Disney Just Brought One of Its Biggest Broadway Hits to Streaming

The success of Hamilton‘s streaming premiere in 2020 pushed the doors wide open for more Broadway musicals to have a life outside of the auditorium. The filmed edition of the iconic musical, featuring the complete original cast, was not only an enormous hit, but its released on Disney+ didn’t hurt sales for the show on Broadway or its national tour. If anything, seeing a filmed version of the musical made Hamilton even more popular. This past week, Disney+ released another Broadway hit online, bringing a big-time show to viewers everywhere, and subscribers seem to be loving it.

Disney+ recently added Frozen: The Hit Broadway Musical to its lineup, allowing fans the chance to watch the stage adaptation of Disney’s hit animated film, Frozen. The stage version opened on Broadway in 2018, five years after Frozen was released in theaters, and delivered even more music from the world of Elsa, Anna, and Olaf. The musical went on to earn three Tony nominations and has played on stages around the world.

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This stage production was on Broadway until 2020, while its North American tour and its run at London’s West End continued until 2024. There are still shows being put on in Japan and the Netherlands.

With the North American shows finished for the time being, Disney has taken the opportunity to bring the Frozen musical to everyone with a Disney+ subscription. The show runs just under two hours and features a dozen songs that were written specifically for the stage (aka not featured in the film).

Even though “The Hit Broadway Musical” is in the title of this version, the musical you can watch on Disney+ wasn’t actually filmed in New York City. The filming of the musical took place in London’s West End, with members of the original West End cast still in their roles. Samantha Barks stars in the musical as Elsa, while Laura Dawkes plays Anna and Craig Gallivan portrays the singing snowman Olaf. The cast also includes Jammy Kasongo, Oliver Ormson, and Richard Frame.

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Despite all of the new movies that have been added to Disney+ in recent weeks, Frozen: The Hit Broadway Musical has spent several days as the number one title on the entire streaming service. Thanks to the enormous popularity of the Frozen movies (both of which crossed $1 billion globally), the musical adaptation had no trouble passing new releases like Snow White and Captain America: Brave New World to take over the top spot on Disney’s streaming service.

What do you think of Frozen‘s Broadway musical adaptation? What other stage show are you hoping to see get filmed for a home release? Let us know in the comments!