Frozen Musical will not return to Broadway

[gogo12]

This is so sad. I have season tickets to the music hall in Dallas. We were to see it in June & it cancelled. It was the only show that refunds were given. I was hoping it was just the touring show that was cancelled.

 

[figmentfinesse]

The tour hasn’t officially closed. Probably just postponed.

 

[maverik85]

Think they're catalog is probably a blessing and curse for their shows. They have a lot that could be adapted pretty well to the stage since they're already musicals to a degree. But if they aren't a smash hit they can easily be replaced too. Have heard of the Hercules how and would love to see it

 

[Luxurious_Lumiere]

As the above said: The tour is NOT cancelled. They still plan on restarting the US tour of Frozen whenever theater is able to resume.

@maverik85 I think they made a mistake regarding that catalog with Frozen, and I hope this teaches them not to repeat it. They assumed folks would flock to Frozen because it was such a giant success on film and became this huge zeitgeist thing. But because it was such an enormous property, they played it SO safe with the stage adaptation. This included firing Alex Timbers shortly before previews...and I firmly believe he would have given us a better version of the show. As is:
1. There is not the same excitement of seeing a Disney musical on Broadway as there once was. Beauty and the Beast was the first, so it had buzz. The Lion King was such a dramatic departure style wise, so it also got buzz. But now we expect Disney to adapt their films.
2. There is simply not enough spectacle and stagecraft in this show. Imagine if Elsa actually built an ice castle on stage during Let it Go?? Frozen lacked that "wow" moment that gets people talking and makes them want to buy tix. B&tB had the huge rotating castle brawl between Beast and Gaston (plus massive showstopper Be Our Guest). Lion King had the majestic puppetry in Circle of Life and the dramatic stampede sequence. Mary Poppins had the title character fly out over the audience and had Bert tap dancing upside down across the proscenium. Heck, even Little Mermaid (a terrible stage adaptation) had the cool underwater shipwreck scene. Frozen did far too much with screens and projections (again, Alex Timbers would have crafted something different and likely, better).
3. Their desire to present the movie on stage as close as possible did a disservice to the stage version. The first act of the movie has a musical structure, but the second half does not as it becomes more of an adventure story. Indeed, most of the songs in the film are frontloaded. The book for the stage version doesn't do enough to fix this problem, so the second act simply doesn't work as well as the first. If the last thing you are left with upon exiting the theater is "that was just ok" then you arent going to run out and tell your friends they must buy tickets.

Ultimately, I just hope they allow the artists of their next stage venture to give audiences something DIFFERENT in the stage adaptation.

 

[Julie Amber]

We had tickets to see it in Salt Lake City in April. We recently got an email stating that we were rescheduled for November 4th at the original venue. So hopefully those that want to see it will get to see it, but just later on after things clear up a bit

 

[maverik85]

That's good. We had tickets for this past week to see Anastasia. I was hoping it would be postponed but it ended up just being cancelled

 

[angelinaxox]

Oh no!! Though honestly I did not love it. We saw it the week it opened so that was fun-- right after we returned from a great disney trip -- we bought a couple souvenirs at least ...
We have tix to Music Man opening week -- not sure that will happen...

That is cool that you saw it opening week. My husband and I saw Frozen a few months after it opened and we didn't like it at all. We actually preferred the production on Disney Cruiseline to it. After having spent all that money on the Frozen tickets, we decided to see another show the day after we saw Frozen. We stood in line and did the cheap tickets for Anastasia and thought it was fantastic.

I have tickets to take my sister to see Music Man in December. I am not sure what will be happening with Broadway in December or how comfortable I will be heading to NYC at that time. If things are as normal as possible and this production happens, I will be excited to see it.

 

[bdiddy]

My daughter's marching band is supposed to march in the Chicago Thanksgiving Day Parade and our band pta already bought $4000 worth of Frozen on Broadway tickets for that weekend. They bought them as soon as they went on sale. With everything up in the air, the band directors told everyone to hold off on making any more payments on the trip and they had to decide by early August for us to get our money back if it cancels. But the band board said that they were going to lost that money on the tickets. But I'm thinking now that since it was canceled that maybe we'll be getting our money back?

 

[skeeter31]

My daughter's marching band is supposed to march in the Chicago Thanksgiving Day Parade and our band pta already bought $4000 worth of Frozen on Broadway tickets for that weekend. They bought them as soon as they went on sale. With everything up in the air, the band directors told everyone to hold off on making any more payments on the trip and they had to decide by early August for us to get our money back if it cancels. But the band board said that they were going to lost that money on the tickets. But I'm thinking now that since it was canceled that maybe we'll be getting our money back?

