Frozen - Theatre Royal, Drury Lane

I also forgot to mention that there have been two references (that I noticed) to Frozen 2 added in.

My tickets arrived at 16:44 the day prior to my performance. I'm sure the box office will be open during the day for you to collect tickets so you don't need to join the throng as the theatre opens for the show.

Yes, I'm also seeing a matinee -  Be More Chill - so I will have plenty of time to collect my ticket before it becomes very busy. However I still maintain that tickets should be sent out at least 48 hours in advance. Son tells me he thought the queue he saw last night approaching the theatre  was to get in but it was for the Box Office and that was at 19.15.

I haven't. The website www.theatremonkey.com has lots of useful information on tons on Wendys End theatres

We’re in box L which I ‘upgraded’ to in the hope of extra legroom. No info yet on TM as far as I could see apart from pricing.

I just tried to collect my ticket for tonight at 5.30 and was advised to return after 6.30....

Yes I had hoped to get a couple of hundred quid for my prime seat. Foiled again. One advantage of having to collect the ticket is that I have a proper printed souvenir one. Interval now and show is just awesome. Let it Go almost took the roof off.

Saw this this evening and thoughts below - some for the positive and some for the negative. I feel like overall it was a 3 star show and that’s the same view I had back on Broadway too.

- Samantha Barks absolutely smashed it vocally. I often find her voice a bit thin and was worried she had been cast for name recognition but she belted the [insert expletive of choice] out of those songs and absolutely did not disappoint.
- Stephanie McKeon gave a spot on performance of Anna. There were times the vocals didn’t quite hit the mark but she is easily the most comfortable in her character.
- Overall, as well as the above two it really is a strong cast. It genuinely looks like everyone up there is having an amazing time and while it’s very early days they all give a performance that screams Disney musical in the best senses of the words.
- I don’t know if it’s just because I had a rubbish view on Broadway but the projections seemed far more impressive here. It’s definitely the only show I’ve seen where the projections have had their own round of applause.
- The new staging of Let it Go far surpasses the original. The extra set pieces really do add a lot to it and just stop it feeling too bare up there. Definitely a change for the good.
- I didn’t have too much of an issue with the pacing on Broadway but agree with others that this feels like it whips along. I actually hit the end of act one surprised how quickly it had passed.
- Musically it feels like act two is the weaker half. They used a lot of the good material from the movie in act one and while Monster is a great addition and there are some lovely reprises in the second half, it feels a bit like the music is put to the side to allow them to push the story along - though you could argue the movie suffers from the same thing.
- The bridge everyone has been talking about…meh. The way they interact with it as they go along is all very cool and yes it’s quite long but I didn’t come away bowled over with it and felt like actually most of the audience in there wouldn’t have noticed if it was the shorter original.
- While the projections are as mentioned very cool, I’d forgotten just how heavily it relies on them. Aside from the two scenes mentioned above there’s a really really heavy reliance on projected walls, the big screen at the rear and the ensemble filling the space. It made me realise how sparse the Broadway staging actually was without the additions they have made here. Overall you come away feeling like you have seen your money on stage but I’m not sure you’d have that same feeling if it wasn’t for such a strong lighting and projection design.
- About Hygge - so there were very evidently some parents around a bit uncomfortable during it and I audibly heard one kid say the words ‘I don’t like it’ and it’s absolutely harmless fun for the first 80% of it but the dancing line at the end definitely feels so unnecessarily…nude. I feel like the problem with it is that they just look too convincingly naked. From my front stalls seat in New York I already had to look twice, and from the grand circle today I genuinely wouldn’t have known they weren’t in their birthday suits if I hadn’t spotted the Action Man style smoothing over of down below. I mean you can literally see some impressive side cheek on the male cast and while I’m sure there are plenty in there who don’t mind the view, i can imagine plenty more come away questioning if there had actually been some stripping.
- As for the audience, wow I’ve not been to one with so much noise as that in a while. I genuinely don’t mind kids making a bit of noise in the theatre and, you know what, they are there to enjoy it and experience theatre as much as I am. But it’s when parents just sit there and let them cry and moan about being bored etc. You all can sing along to your hearts content if you’re 5 and want to grow up to be Elsa, because frankly in my head I’m right there with you, but if the kid doesn’t want to be there please don’t let them ruin it for everyone else.
- One last thing on the staging - I will never fail to be confused by the lift and revolve in the closing song. While on Broadway the revolve was used very effectively earlier in the production, it’s only use here is at the end and so it sort of feels a bit redundant. And I found the lift baffling before and just as much here, raising up for literally a matter of seconds before lowering again. It’s one of those cases where you wonder why, when they could have used the money to add an extra couple of icicles or bought the hygge clan a few pairs of paper pants to cover their modesty, they chose to install something which feels so pointless.

All in all, very pleased I saw it again with a good view of proceedings but I can’t imagine I’ll have cravings to return to it.

Has anybody received their tickets in the post? My email says that my tickets will be dispatched via the method chosen on the original booking (we were originally going last year before the dates moved) which was in the mail. I’m hoping so, because the paper tickets I’ve seen on social media look beautiful.

Ahh thank you!

I’ve not seen the film, so this was one of those shows I was on the fence about seeing, and probably wouldn’t book for. Then I read the reactions on here and decided to go for it. Very glad I did as I loved it last night. Walking back to the hotel I kept realising I was smiling to myself. It was the perfect show to end my London theatre binge on. Though it does look like Love Is an Open Door is not going to leave my head anytime soon…

Incidentally, they were filming again last night.