FROZEN Reviews- Page 4

[BwayLB]

Posted: 3/23/18 at 11:06am

^^ You got a good point about the sequel. Which is why how excited I am for Frozen 2 depends on where the story goes from here. Some of us knew Anna and Elsa's reconnecting was just getting started from the moment the latter promised never to close the gate again

[South Fl Marc]

Posted: 3/23/18 at 11:51am

Lindsay is a goddess said: "Though the reviews were mixed-to-negative, I don’t think I read a single unkind word about Levy and Murin. Everyone seemed to love them, so that’s at least something."

 

Right, that's like one of the survivors of the Titanic saying "Well, the food at least was very good."

Also, between the reviews for Margaritaville and this show, I am starting to really adore Jess Green . His best line  :  "Couldn’t they at least hook her up to a gelato machine?" 

 

Updated On: 3/23/18 at 11:51 AM

[SarahNYC2]

Posted: 3/23/18 at 12:49pm

I saw it Tuesday night. It was ok. The Let It Go Scene is amazing. But otherwise the show is ok. This week I am in NYC without my 10 year old. I have a theater trip planned with her in late June. I asked if she wanted me to wait to see  Frozen with her. She was adamant about not seeing it. Now I am glad we aren't wasting our trip together on this. 

I think it will do well. Families will still go. 

 

[ggersten]

Posted: 3/23/18 at 12:56pm

The Little Mermaid grosses:

https://www.broadwayworld.com/grossesshow.cfm?show=THE-LITTLE-MERMAID&year=2009&allall=on

Based on gross potential, started out big (November 2007) and huge through the first summer:Big drop in the fall - a little recovery around Xmas/NewYears - drop again - a blip up in April - and then slow until summer and closing in August 2009.

Here is Tarzan which opened in March 2006 and closed in July 2007:  https://www.broadwayworld.com/grossesshow.cfm?show=TARZAN&year=2007&allall=on

 

[Fetus]

Posted: 3/23/18 at 1:11pm

I really wish Disney Theatrical would step up to the challenge and do something exciting on Broadway for a change. This could have been a really inventive production, but they decided to do it in the blandest and unimaginative way possible.

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 3/23/18 at 1:41pm

Well, aside from The Lion King, Disney tried to do something bold and inventive with Tarzan and The Little Mermaid, and we all saw how those turned out.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 3/23/18 at 1:48pm

What the hell show did all the people saying Little Mermaid was experimental see? That show did not fail because it was too theatrical.

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 3/23/18 at 1:59pm

I don't know, but Disney did bring Francesca Zambello from the opera world on board to direct it, I guess hoping to achieve the same creative success Julie Taymor had on The Lion King.

[tjjster]

Posted: 3/23/18 at 2:19pm

I vaguely remember at the time Francesca was hired, there was an interview stating she didn't like Musical Theater.

 

Also I only remember two things from that production:

1) She used the same stage trick twice, where someone was flown up into the rafters (as if swimming upward) and then the character emerged through a trap door to signify they made it to land. Using it twice wouldn't have been a big deal except that it was for Ariels big end of act 1 i made it to the surface after becoming human. It was a very disappointing act 1 curtain.

2) the giant phallic towers that opened up at the top like the dilophosaurus in Jurassic park.

[BwayLB]

Posted: 3/23/18 at 2:37pm

Jeffrey Karasarides said: "Well, aside fromThe Lion King, Disney tried to do something bold and inventive withTarzanandThe Little Mermaid, and we all saw how those turned out."

 

If we wave something challenging, if Brother Bear is adapted, the Tranafornation scene should be a ballet number with dancers dressed as the Grest Spirits

[Caye2]

Posted: 3/23/18 at 4:08pm

Apologies if this has already been addressed, but how is the view of the stage from the balcony?

[Notreallysilent 2]

Posted: 3/23/18 at 4:12pm

I sat row a seat 1, and it was a fine view. It was a full view but to see the very front of the stage you have to lean over a bit.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 3/23/18 at 4:13pm

Here's one (big) example of why I think the show is so misguided"

The big, dramatic moment of the show is, of course, LET IT GO. So what happens? There is a blackout, lights up, we see Ice Palace, Ilsa walks on, goes center stage, sings a brief introduction, with some bad lyrics about something,  than sings her t*ts (and dress) off. Moves her hands around, some lighting effects, the song ends, Curtain! End of Act.  No scene, no dialogue, no motivation for the big song.  It's like the writer and Director threw up their hands and said just sing the damn song.  I felt nothing.

