Riedel on Stephen Daldry directing Frozen

[10086sunset]

Posted: 8/11/16 at 10:27pm

http://nypost.com/2016/08/11/frozen-on-broadway-is-years-away-and-theres-already-drama/

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 8/11/16 at 10:35pm

I was just getting into the idea of Herheim. 

If I ends up being Stephen I wouldn't be able to imagine the show making it to a 2018 opening, he would be busy with wicked stuff,

[10086sunset]

Posted: 8/11/16 at 11:06pm

Daldry would be able to direct the show Disney wants...

[JennH]

Posted: 8/11/16 at 11:16pm

Call_me_jorge said: "I was just getting into the idea of Herheim. 

If I ends up being Stephen I wouldn't be able to imagine the show making it to a 2018 opening, he would be busy with wicked stuff,

 

"

Precisely. I was also getting used to Herheim. But that one article about Herheim is legit the ONLY article I've found on that subject. But Reidel is also the only one currently saying Daldry. 

Even if they had to change the timeline, would he even be able to give the attention it needs? I said it elsewhere, I want whoever directs to give it their full attention. It deserves it, people will see it regardless, you might as well make it good and not half ass it at the same time.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 8/12/16 at 1:48am

Is Daldry directing the Wicked movie? Guess I missed that. 

I think he's a fabulous director. I thought Billy Elliot was a terrific show that deserved a longer run. I think he knows how to work with spectacle the way that Timbers maybe doesn't. Although, Timbers did direct Pee Wee Herman, which is a big property as well. 

I'm just not sure Daldry has the eye for design/style the way that Timbers does. I'd hate to get a by-the-books recreation with every little spectacle a la Aladdin. I thought Aladdin - design and direction wise - was such a bore. 

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 8/12/16 at 6:09am

 Just don't get all the Frozen love, it wasn't really anything special by Disney standards. In fact it was a bit of a bore.

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 8/12/16 at 8:08am

At least they would be sticking with a more traditional theatre director because let's face it, since the success of The Lion King, Disney kept trying to bring on these highbrow theatre artists to direct their properties. They gave set/costume designer Bob Crowley his first directing job with Tarzan, and the Broadway production clearly showed he was a first-time director. They brought Francesca Zambello from the opera world to direct The Little Mermaid, and was not a success ether.

They've lately been more successful having traditional theatre directors like Jeff Calhoun on Newsies and Casey Nicholaw on Aladdin.

And the film adaptation of Wicked isn't even suppose to come out until December 2019. I don't know when principal photography is suppose to start, but if it begins after spring 2018, then I think Stephen Daldry could be able to do both.

[Bobby Maler]

Posted: 8/12/16 at 8:24am

Why isn't anyone talking about Leisl Tommy? She replaced Timbers to direct the musical production of "Frozen" currently at Disneyland which was supposed to be a de facto try out.  I haven't seen it, but it also looks like a huge production with a lot of technical elements and friends who have seen it said it was wonderful and tear-inducing, featuring a very multi-cultural cast. 

 

It upsets me that a capable, Tony nominated  female director of color has been overlooked, not only by Disney but in the very reporting of this news. Why isn't anyone asking the question "why is she no longer associated with 'Frozen?'"

 

[Oak2]

Posted: 8/12/16 at 11:04am

I wouldn't mind at all if it follows the same direction as Aladdin - from what I've seen and heard Aladdin is fantastic and everything fans of the original movie could want. (That said, I haven't seen it yet myself, but I have tickets for it over Labor Day Weekend, but everything I've seen and heard about it sounds perfect to me.) Of course, Frozen needs more to be changed and added than Aladdin did to make it a truly great broadway show, but I may just think that because Aladdin is my favorite Post-1966 Disney movie.

Bobby Maler - I've actually heard a very mixed amount of responses to Tommy's DCA Frozen, at least from Parks and Frozen fans (I'm a huge Disneyphile and especially Disney Theme Parks fan myself). From what I saw of the performance it looked decent for the theme park. I've seen both people thrilled with the blind casting and what was done, and those who felt various aspects were disappointing even for theme park quality, mostly the costumes, and the singing quality on some of the cast. Not sure what the overall consensus is on the directing though.

Regardless, the final result will be a huge hit for at least the first year or two regardless of what they do with it, but I hope that even with that knowledge they'll still give it the full attention and treatment fans of the movie deserve. (I could care less about changing it to sate elitists and people who aren't Disney fans in the first place, but I still wouldn't mind changes made to change some of the flaws in the story, as long as it doesn't change the core aspects of the story that the fans love it for.

