‘Frozen’ will not return to Broadway
Show’s third major production closed due to COVID-19
The first long-running Broadway hit to announce a permanent closure because of coronavirus comes from Disney Theatrical: “Frozen” will not reopen.
Disney announced Thursday that “Frozen,” the musical based on the megahit movie about the love between two sisters (and their snowman pal), won’t return to the St. James Theatre in New York. Closed since March, the earliest opening date for Broadway theaters is Sept. 7.
“Frozen” is the third major production to announce a permanent closure due to the coronavirus shutdown. A high-profile revival of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” starring Laurie Metcalfe and Rupert Everett was halted after just nine preview performances; producers later canceled the run. A new play called “Hangmen” was also in previews when Broadway theaters shut, and producers said it would not return.
But “Frozen” differs from the other two in that it was a long-running show, having opened in March of 2018. It also had a huge fan base from the original 2013 film and its 2019 sequel, which became the highest-grossing animated film of all time.
As a large-cast musical, though, “Frozen” was an expensive show to mount. More than 40 performers were in the cast. It was also the only of Disney’s three Broadway shows to be staged in a theater not owned by Disney. In the weeks before the shutdown, the theater had been filled between 80 to 91 percent capacity, high enough attendance to keep most shows running.
Actors Equity Association, the labor union representing performers and stage managers in live productions, quickly issued a statement calling for more government support of the arts.
“Today’s news should be an all hands on deck moment for [New York] Governor Cuomo, [New York City] Mayor De Blasio and Congress,” said Mary McColl, executive director of Equity. “Decisions made in the days and weeks ahead will shape the future of the arts sector for years to come. Public officials at all levels must think much more boldly about supporting the arts or our entire economy will be slower to recover.”
This week, Broadway League president Charlotte St. Martin said Broadway producers anticipate between six months and two years of losses. She also called on elected officials for help, telling New York City cable-news channel NY1: “Unfortunately, nothing the government has done has helped our members that produce shows and theater owners who have to keep these historic monuments open and successful.”
Disney Theatrical Productions president and producer Thomas Schumacher said in a statement that the closure of “Frozen” was directly related to the coronavirus-caused economic meltdown.
“In the summer of 2013 when Frozen began its road to Broadway two things were unimaginable: that we’d soon have five productions worldwide, and a global pandemic would so alter the world economy that running three Disney shows on Broadway would become untenable,” he said.
“The Lion King” and “Aladdin” are Disney’s other current Broadway musicals.
The other “Frozen” productions referenced by Schumacher are scheduled to open by next year in Australia, the United Kingdom, Germany and Japan. A North American tour of the show is also expected to resume. Elements, such as costumes, from Broadway can be used in these other productions to save money and reduce waste, Disney said.
Schumacher paid tribute to the show’s fans, as well as its actors, now out of jobs.
“The extraordinary contribution of Broadway’s original company plus those who have joined more recently cannot be overstated,” he said. “’Frozen,’ like all shows, is wholly dependent on those who create and perform them but this was an uncommonly close and talented group and they’ll be missed.”