (which have always been the biggest problem with Frozen) but I do expect better set designs and special effects (the failure to get any technical nominations at the Tonys must have hit Disney Theatrical hardest). I don't think the international versions will change too many minds, but I expect them to make some positive changes...."

The show will be a replica of the current Broadway production. Aladdin did not receive any technical nominations at the Tonys, and yet the physical production remained the same in all subsequent productions around the globe.

 

[Justin D]

Posted: 3/4/19 at 7:20am

to be honest, I would think it might be the reverse, especially for Australia. I would not be surprised if they treated that the way they did Lion King in Toronto where as it was scaled back in a few areas and used in many ways as a prototype for the future touring sets.

[BritCrit]

Posted: 3/4/19 at 3:51pm

Justin D said: "to be honest, I would think it might be the reverse, especially for Australia. I would not be surprised if they treated that the way they did Lion King in Toronto where as it was scaled back in a few areas and used in many ways as a prototype for the future touring sets."

Considering that Frozen begins touring at the end of 2019, and the Australian version will premiere in the middle of 2020, I don’t think this is likely. 

Frozen is in a bit of a limbo - it hasn’t done badly enough to need the substantial changes which were given to Tarzan and The Little Mermaid for international/regional versions, but it hasn’t done well enough to justify leaving it unchanged like The Lion King. The reports on the West End transfer suggested that there would be some edits, and I think this would be a good idea, even if most of the flaws go unfixed...

P.S - with the exception of Genie’s win, Aladdin didn’t do too well at the 2014 Tony’s, but it got a nomination for Best Choreography, so it wasn’t entirely rejected in the Technical categories...