Look over on 45th St. Hammerstein and Rodgers created Soliloquy, a combination of dialogue and song. Billy goes through changes, emotions and then belts his heart out. We get goose bumps, even in a less than perfect production, this usually works like gangbusters.  Great writing.

No matter what you think of WICKED, (a show FROZEN tries so hard to be, almost pathetically) DEFINING GRAVITY is set up by the conflict between Glinda and Elphaba, some dialogue, some singing and a lot of tension. Then Elphaba sings her guts and anger out and the song (and Elphie) soar.

Was there no one on FROZEN who said, "where's the scene? where's the motivation? Where's the tension? It's very lazy writing and direction in my book. It may as well be AMERICAN IDOL.

Someone needed a stronger vision on this show. And I felt this carried through most of the show. The plot is set up and that's it. The girls are reunited, we knew they would be. There is no heart. Even a Fairy Tale has a better plot and some emotion. And if you say it's just a kids show, well kids feel things too.

Okay, that's my rant. I think they missed big time with this show. Will it run? Yes, it will, but deep in Disney mindset, they will know it doesn't really work and they better (and will ) sell a lot of toys. Take the show to DISNEYWORLD and it will wow the tourists for a long time.

[Miles2Go2]

Posted: 3/23/18 at 4:18pm

Decided to dig up Isherwood’s 2014 NYT review of Aladdin. Much more positive than his or the NYT’s review of Frozen:

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/03/21/theater/aladdin-tweaks-the-disney-formula-with-breezy-insouciance.html?referer=

[Kad]

Posted: 3/23/18 at 7:20pm

I think the real problem is that Frozen just isn’t as strong a property as “Let It Go.” The movie itself is very thin. I cannot imagine an hour being added to it, yet that’s what has been done.

[Lindsay is a goddess]

Posted: 3/23/18 at 7:53pm

South Fl Marc said: "Lindsay is a goddess said: "Though the reviews were mixed-to-negative, I don’t think I read a single unkind word about Levy and Murin. Everyone seemed to love them, so that’s at least something."



Right, that's like one of the survivors of the Titanic saying "Well, the food at least was very good."

"

I don't think the show is exactly comparable to the Titanic. And having two fantastic leads can take a hopeless show and bring it up to decent.

[BJR]

Posted: 3/23/18 at 10:05pm

Scarywarhol said: "What the hell show did all the people saying Little Mermaid was experimental see? That show did not fail because it was too theatrical."

YES. I think this all the time when it's included as an example. What was the "naturalistic" version of LITTLE MERMAID? It was pretty much as literal as you could get. And certainly not experimental. TARZAN, yes, I'll give that to them. But it didn't fail because of that but likely because it wasn't a good choice of material.

The first 20 minutes of FROZEN seem like they're laying the groundwork for a wonderful, adult, emotionally rich show. It's then tossed out to pander at every opportunity.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 3/23/18 at 11:10pm

I think both Little Mermaid and Frozen have these big giant creatures - Elsa’s monster and Ursula growing - and instead of figuring out how to make that moment work they both just cut it and couldn’t figure out a suitable replacement. And then there are no stakes.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 3/23/18 at 11:20pm

LITTLE MERMAID had roller skating fish,

[Fetus]

Posted: 3/23/18 at 11:30pm

Jeffrey Karasarides said: "Well, aside fromThe Lion King, Disney tried to do something bold and inventive withTarzanandThe Little Mermaid, and we all saw how those turned out."

I don't know what the boards general consensus on this is, but I found Hunchback's Paper Mill production really surprised me and I was incredibly bitter that Frozen being fast-tracked nixed any future that show could have had. Disney has the financial and creative resources to create great things on Broadway, but it just keeps putting out tourist friendly shows that never amount to the creativity and magic Disney is known for.

Disney can afford risks more than anyone else could on Broadway, they just don't want to.

I never saw Little Mermaid, but at least the design of the show looks more appealing than Frozen's does. I'll try to see the show sometime this summer, but from all the footage and images I've seen it just looks like I can get the same experience from watching the movie.