No, only the Frozen show on actual Broadway is cancelled. The touring show, which is what would be playing in Chicago, will still be proceeding. They are only closing the actual show on Broadway. 2 different things. Even though he show in Chicago is called Frozen on Broadway, it’s not the actual Broadway production, it’s the touring show.

 

[bdiddy]

No, only the Frozen show on actual Broadway is cancelled. The touring show, which is what would be playing in Chicago, will still be proceeding. They are only closing the actual show on Broadway. 2 different things. Even though he show in Chicago is called Frozen on Broadway, it’s not the actual Broadway production, it’s the touring show.

Ah ok thank you. I actually went on the Chicago Theatre’s site and the show has been postponed to 2021 anyway and gave info about getting a refund so that good I guess. In case they end up not going

 

[tarak]

I’m wondering what this will mean for other productions that don’t have Disney backing them. I had tickets to take two of my kids to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in May. That was postponed, not cancelled, to a later date in October. Everything else we had tickets for - concerts and musicals - were just cancelled and I got a refund. Given that Broadway productions are now suspended until September 6, I have to wonder if we’ll end up with another cancellation.

 

[Geomom]

So glad DD20 got to see Frozen on Broadway in the Fall before they closed. (Her college does Broadway trips for $25 including Tix and transportation...limited number of Tix for sale...250?) She loves all things Disney.

Of the 3 Disney Broadway shows, I can see why Frozen would be cut first, despite being the newest one. Aladdin and Lion King would appeal to a broader audience. (DD20 got to see both of those shows as well in the past 2 years...so lucky!)

 

[Mattimation]

The Frozen tour has officially cancelled its stop in Boston - granted, it is one of several to have cancelled this “Broadway in Boston” season. Some other shows in the season’s lineup, such as Anastasia, have postponed or rescheduled. I hope they’re able to continue the tour at some point, but it looks like as far as Boston is concerned it’s outright cancelled.

 

[DisneyPigFan]

There's a strong chance there's not going to be any broadway performances -- actually on broadway or touring -- for the remainder of this calendar year. In my city, the entire remaining slate of touring shows for this year has either been canceled or rescheduled. For example, Hamilton is now set for August - September of NEXT year (2021), after already being postponed once before.

That's the norm everywhere. To my knowledge, EVERY touring show is on indefinite hold, just like their broadway counterparts.

When will Broadway start back up? no one knows. Last I saw was they were hoping they could have performances again by January. And Frozen likely won't be the only show not to return.

And what will Disney adapt next to replace Frozen? I guess probably Hercules?

 

[figmentfinesse]

There's a strong chance there's not going to be any broadway performances -- actually on broadway or touring -- for the remainder of this calendar year. In my city, the entire remaining slate of touring shows for this year has either been canceled or rescheduled. For example, Hamilton is now set for August - September of NEXT year (2021), after already being postponed once before.

That's the norm everywhere. To my knowledge, EVERY touring show is on indefinite hold, just like their broadway counterparts.

When will Broadway start back up? no one knows. Last I saw was they were hoping they could have performances again by January. And Frozen likely won't be the only show not to return.

And what will Disney adapt next to replace Frozen? I guess probably Hercules?

They’ve also been thinking of a BATB revival. So def that or Hercules is what the Broadway forums are thinking.

 

[Jacq7414]

it wasdefinitely the worst performer of their three productions in terms of ticket sales. During the winter they often had discounted tickets everywhere, certainly not a hard ticket to get. They even closed portions of the balcony for some performances. Disney had penciled this in for a winter closing anyway. While broadway announced a shutdown until at least sept 6, most of us in the industry have already come to the conclusion that theatre won’t be back until at least January. (The period where they were already planning on closing Frozen). With drastically lower numbers predicted upon reopening, Disney is consolidating their efforts around Lion King and Aladdin.

there is a long gestating revival of Beauty and the Beast in the works, which would have replaced this. But with a pretty dire outlook ahead due to the virus, who knows if they will go through with mounting such an expensive production. We may have to wait longer for that one.

Omg I hope for a Beauty & the Beast revival on broadway. It’s my daughters FAVORITE Disney movie by far and Belle is her favorite princess. I’d totally take her

 

[Luxurious_Lumiere]

I’m wondering what this will mean for other productions that don’t have Disney backing them. I had tickets to take two of my kids to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in May. That was postponed, not cancelled, to a later date in October. Everything else we had tickets for - concerts and musicals - were just cancelled and I got a refund. Given that Broadway productions are now suspended until September 6, I have to wonder if we’ll end up with another cancellation.

If you look at my initial post, you'll see that there were several reasons why Frozen was already on the chopping block, so disney simply decided not to play the waiting game with it and cut their losses now.

