Frozen: Can the stage musical recreate the film's magic?

Samantha Barks (Elsa, left) and Stephanie McKeon (Anna) were cast just before the pandemic hit the UK

Last year, the West End froze before Frozen even had a chance to open.

The stage adaptation of the ridiculously popular Disney movie had been due to debut at the refurbished Theatre Royal Drury Lane in autumn 2020. Preparations were well under way and the show had already cast Stephanie McKeon and Samantha Barks to be Anna and Elsa respectively.

Both actresses had seen the show in the US, where the musical enjoyed a successful Broadway run, with ticket sales driven by the countless dedicated (and fully-costumed) fans of the film.

"The main thing I remember is sitting in the audience with 500 Annas and 500 Elsas," smiles McKeon. "They'd all dressed up as the characters, which was so cute. I was sitting next to a row of kids and I watched them a lot during the show, and their mouths were agape. They were so caught up in what's going on."

Frozen made more than $1.2bn (£870m) at cinemas after its release in 2013. As a major Disney release with a big marketing budget, it was always bound to do reasonably well, but it surpassed even the most ambitious expectations to become the highest-grossing animated movie of all time (a record that was broken by Frozen II a few years later).

The film developed a loyal following and burned holes in the pockets of many parents as sales of accompanying merchandise, costumes and Broadway tickets went through the roof.

Frozen II broke the original film's record for the highest grossing animated movie ever

Transferring the show to London to satisfy the equally insatiable British appetite was inevitable. But then, along with the rest of the theatre industry, the show was suspended amid the coronavirus outbreak.

"We'd been so excited about doing this together, and then everything fell apart," says Barks. "But the two of us kept in touch constantly. Having each other meant every time you had a bit of an 'urgh' moment, we could be there for each other."

In a traumatic 18 months for theatre, the only silver lining for Frozen was the extra time the actors had to learn their lines and get to know their characters. By the time rehearsals finally resumed earlier this year, both cast and crew were ring ready.

"More than every rehearsal process I've been a part of, everyone was so on it," says Barks. "There were a couple of scripts around in the first week and then I never saw a script again. You could feel that excitement in the room."

"I was shocked by that," McKeon adds. "But I think it's just that we all had a lot of time to mentally prepare - as soon as we had the green light, everyone was raring to go."

Barks shot to fame on the BBC series I'd Do Anything in 2008, which searched for an actress to play Nancy in a new production of Oliver! She finished third and went on to star in Les Misérables (both on stage and in the 2012 film) and Pretty Woman: The Musical.

McKeon, meanwhile, appeared in Irish TV soap Fair City for three years and has notched up numerous theatre credits, including in the original cast of The Commitments.

Frozen will be one of several new post-pandemic shows to open in the West End, alongside Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cinderella and the play 2:22 - A Ghost Story, starring Lily Allen.

Samantha Barks came third in the BBC talent series I'd Do Anything in 2008

The first Frozen film centres on two princesses - sisters Anna and Elsa - who become estranged after Elsa flees their kingdom to protect her family from her magical but dangerous powers. Elsa can create and control ice and snow, but lives in isolation as her abilities become increasingly difficult to handle.

While not as sophisticated as some of the films in Disney's Pixar stable, Frozen connected in a big way. It's not hard to see why a stage adaptation would be such an appealing financial prospect - the children who obsessed over Frozen when it first came out are now teenagers or even adults looking for a nostalgia fix, while a new generation of fans have discovered the film for themselves on streaming platforms.

The stage show doesn't officially open in London until 8 September, but the reviews of international productions in Australia and on Broadway provide an idea of how it's likely to go down.

"The musical is a padded-out, sometimes gluggy, often thrilling expansion of the film," wrote The Guardian's Cassie Tongue of the Sydney production, awarding it three stars.

Harriet Cunningham of the Sydney Morning Herland said: "Yes, it's escapist. Yes, it's a fairytale. Yes, it's played with a brassy American twang. But it's also executed with the kind of professionalism, athleticism, creativity and heart that reminds us how much we've missed live performance."

The West End's Olaf is operated by Craig Gallivan

However, Time Out's Maxim Boon noted how much of a "tall order" theatre faces in recreating the "spectacular CGI sorcery and Arctic vistas" of the film. "At certain key moments, trundled icicles and flurries of stage snow just can't live up to the audience's expectations," he said. "But ultimately, this show is not attempting to be a slavish mirror to its on-screen twin."

It's true, the physical confines of the stage can't compete with the special effects available to films. But Barks and McKeon say the crew of Frozen the Musical have managed to create a different kind of spectacle.

"Our design team are just incredible. It feels like everyone is the best of the best in their department," says McKeon. "The day we moved into the theatre in our rehearsal space, we were all pretty gobsmacked at the sheer scale of some of the set pieces, and even when we've been teching [doing technical rehearsals] this week, the lights create such a magical illusion and this has been years in the making."

While children might be an easier audience to win over, she argues: "I'm an adult and I'd be on the more sceptical side of things, but for me that's never been an issue or worry in my head, that this show can't capture the magic, because I think it really does. Everyone in the cast has been so well selected and are so talented that you just feel like they are the characters."

Barks adds: "There are some effects I get to be a part of which I still consider magic. I dream about when my niece gets to come and see the show because I'm speechless by some of the magic in it."

Let It Go won Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez an Oscar for best original song

Songs made famous in the movie, such as Let It Go and Do You Want To Build A Snowman, will appear in the stage production. The musical will also feature new songs by Robert and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, who also wrote the songs for the films.

Speaking to the BBC in 2019, Kristen explained that the new songs were required partly in order to "take the place of a lot of the work that the animation did" on screen. Without being able to see the characters' facial expressions as closely, the songs "help you understand what's going on in her heart and in her head", she said.

After what was undisputedly the darkest period for theatre in living memory, one of Frozen's most famous songs will feel particularly fitting when the show opens in the West End.

Anna will reflect the relief of an entire industry when she sings: "For the first time in forever, there'll be music, there'll be light."

Frozen is in previews at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane from Friday 27 August, and officially opens on 8 September.