Frozen - Theatre Royal, Drury Lane

They were probably going to let it run until the BatB revival was ready but the financial implications of the shutdown made closing early the most viable option for them.

That said, exciting that Beauty and the Beast is coming back next year overseas somewhere. Will be interesting to see if it's London. I imagine it may be pushed back though, what with, everything...

If beauty and the beast was to come over here what theatre do you think would be suitable?

It may not be London, could be Germany and the Netherlands as well, as Disney tends to cooperate with Stage Entertainment and they're badly in need of money-spinners. The articles about Frozen closing also mention that Aida is apparently having a revival in Germany in 2022. Mind, "overseas" can also be Asia, which has a big appetite for family-friendly musicals.

I can’t imagine any producers are going to be rushing to open new shows after this, and a lot of theatres may be sat empty for a long time, especially bigger houses like the St. James. Even if Disney aren’t planning for BATB until 2021, they won’t have much competition over the venue, and will be capable of holding onto it.

I had not heard that, I heard that there would be a revival of Beauty and the Beast but not on Broadway. Could be a way to ease the pain of Frozen closing and the theatre owner paying millions to renovate the theatre.  Thanks for the news.

MrBarbaby, can you provide specifics on how short the stage is at the St. James. I've seen dozens of show in that theatre going back to Barnum and never thought the stage was shallow.

Okay, I pulled out my stage specs. Phantom is at the Majestic and it 37 feet 10 inches deep. The St. James is is 28 feet 3 inches deep. Compared to The Broadway which is Les Miz and Miss Saigon at 39 feet. The Winder Garden home to Beetlejuice is 40 feet but that theatre has terrible sight lights. So how did 42nd Street go from The Winter Garden to The Majestic to the St James. during it's initial run. it's a big reduction in set.

Theatre sets before the Mega Musicals came along were fairly simple so it probably wasn't difficult to move a show to a different theatre within a few weeks if not days. Fiddler moved during from the Imperial to the Majestic and finally the Broadway during its run 

Is the problem not just that Frozens popularity is waning? Disney shows are sold on name, not whether it's a great theatrical piece. Mums taking their 12 year olds to the show aren't going to be looking up reviews and deciding not to go because the ice castle scenes might not be as good as some people wanted.

Look at The Lion King, how many theatre types think that's an amazing piece? Yet it's still massively popular and playing many years later. With Disney i think it's about the staying power of the title rather than whether the show is technically excellent.

Is Frozens popularity waning?? Frozen 2 was incredibly successful at the box office.

Stage Entertainment has its own version of Beauty and the Beast. They are not premiering in in Europe, as it has played many times in every country.

Well you'd hope that if they had to re-schedule, that you would relocate your seats to that new date!