[broadwayboy223]

Posted: 3/23/18 at 11:31pm

Personally one of the biggest problems this adaptation has IMO is that Anna and Elsa didn't get any new music together. Instead of ending the show with yet another reprise of Let It Go why couldn't they sing a sister duet? Or better yet an interesting counterpoint duet they could have sung in the second act while each is on their own journey IDK just something else. Also in terms of structure, all of Elsa's songs basically negate each other.  They are all just self-imposed monologues that don't go anywhere. Going from Let It Go where she's supposed to release everything to Monster where she again is "im dark and dangerous" its just like WTF? Elsa could be the far more interesting character.

[Bwayfan292]

Posted: 3/23/18 at 11:40pm

Guess im the only one who enjoyed this. Sure it had its problems but it was nice to walk into the theatre and have a nice happy show and forget about the real world ya know. I enjoyed it. Excepet the act 2 opener. Yikes.

[blaxx]

Posted: 3/23/18 at 11:51pm

Fetus said: 
I never saw Little Mermaid, but at least the design of the show looks more appealing than Frozen's does. 

No,  it doesn't. Nothing was uglier than the underwater set. 

[theatreguy12]

Posted: 3/24/18 at 12:05am

I'm probably one of the few people on planet Earth who found the movie underwhelming to be honest.  As numbers were building and it was becoming the most "popular" Disney movie of all time, I went to see it expecting something amazing.   I didn't really see it. 

I had also heard the music was the best ever and it was already Broadway-ready as it was.  I think my expectations were so high it just didn't hit the mark for me.   The song about the Snowman didn't sound Broadway to me.  It was more the type of song you'd hear in a theme park show, such as the one in the version at Disney California Adventure.  Nothing more, nothing less in my opinion.

But mine is not the majority opinion, I know.  I'll be surprised if it doesn't do well.  It seems like most every little girl wants to be Anna or Elsa right now.  And since they're not the ones reading the NYT, I doubt it will have much impact.  The kids will be dragging their parents to this one for quite some time.  Just because it's Frozen.

As for Disney playing it safe...they know they can.   Disney has been known in recent decades to put out the basic because they know the return will be gobs of money anyway.  So why go all out on this musical if they don't have to.  They know it will bring in tons of money.  And that's what Disney is about now.   

Not that Walt didn't appreciate making money, of course.  

But there was something more to his vision than just that.   The Disney of present day doesn't really care about that. It is about money only. And if they can get away with putting as little as possible into it, it's fine by them.  

As for the creativity piece?  Well, Disney has taken to buying other properties rather than creating as much of their own as they used to.  Their theme parks are largely about attraction overlays and ride technology that is ever so slightly tweaked to create something "new."  Whatever can help them achieve the bottom line.  They're going to make tons of money anyway.  And they know it.

[Scott Rosson]

Posted: 3/24/18 at 12:31am

I just wanted to take a moment and give my own thoughts. I attended tonight's performance and had set my expectations low due to the critic reviews and the feedback on this board. Oh boy, was I wrong. I thought it was amazing! First the cast: Caissie and Patti were amazing as Elsa and Anna. They had great chemistry, great vocal chops (Monster and Let it go were both huge standouts for me), and embodied the characters while bringing their own interpretation to the work. John Riddle (Hans) and Jelani Alladin (Kristoff) were better than their movie counterparts! Greg Hildreth was pretty similar to Josh Gad's interpretation and he was a huge crowd pleaser. The rest of the cast (Robert Creighton in particular) were phenomenal and looked like they were having a blast. As for the book and score: I really don't understand the complaints about run time. The show felt like it was an hour and a half and I honestly wished it was a bit longer. The newer book scenes (Icy Bridge for example) fit perfectly and cohesively into the work. Let it Go is a strong contender for the best Act 1 finale since Defying Gravity. The sets were great and the special effects brought the work to life. I wish they were slightly less dependent on projections but they were used to great effect. As for the score, I wished they kept Frozen Heart from the movie. The biggest standouts to me are Monster and Dangerous to Dream. Elsa finally got her vocal part a bit more fleshed out. The only weak spot for me was Hygge although the crowd loved it. It was a bit too long for my taste. I feel like most of those who dislike the work either 1. Disliked the movie or 2. Wanted Disney to change Frozen substantially. I enjoyed tonight's performance immensely and would love to see it again. If you love frozen and want to see it brought to life I highly recommend this production.