It may not be playing here but the incredible FROZEN: THE MUSICAL will be a very big theatrical deal when it eventually opens. In fact we should have been weeks away from that date, but the pandemic has delayed the opening to next April.
Disney made this statement about the opening……
Due to the ongoing impact throughout the theatre industry of Covid-19, and to protect the wellbeing of all involved, we have made the difficult decision to postpone the opening of Frozen.
All existing bookings have automatically been moved into a new date, which can be found using the calendar on this page. Ticketholders have received an announcement email, and will receive a new confirmation email with details of their booking as soon as possible – due to the volume of guests, this may take up to five weeks.
If any guest is not happy with their new date, they will be able to request an alternative date, a Frozen voucher or a refund by following the instructions in their confirmation email.
It is of course based on the smash-hit Disney film of the same name. Frozen was released in cinemas in 2013, winning multiple awards, including two Academy Awards® for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song (“Let It Go”), the Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature Film and the BAFTA for Best Animated Film.
FROZEN: THE MUSICAL arrives in London at the soon to be refurbished Theatre Royal Drury Lane. Sisters Elsa and Anna both struggle with Elsa’s uncontrollable magical powers after they inherit the kingdom of Arendelle. When Elsa accidentally freezes their kingdom and endangers Anna, she must discover the meaning of true love to save the day.
Will she be able to melt Arendelle, and her heart along with it? Featuring the iconic songs ‘Let it Go’ and ‘Love is an Open Door’, FROZEN: THE MUSICAL adapts the beloved animated film into a magical stage spectacular that will delight us all and melt even the most FROZEN of hearts.
The lead cast has now been announced and they are in full rehearsal mode, for what is a technically challenging show. Samantha Barks (known for her roles in Pretty Woman, Oliver and Les Miserables) and Stephanie McKeon (Beautiful/The Commitments) will play Elsa and Anna in Frozen when it reopens next year.
Here’s a look at the entire cast announcement…..
So, let’s give you the SOUTH WALES LIFE Frozen facts as we have them. Just bear in mind that a lot of what we say is only based on the information we have on the Broadway production….
- The story is inspired by “The Snow Queen”, a story by beloved fairytale writer Hans Christian Andersen. The musical features music and lyrics by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, with a book by Jennifer Lee, the three of whom wrote the music and screenplay for the original 2013 film.
- A running time for the London production is to be confirmed, but the Broadway production runs for 2 hours and 15 minutes, including an interval.
- The Broadway production was recommended for ages 8+ and not recommend for anyone under the age of 4. Exact London age recommendations are yet to be announced.
The opening times and performance schedule for the UK is now confirmed (new dates) and is at the bottom of this page.
The truly remarkable thing about Frozen is that in a musical that features a song as poignant as ‘Do You Want to Build a Snowman?’, as uplifting as ‘For the First Time in Forever’, or as funny as ‘In Summer’, there is one song that towers above them all, glittering like a freshly made ice palace.
We are talking, of course, about ‘Let it Go’, the song which, when Frozen was released in the winter of 2013, became a sensation among anyone with ears. It reached the top five in the charts here and the States, sold 10.9 million copies in a year and won the Academy® Award for Best Original Song. Adults loved it, but it was a track that bewitched children – causing them to drive their parents to the brink of insanity by obsessively playing it over and over again.
So, like almost 2 Billion people have done, let’s sing it all over again. Turn up the volume now and LET IT GO………
It was the kind of magic about which pop song producers could only dream. After all, if it was that easy to make a catchy song, then everyone would be doing it. But what made ‘Let it Go’ work where so many others have not? What is the secret to its sorcery? Disney asked two music experts for their thoughts.
One theory for the incredible catchiness of ‘Let it Go’ is that it’s a musical number that owes more to pop music than to Broadway.
Dr Vasco Hexel who teaches composition for screen at the Royal College of Music……
“‘Let it Go’ is basically a hit single that we get in the middle of a Disney film. “It’s not as lush or as complicated as a musical theatre piece might otherwise be. The structure is quite streamlined so you get a very clear sense of verse / chorus / verse / chorus and that’s what makes pop songs so catchy – the immediate accessibility. They’re immediately catchy because there’s an economy of style – there is so little material, but in the best possible way. An effective pop song has to feel familiar the first time you hear it.”
Yet while it’s true that ‘Let it Go’ shares similarities with pop music, its success cannot simply be attributed to the fact that it sounds like a pop song. Instead, its power lies in occupying a space somewhere between pop and musical theatre.
Dr Christopher Wiley is a Senior Lecturer in music at the university of Surrey……
“It eludes classification. It does owe a lot to pop music, but you can’t ignore the strong musical theatre credentials. It’s written by Robert Lopez, who has worked on Avenue Q and The Book of Mormon, and his wife Kristen Anderson-Lopez. We’ve also got Idina Menzel singing it, who is well known to musical theatre audiences from Rent and Wicked. ”
“It is unusual for a Disney song, because it does have this journey but starts very bleakly, in a minor key. It sounds like it’s going to be a piano ballad, like it’s going to be a quiet, reflective number. It doesn’t sound like the kind of thing that might close the first half of a musical theatre show and leave the audience singing it during the break.”
I can tell you that the stage musical has around 14 new songs, so even more for us to sing a long too.
So let’s get onto FROZEN: THE MUSICAL, how you can get tickets and when is it being performed. Let’s give you the schedule as we have it……..
Previews are from 2nd April 2021 (This will be our first chance to see it on stage).
Performances run from 15th April 2021 (There will be an official Gala Night and if our calculations are correct it will be Wednesday 14th April – TBC).
- Wed – Sat: 7pm | Thu & Sat: 2.30pm
- Sun: 1pm & 5.30pm
Access & Relaxed Performances
- Signed Performance | Sun 11 July 2021 at 1pm
- Relaxed Performance | Sun 25 July 2021 at 12.30pm
- Audio Described Performance | Sun 15 August 2021 at 1pm
- Captioned Performance | Sun 22 August 2021 at 5.30pm
And now the all important question, how do we get tickets? And it’s a simple answer really, make your way over to the website for all the information. The Disney FROZEN: THE MUSICAL site is brilliant and has so many behind the scenes videos included. Have a look while you wait patiently for those tickets to come up. To check out and sign up, go here. FROZEN
SOUTH WALES LIFE will be at the very first performance of the show in April and will let you know what we think then. I think we all know what we’re going to say.