‘Frozen’ the musical heads to Singapore next year

by AZALEA AZUAR

THE Broadway adaptation of The Walt Disney Co’s hit animated film “Frozen”  will be making its way to Marina Bay Sands, Singapore, from Feb 5, 2023, in what will be its only South-East Asian stop.

Produced by Disney Theatrical Productions — which previously successfully adapted “The Lion King”, “Aladdin” and “Mary Poppins” into stage musicals — the show follows the well-received staging of “The Lion King” and “Aladdin” in the city-state before Covid.

The music and lyrics are written by Academy and Tony Award-winning recipients songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, with Jennifer Lee as the writer, direction by Michael Grandage and choreography by Rob Ashford.

The stage musical is directed by Thomas Schumacher and presented in Singapore by Base Entertainment Asia.

According to Base Entertainment Asia CEO Chantal Prudhomme, “Frozen” feels like the start of something new after experiencing two years of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

“Most of you may know or may not know that, besides the borders are open, there are 26 containers that we have to bring over, as well as more than 100 cast and crew.

“It’s a big task and we were supposed to do that earlier. And that mammoth task of just shifting everything to (this) date this time, when it works for everyone,” she said in her opening speech at the regional launch of “Frozen The Musical” in Singapore.

“Frozen” is adapted from the hit Disney film, which is in turn adapted from Hans Christian Andersen’s 1844 fairy tale “The Snow Queen”. It is one of Disney’s most beloved adaptations.

The musical will feature the massive hit song ‘Let It Go’, sang by Elsa, as well as ‘Do You Wanna Build a Snowman’ and 12 specially-written new songs

The adventure and classic comedy tale features true love and breaks away from Disney’s usual princess films about needing to be saved by a prince charming. Instead, it focuses on the bond between two sisters, Elsa and Anna, and how they save themselves.

The animated film was a massive box office hit when it came out in 2013 and earned more than US$1.28 billion (RM5.7 billion) in worldwide box office revenue. It was the highest-grossing animated film before it was surpassed by the live-action “The Lion King” film in 2019, while its sequel “Frozen II” had the highest all-time worldwide opening for an animated film and went on to gross US$$1.45 billion worldwide.

“Frozen” bagged two Academy Awards including Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song (“Let It Go”), as well as two Grammy Awards for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media and Best Song Written for Visual Media (“Let It Go”).

The stage adaptation will, of course, feature the massive hit song “Let It Go”, as well as “Do You Wanna Build a Snowman” and 12 specially-written new songs.

“Frozen” opened on Broadway at the St James Theatre, New York, back in March 2018 and has topped box office history, as well as being the highest-grossing new musical in its first year.

It has even expanded to include a North American tour, London’s West End, Japan and Hamburg, Germany, while its Australian production was the first one to open outside of New York.

The stage adaptation of “Frozen” is designed by scenic and costume designer Christopher Oram, lighting designer Natasha Katz, video designer Finn Ross and sound designer Peter Hylenski, while the production team also includes puppet designer Michael Curry, special effects designer Jeremy Chernick, hair designer David Brian Brown and makeup designer Anne Ford-Coates. The music team is composed by music supervisor Stephen Oremus and orchestrator Dave Metzger.

“Frozen” the musical will be at Marina Bay Sands from Feb 5 till March 5. Ticket prices start from S$88 (RM292.56).