Frozen musical is heading to Broadway theatres

Disney, the US studio which owns the mega-hit Frozen, has unveiled the first details of the musical's journey from Hollywood to the Broadway stage.

The studio also confirmed that three of the film's stars - Kristen Bell, Josh Gad and Idina Menzel - will lend their voices to a Christmas television special planned for 2016.

The film's animated sequel, Frozen 2, is still in production.

Disney has launched a social media account for the planned Broadway production of Frozen, announcing it would be directed by Tony Award nominee Alex Timbers (Rocky the Musical), with music supervision by Stephen Oremus (Avenue Q, Wicked).

Timbers is also a co-writer and co-creator of the Golden Globe winning TV drama Mozart in the Jungle.
Other key crew include sound designer Peter Hylenski, lighting designer Natasha Katz, scenic and costume designer Bob Crowley and choreographer Peter Darling.

The show's "book" - that is, the script - will be written by Jennifer Lee.

Lee, whose credits also include the screenplay for Wreck-It Ralph, co-wrote the film script for Frozen with Chris Buck.
The music for the stage production will be written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, who wrote the film's score.

The pair also won the Oscar for Best Original Song for the film's breakout hit, Let It Go.

The stage musical is expected to feature the key songs from the film, as well as approximately a dozen new songs.

Frozen earned over US$1.2 billion at the box office; the film, which was released in 2013, won the Oscar for best animated feature.

Plans to create a Broadway musical based on the film were announced in 2014 by Disney chief Bob Iger.
Seven Disney musicals have previously transitioned to the stage; they are Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Tarzan, The Little Mermaid, Mary Poppins, Newsies and Aladdin.

Disney said the stage musical would open "in the spring of 2018 after a limited pre-Broadway engagement in the summer of 2017".

The northern spring is between March and May.