Will Frozen make it?

[DrewJoseph]

Hi everyone, so I just checked a bunch of dates for Frozen to see how tickets are selling and was shocked that so many seats are left! Even for shows this week and next a lot of seats we’re still open. Doesn’t look good at all. Anyone know if Disney is concerned?

[EllieRose2]

I mean it's super terrible but summer is coming which means tons of tourists, which means tons of kids wanting to go to Frozen.  It's probably cool for a bit I guess?  Even if they get no Tony love....I think they will be ok.  

[Mister Matt]

With gross potential currently over 96%, it should do fine for a while.

[dramamama611]

It may be selling tickets closer to performance date, but it's making tons of money.   If you look at the grosses, it's averaging nearly 1.6 million dollars a week.   It's not going anywhere too soon.   Will it make its money back?  No idea.   Will it be a long running show?   Not like Lion King.....but I'm sure it's got AT LEAST 2 years.

[haterobics]

DrewJoseph said: "Anyone know if Disney is concerned?"

Not sure we need a spy on the inside to figure out if Disney is concerned about weak demand for ticket sales.

[BroadwayConcierge]

Lol what? It was the fifth highest-grossing show last week. Made more than Wicked, Aladdin, Mean Girls, and Book of Mormon. Somehow, I think they’ll survive.

[CallMeAl2]

Will Frozen make it? It's already made it. It recouped before it even opened. They don't even have to be good, as long as they show up and perform the initial set of shows they will be banking those pre-sold grosses. 

This still leaves two problems for Disney. First, how to sustain both Aladdin and Frozen together - parents will take their kids to one or the other. Parents will have a fondness for Aladdin from their own childhood. The kids will probably want to see Frozen.

The bigger challenge for Frozen is Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Harry is giving families a fresh story while Frozen is a rehash of what they have already seen. Lucky for Disney Harry is selling out, so Disney shows can be Plan B.

[Scarlet Leigh]

CallMeAl2 said: "This still leaves two problems for Disney. First, howto sustain bothAladdin and Frozen together - parents will take their kids to one or the other. Parents will have a fondness for Aladdin from their own childhood. The kids will probably want to see Frozen."

Yes this is the real question isn't it? Which goes first? Aladdin or Frozen? And I really think that the answer to that is... Aladdin survives longer than Frozen. Both productions share very similar flaws but Aladdin has some noteworthy strengths as well. And while Frozen is a "classic" to the children of today, those kids need to 1.) know the show exists and then 2.) convince their parents (who are likely already OVER hearing the song Let It Go already) to shell out that money to take them to see it. While on the other hand, Aladdin is a classic where the children that loved it are those adults with the money that make the choices. I know if I had kids, I would take them to see Aladdin over Frozen as Aladdin holds a place in my memory from my childhood I would want to share with them and connect with them over it.

Another factor working against Frozen is that it’s in a very in demand theatre that Disney doesn’t own. If Frozen’s grosses slip in time and someone wants that theatre, they could make an offer Jujamcyn won’t want to refuse and put pressure on Frozen to perform.

[haterobics]

BroadwayConcierge said: "Lol what? It was the fifth highest-grossing show last week. Made more than Wicked, Aladdin, Mean Girls, and Book of Mormon. Somehow, I think they’ll survive."

I think this inquiry, and the other similar threads, is based on the weak secondary market and Disney pushing a lot of seats back into the market that they hoped to use as rollover premium seating, but the demand isn't there. I'm still not sure why people think a weak secondary market means there isn't a strong enough regular market, though, at least for a lot longer than people seem to think possible. 

If people looked for seats a while ago, and saw none, the infrequent theatergoer isn't returning to see if they release rows and rows of additional seating later. They just think it's sold out.

[Elegance101]

Piggy-backing, I also think Frozen is kind of a weak Wicked wannabe. I know this won’t affect sales, but if people want a story about two strong female characters, the adults buying the tickets might find more appeal from The Wizard of Oz then hearing Let It Go in a story they don’t even have any connection to.

However, not saying that would affect ticket sales that much. I do think Frozen will slip once it’s not a shiny new show anymore and I think Disney will close it to make room for something else.

[DrewJoseph]

It just feels very Little Mermaid to me. Wasn’t that the highest grossing show it’s first year? And then came the fall season and the Lunt wanted the Addams Family..

[Call_me_jorge]

I think they’ll last through 2021 at least. I do wonder how the wickeds 15th anniversary and the wicked film might impact Frozen or vice versa.

[LxGstv]

I don’t think the Wicked movie will have an impact on Frozen the musical, but it does make me wonder how Frozen 2 will affect the musical...

Will it boost sales for the musical, or make people lose interest because there’s a new and fresher story with new songs?!

[Princeton2]

A weak secondary market does indicate that demand is maybe not as high as they'd hoped, especially if it's not selling out months ahead. pretty sure Disney were hoping for a wicked style juggernaut. The problem is Frozen was very much of the moment, majority of kids have moved on and you now see more frozen products on discount than at premium prices. it doesn't have the nostalgic value that other Disney shows have for adults. it will do well but I also get a little mermaid vibe from it

Also did someone say it's paid back it's investment? when was that announced? unless the advance is being used which isn't the same thing. until performances begin and running costs come into play you can't start repaying investment. find it hard to believe it's repayed already

[bdn223]

No one said it recouped already, it was just implied that its advance is so large that it seems likely the show will recoup within its current advance ticket block window.
Side note: Disney doesn’t traditionally announce a recoupment, instead it is implied when a tour is announced as Disney doen’t tour a show until it turns a profit. This is why we never saw Tarzan or Little Mermaid tours.

