Whether you agree with it or not, Frozen is one of the most popular Disney movies to date and has become an instant classic. Disney’s Frozen was a box office hit, earning over 1.2 billion dollars and is, to date, the highest grossing Disney film and is the 10th highest grossing film of all time! Frozen has inspired 2 shorts (Frozen Fever and Olaf’s Frozen Adventure), a second film, and now a Broadway musical.
The Broadway musical premiers this spring and, personally, I couldn’t be more excited! The Broadway musical follows the main storyline based off of the fairytale, “The Snow Queen,” and has many fan-favorite characters returning. Even though the musical follows the storyline we all know and love, there will be some differences.
1. New Songs!
The Broadway version of Frozen has many of the original songs, but will include four new ones. To rival the award-winning ballad “Let it Go,” Elsa will sing a song called “Monster.” This song is another power ballad sang to express Elsa’s fear, anxiety, and uncertainty. You can listen to the song here. But I have to warn you….
2. It’s Going to be Dark
Frozen is overall a children/family movie. Therefore, Frozen is happy and stays on the lighter side when it does venture into unhappy territory. However, Frozen: The Broadway Musical is going to be considerably darker. For example, in Elsa’s song “Monster” she considers killing herself to stop the storm. SPOILER: she doesn’t end up killing herself. But still, considering killing herself? That’s dark Disney.
3. Wardrobe Change
ELSA WEARS A PANTSUIT! Yes, I know this is a very minor change, but it excites me. Personally, I love the fact that Disney is showing little girls that a woman can be powerful wearing a sparkly dress or a killer pantsuit.
4. Goodbye Trolls
Kristoff’s beloved adoptive family, the trolls, will not be included in the musical. People speculated that it’s because of a budgeting reason. They either didn’t have enough money or that they didn’t have the resources to make lots of troll costumes. Either way, our beloved trolls are gone, but they’re being replaced by the hidden folk. The hidden folk are from Scandinavian folklore. In the production, the hidden folk perform the opening number, contrary to the ice harvesters singing “Frozen Heart” which foreshadows the whole movie.
5. Nudity?
Yes! Frozen: The Broadway Musical will have some unexpected, comical nudity. The short, semi-nude scene will be in Wandering Oak’s Trading Post (oh! And sauna!). In the sauna scene, the actors will be seen wearing very tight body suits and a very small fig leaf over…. well, I’ll let you guess. This scene is meant to be completely comical, but it shocked quite a few of the audience members.
6. Diversity!!
This is a slightly controversial part of the play. Kristoff, as well as many of the hidden folk, are African American. For those of y’all that don’t know, Frozen takes place in the 1850’s in Norway. The population of Norway, especially during this time, was predominately white. Personally, I love the fact that Disney is including a diverse cast! Also, Jelani Alladin is an AMAZING performer.
7. The Characters Get Deeper
Since the Broadway play is going to be a good bit longer than the movie, the writers decided to dive deeper into the mind of Anna and Elsa, as well as the other characters. We’ll learn more about Anna and her need for more from life. As an audience, we get a deeper sense of Elsa’s isolation, fear, and her sense of self. As a pair, we understand more about how the death of their parents affected the sister’s relationship and their way of life. Outside of the sisters, we learn more about Kristoff’s past, Han’s family, and Olaf!