Disney’s Frozen the Musical - A new staging in the Nordic Countries

Vesturport Theatre, with the Icelandic director Gísli Örn Gardarsson at the helm, will mount a new version of the Disney musical in Norway, Iceland, Sweden, Finland and Denmark.

The production is a collaboration between Det Norske Teatret in Oslo, The National Theatre in Iceland, The City Theatre in Stockholm and the City Theatre in Helsinki. A Danish theatre is yet to be announced.

Together, the theatres will create a new stage version of the musical, originally produced by Disney Theatrical Productions. Like on Broadway, this production of Frozen will feature the music and lyrics by Academy Award-winning songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, with book by Academy Award-winning writer Jennifer Lee. Gísli Örn Gardarsson will direct this new production, helming a team of designers that include his collaborator Börkur Jonsson, who will design the scenography.

Frozen is adapted from the smash hit Disney film and the original 1844 fairy tale by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen The Snow Queen. It tells the story of two sisters: Elsa who is isolated with a mysterious secret and Anna who sets out on a journey to save her.

The fairytale draws inspiration from diverse geography, mythology and cultural traditions in the Nordic culture and we are thrilled to be bringing the cultural sensation of Frozento our stages in this new and exciting thearical event. The stage production features a full score, including 12 new songs from the original Academy Award-winning songwriters written especially for the stage.

The production will have its first premier in Oslo on October 14th, 2023 followed by a premier in Reykjavik in February 2024. Plans for separate openings in Stockholm, Helsinki and Copenhagen will be announced at a later stage.

All the Nordic theatres are enthusiastic about the musical and the collaboration:

Director Gisli Örn Gardarsson says the following about the assignment:
"Being allowed to take Frozen home to the Nordics is a big vote of confidence from Disney. And an honor! I'm really looking forward to making the Nordic Frost/Frozen musical, says Gisli Örn about the assignment he has received from Disney."

Artistic director at Det Norske Teatret, Erik Ulfsby:
"To create the adventurous winter magic that lies in the Frost universe is a task that our theatre is excited to tackle. We are thrilled to collaborate with Disney."

Artistic director at The National Theatre in Iceland, Magnús Geir Þórðarson:
"We are very much looking forward to presenting a brand new staging of this beloved work, based on Nordic tales, reimagined by one of our leading directors, renowned for his imaginative and spectacular theatrical work in Iceland and abroad."

Artistic director at the City Theatre in Stockholm, Maria Sid:
"We are very pleased to be a part of this collaboration to develop a Nordic version of the classic tale by HC Andersen. Together with our friends in Iceland, Norway, Finland and Denmark we can translate this musical to the nordic context."

Artistic director at the Helsinki City Theatre, Kari Arffman:
“Over the years our theatre has staged several Disney musicals, but this is the first time we’ll be producing one as a Nordic co-operation. So to produce Frozen like this is a doubly joyous occasion for us!”

Country Manager and SVP, The Walt Disney Company Nordic & Baltic, Hans van Rijn adds:
"The Nordic audiences have taken the Frozenstories and characters to heart since the very first film launched one decade ago this year. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the many fans than with the first production in the Nordics of our musical theatre adaptation, which will feature the script and score we at Disney originally developed for Broadway, and in this case will be staged and designed by a Nordic creative team. We are sincerely looking forward to working together with Gísli Örn Gardarsson and the theatres in making this cultural phenomenon come to life on stage".

On Frozen and the original Broadway production
Frozen was originally produced by Disney Theatrical Productions. It opened on Broadway at the St. James Theatre in March 2018 with the highest box office advance in Broadway history. Frozen was also the highest grossing new musical of its Broadway season in its first year on Broadway. Its global footprint has expanded to include a North American tour, London’s West End, Japan and Hamburg, Germany.

The animated film Frozen was released by Disney on November 19, 2013 and was a critical and box office smash, earning over USD$1.28 billion in worldwide box office revenue and becoming the highest-grossing animated film at the time as well as the highest grossing musical film, before being surpassed by the remake of The Lion King in 2019. Frozen II had the highest all-time worldwide opening for an animated film and went on to gross USD$1.45 billion worldwide.

The first film won two Academy Awards including Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song ("Let It Go"), and two Grammy Awards for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media and Best Song Written for Visual Media ("Let It Go").