It's easy to think "if Disney can't make it, then who can?" and start predicting a bloodbath of closing shows. But for the reasons I mentioned, I don't think it will be quite as bad as some folks predict...though its a certainty that many productions will not ultimately survive this shutdown.

The "official" word from the Broadway League is that performances are currently suspended through Sept 6. However, I've had many conversations with industry people and they all privately expect that date to be pushed again, with January as the earliest time to open. Why? It is impossible for a commercial theater venue to reopen with social distancing practices. The margins are simply to slim, and they would not be profitable. Think of seating: you would need at least 6 feet of empty seats to your party's left and right, as well as in front an behind you. That reduces capacity to well under 50%. Barrington Stage in MA has decided to reopen with a reduced season and reduced theater capacity. They are normally a 520 seat house but with social distancing they had to cut the capacity to less than 200. Broadway wouldn't be able to do that. And even if they did, most theaters are old and not built with places for people to spread out while in lobbies, restrooms, etc.

I do think that if any theater opens in the fall, it will be the non-profit companies. They have the potential to find big donors who can offset the lost ticket sale revenue from a reduced capacity house. And since they aren't a commercial venture anyway, they do not rely on ticket sales alone for their business model. 4 non-profits have Broadway houses: Roundabout, Lincoln Center Theater, Second Stage, and Manhattan Theatre Club. Should they find the requisite big wig donors to help them out, I could see them attempting to open first with reduced capacity in the fall. But the rest of Broadway is a commercial enterprise and they will have to wait until it is ok to open at full capacity.

There could of course be speedy work on a treatment, therapy, or vaccine by the fall (my goodness, let's hope!) which would allow reopening sooner. But unfortunately, there is a strong chance your Harry Potter tickets will have to be moved again.

 

[tarak]

If you look at my initial post, you'll see that there were several reasons why Frozen was already on the chopping block, so disney simply decided not to play the waiting game with it and cut their losses now.

It's easy to think "if Disney can't make it, then who can?" and start predicting a bloodbath of closing shows. But for the reasons I mentioned, I don't think it will be quite as bad as some folks predict...though its a certainty that many productions will not ultimately survive this shutdown.

The "official" word from the Broadway League is that performances are currently suspended through Sept 6. However, I've had many conversations with industry people and they all privately expect that date to be pushed again, with January as the earliest time to open. Why? It is impossible for a commercial theater venue to reopen with social distancing practices. The margins are simply to slim, and they would not be profitable. Think of seating: you would need at least 6 feet of empty seats to your party's left and right, as well as in front an behind you. That reduces capacity to well under 50%. Barrington Stage in MA has decided to reopen with a reduced season and reduced theater capacity. They are normally a 520 seat house but with social distancing they had to cut the capacity to less than 200. Broadway wouldn't be able to do that. And even if they did, most theaters are old and not built with places for people to spread out while in lobbies, restrooms, etc.

I do think that if any theater opens in the fall, it will be the non-profit companies. They have the potential to find big donors who can offset the lost ticket sale revenue from a reduced capacity house. And since they aren't a commercial venture anyway, they do not rely on ticket sales alone for their business model. 4 non-profits have Broadway houses: Roundabout, Lincoln Center Theater, Second Stage, and Manhattan Theatre Club. Should they find the requisite big wig donors to help them out, I could see them attempting to open first with reduced capacity in the fall. But the rest of Broadway is a commercial enterprise and they will have to wait until it is ok to open at full capacity.

There could of course be speedy work on a treatment, therapy, or vaccine by the fall (my goodness, let's hope!) which would allow reopening sooner. But unfortunately, there is a strong chance your Harry Potter tickets will have to be moved again.

I think you’re right. Honestly, the bathroom lines during intermission alone aren’t manageable if you’re trying to social distance. I feel like most everything in daily life won’t go back to normal until there’s a vaccine in place.

 

[ElyseInWonderland]

Bummer for everyone who had wanted to see it.

Unrelated note/Unpopular opinion: Besides The Lion King, every other Disney Broadway adaptation I've seen has been underwhelming, unnecessary and lacking the signature Disney "magic."
BUT I'm an adult with no kids yet so I understand I'm not the target audience! Haha.

 

[Jacq7414]

Bummer for everyone who had wanted to see it.

Unrelated note/Unpopular opinion: Besides The Lion King, every other Disney Broadway adaptation I've seen has been underwhelming, unnecessary and lacking the signature Disney "magic."
BUT I'm an adult with no kids yet so I understand I'm not the target audience! Haha.

We took our daughter to see Aladdin and we really enjoyed it. I thought the Genie was great