[yankeefan7]

This may be mean spirited but I hope it does not do that well. I am getting tired of Disney thinking they can throw any movie they made out there and make it a hit Broadway show. I have a novel idea for Disney, how about trying to write original show for Broadway instead of everything being from one of their movies. Also, I would love to have more parents introduce their children to Broadway theater with something besides a Disney show.

[dramamama611]

bdn223 said: "No one said it recouped already, it was just implied that its advance is so large that it seems likely the show will recoup within its current advance ticket block window.
"

CallMeAl said it re-couped....which is entirely incorrect.

[Dave13]

If you look on Ticketmaster, it appears lots of unsold tickets are available up until showtime. Albeit, most of those are secondary. Nonetheless, there are empty seats in the theater.

I think lots of people including myself bought tickets expecting this to be a juggernaut. Unfortunately, I bought tickets before it opened and I cannot get rid of them. I was hoping to use them for my trip over Memorial Day weekend. I was able to see it in April and now have no interest in seeing it again. Unless I can sell them, those seats will be empty.

[Great Dame]

yankeefan7 said: "This may be mean spirited but I hope it does not do that well. I am getting tired of Disney thinking they can throw any movie they made out there and make it a hit Broadway show. I have a novel idea for Disney, how about trying to write original show for Broadway instead of everything being from one of their movies. Also, I would love to have more parents introduce their children to Broadway theater with something besides a Disney show."

It's not just "any old movie", it's THE highest grossing movie. Why would they not make their top movie into a Broadway show? I don't understand the feeling that Disney doesn't belong on Broadway. I get that there are many people who hate film-to-stage adaptations but I will never understand that. Take a story I love, remake it using another media and I personally think that's cool. I feel the same about book-to-screen, which people are way too uptight about as well. It's a terrific story with music people love, why not make that on Broadway? It does make me sad to hear people say they wish any piece of theater would fail; theater is supposed to be inclusive. There are hundreds of people with a lot at stake, including the actors. I can't imagine wanting people like Patti Murin and Caissie Levy to fail. They are gems on and off stage and I personally hope it runs for a very long time, because good people like that deserve it. Disney's brand exists in movies, so it should be no shock that they start from there. There aren't many kid-friendly shows on Broadway, Disney is filling a void and creating new theater fans. Maybe I see that because I live in Denver and we only get Broadway shows that tour. People who don't normally attend theater productions because they have little kids, bring their kids to those Disney shows. Frankly, I think the rest of the theater community owes Disney a bit of a thank you for creating new audiences that will one day grow up to hopefully patronize the theater. 

[yankeefan7]

"It's not just "any old movie", it's THE highest grossing movie. Why would they not make their top movie into a Broadway show? I don't understand the feeling that Disney doesn't belong on Broadway. I get that there are many people who hate film-to-stage adaptations but I will never understand that. Take a story I love, remake it using another media and I personally think that's cool. I feel the same about book-to-screen, which people are way too uptight about as well. It's a terrific story with music people love, why not make that on Broadway? It does make me sad to hear people say they wish any piece of theater would fail; theater is supposed to be inclusive. There are hundreds of people with a lot at stake, including the actors. I can't imagine wanting people like Patti Murin and Caissie Levy to fail. They are gems on and off stage and I personally hope it runs for a very long time, because good people like that deserve it. Disney's brand exists in movies, so it should be no shock that they start from there. There aren't many kid-friendly shows on Broadway, Disney is filling a void and creating new theater fans. Maybe I see that because I live in Denver and we only get Broadway shows that tour. People who don't normally attend theater productions because they have little kids, bring their kids to those Disney shows. Frankly, I think the rest of the theater community owes Disney a bit of a thank you for creating new audiences that will one day grow up to hopefully patronize the theater. "

Yes, it was the highest grossing and part of that may be ticket prices are higher and obviously the mass appeal of one song. This was a good movie but it was no "Beauty And The Beast" or "Lion King" IMO. I did not say Disney does not belong on Broadway, I just think they seem to feel any movie they make can be a Broadway show. (exp. Little Mermaid". I also said I would love to see them do an original show for Broadway, would give them tons of credit if they did try that and succeeded. In retrospect, I guess I was over the top hoping it would fail because you hate to see anybody lose jobs. My wife and I took our daughters to the revival of "Kiss Me Kate" as their first Broadway show and they are now big time Broadway geeks - lol. I wonder if kids seeing a Disney show on Broadway will later become Broadway fans because of seeing a Disney show or they just love anything Disney and will care less about theater as they grow up.

 

[Impossible2]

Frozen in any form is utter crud. I'd have much preferred they did Tangled which was far superior on every level.

[Lot666]

yankeefan7 said: "This may be mean spirited but I hope it does not do that well."

Sounds pretty mean-spirited to me.

[Lot666]

Impossible2 said: "Frozen in any form is utter crud.I'd have much preferred they did Tangled which was far superior on every level."

Impossible2 in any form is utter crud.

(See, that's what your sweeping absolutes sound like.)

[Impossible2]

Lot666 said: "Impossible2 said: "Frozen in any form is utter crud.I'd have much preferred they did Tangled which was far superior on every level."

Impossible2 in any form is utter crud.

(See, that's what your sweeping absolutes sound like.)"

Only my sweeping absolute was correct, facty x

[Mister Matt]

I also said I would love to see them do an original show for Broadway, would give them tons of credit if they did try that and succeeded. 

Aida.