Theater News

Is a Frozen Musical Only Two Years Away From Broadway?

A director is in place and the Oscar-winning songwriting team is crafting a score.

New York City
The Broadway-bound characters of Frozen (L to R): Elsa, Kristoff, Sven, Olaf, Anna, and Hans.
The Broadway-bound characters of Frozen: Elsa, Kristoff, Sven (reindeer), Olaf (snowman), Anna, and Hans.

The hotly anticipated stage version of the Disney animated feature film Frozen is aiming for a 2017 debut, London's Daily Mail reports.

Alex Timbers, the Tony-nominated director behind Here Lies Love, Rocky, and Peter and the Starcatcher, has been taking meetings with the creative team and is expected to helm the production. Jennifer Lee, who penned the screenplay of the 2013 film, is expected to write the book, with the film's Oscar- and Grammy-winning songwriters, Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, crafting a full score to go along with movie tunes like "Let It Go."

Frozen, which tells the story of a princess who sets off to find her estranged sister, won 2014 Oscars for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song. It grossed over $1.3 billion in worldwide box office revenue. The cast of the film is led by Tony Award winner Idina Menzel as Elsa and Kristen Bell as Anna, alongside Santino Fontana, Jonathan Groff, and Josh Gad.

Complete timeline, casting, and theater information have not been officially announced. It is expected that the production will make its debut on Broadway.

UPDATE, February 13: Disney Theatricals President and Producer Thomas Schumacher has released the following statement regarding the Frozen musical: "As has already been announced, Disney Theatrical is working on a stage adaptation of the animated film Frozen. It will come as no surprise that the EGOT-winning Broadway veteran Robert Lopez and the Oscar and Grammy winning Kristen Anderson-Lopez, who wrote the indelible songs for the film, will be working on the show and that Oscar winner Jennifer Lee, co-director and screenwriter of the film, will be working on the book of the stage version. No other staffing or dates have been announced."