Disney theatrical producers released today a first look at their newest musical, based on the 2013 award-winning movie "Frozen."
The stage adaptation of Hollywood's highest grossing animated film will premiere next month at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts before beginning a Broadway run in spring 2018. The Denver performance will run from Aug. 17 to Oct. 1.
Jennifer Lee, the writer of the movie's screenplay, also wrote the book for the musical.
"I remember standing there the day we began the first reading and looking at the actors and realizing this is exactly what 'Frozen' was made for," Lee said in the video.
The stage adaptation will address questions raised by the original film, Disney Theatrical Group president Thomas Shumacher told Playbill magazine earlier this month.
"We have to ask ourselves, 'What would we like to know about? What could be different?'" Shumacher told Playbill. "We also ask, 'What is the circumstance of Elsa's power?' ... Also, who are those creatures that they go see for healing? That's the real story there: who's connected to all of that? How does that exist? But the biggest idea is about love and loyalty, and love versus fear."
The musical will include 21 songs, while the movie had nine. New music will explore characters' deeper emotions. Songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Bobby Lopez are particularly excited to "get inside (Elsa's) head."
"I think it's going to really surprise people," said actress Caissie Levy, who plays Elsa, in an interview with the Denver Arts Center. "Yes, it is going to be visually spectacular. Yes, it is going to sound incredible. Yes, it's going to have all of the things that you want out of a Disney production. But it is also going to have so much depth and heart and soul."