 

[RippedMan]

Posted: 8/12/16 at 11:11am

Well, if they're worried about Timbers dealing with such a large property - and he's directed Rocky - a big budged show - and a few other clever stagings - then why would they go with someone who has even less experience? The Disneyland show is pretty small scale compared to an actual 2 1/2 hour show. Her ideas were fine for a theme park show, but I would hate to just see an expanded version of that show on stage. That's essentially what Aladdin was and, again, Aladdin looks cheap and is horribly staged and designed. 

[HogansHero]

Posted: 8/12/16 at 11:22am

RippedMan said: "Well, if they're worried about Timbers dealing with such a large property"

it's pretty obvious that's not what they were worried about 

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 8/12/16 at 11:33am

Bobby Maler said: "Why isn't anyone talking about Leisl Tommy? She replaced Timbers to direct the musical production of "Frozen" currently at Disneyland which was supposed to be a de facto try out.  I haven't seen it, but it also looks like a huge production with a lot of technical elements and friends who have seen it said it was wonderful and tear-inducing, featuring a very multi-cultural cast. 

 

It upsets me that a capable, Tony nominated  female director of color has been overlooked, not only by Disney but in the very reporting of this news. Why isn't anyone asking the question "why is she no longer associated with 'Frozen?'"

 

 

"

Only, she wasn't overlooked. They hired her and she directed a production of Frozen for the theme park. She was hired for the job, and fulfilled her obligation. No part of that is her being overlooked. It seems that they are not interested in bringing the theme park iteration to New York. 

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 8/12/16 at 12:04pm

^also, tommy and timbers were hired for two different productions under two different divisions of Disney. It's not like tommy could crossover from the theme park division into Disney theatricals. Now there will be a third production directed by a third person for the cruise line division.

[Oak2]

Posted: 8/12/16 at 12:12pm

I agree with Call_me_jorge. The different versions will generally have different creators and will be separate productions. Aladdin is the best example really to see how Frozen will likely go, since it also had all 3 - a Cruise Line show, a DCA show, and a Broadway show. I absolutely loved the Aladdin show at DCA when I was there, but I'm not expecting the Broadway version to be exactly like the DCA show and it sounds fromw hat I heard that I wasn't, or at least they still made a lot of changes (mostly adding in stuff cut from the original movie it sounds like.) In any case, what I'm saying is there's no reason to assume that the different productions should have the same team. If anything, I'd think it'd be better to have different creative teams helming each production to give their own spin on it, and also to take into account the different needs depending on the production and audience, because there are big difference in expectations from a theme park, cruise ship, and Broadway audience, even if they're huge fans of the original movie.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 8/12/16 at 1:11pm

@Hogan Per the article, it says that Timbers was overwhelmed by the immensity of the production... 

[JennH]

Posted: 8/12/16 at 2:41pm

http://m.playbill.com/article/will-wicked-film-director-taking-over-disneys-frozen-musical

 

Whoop, there't is...

I guess no Herheim then. I don't dislike Daldry per se, I just feel like it's too much sameness. I know still in question at this point, let's be honest, it'll be Daldry. Most of the Frozen rumors ended up true, so I doubt this one is any different. 

 

However I still wonder where that opera gossip website got their source about Herheim...gossip websites are still on the unreliable side, and while Herheim I think would have been a good choice, it just came out of left field too much for it to be easily believed. 

[BroadwayNYC2]

Posted: 8/12/16 at 2:47pm

That's just a rehash of the Riedel article, not a confirmation

[JennH]

Posted: 8/12/16 at 2:59pm

BroadwayNYC2 said: "That's just a rehash of the Riedel article, not a confirmation

 

"

Oh I know, but like I said every rehashed article and rumor about this that ever happened ended up being true. And they were all rumored for a while before any announcement. Betsy, Timbers, etc. Of course Riedel is...Riedel but he ends up being right a good chunk of the time. 

I'll take Riedel's word (again knowing its still not a whole lot to go on) merely because this is his world  he has made a career of covering, rather than a gossip website that's unreliable where I'm still wondering about their source. 

[HogansHero]

Posted: 8/12/16 at 4:02pm

RippedMan said: "@Hogan Per the article, it says that Timbers was overwhelmed by the immensity of the production... "

I stand by what I said. 1. It's Riedel. 2. It's "sources." Neither TS nor AT said it and , having observed Alex, I feel confident that is about as accurate as his reporting that producers andcreatives of Hamilton were at each other's throats.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 8/13/16 at 1:29am

That's fine. But don't call me out lke you know better. You're just speculating like Reidel. 

[HogansHero]

Posted: 8/13/16 at 11:02am

RippedMan said: "That's fine. But don't call me out lke you know better. You're just speculating like Reidel. "

I am not calling you out. I am just choosing to rely on what more reliable reporters reported, including TS's statement. Going in a different direction is understandable; AT being overwhelmed sounds like Riedel invention. But as always believe what you wish and yes I have no information available to me that you don't have.