Upcoming Stage Musical 'Frozen' Is Coming To Denver

NEW YORK (AP) — Some changes are coming in the kingdom of Arendelle: Tony Award-winning director Michael Grandage has been officially unveiled to helm the upcoming stage musical "Frozen."

Alex Timbers, a two-time Tony Award nominee who directed "Peter and the Starcatcher," ''Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson," ''The Pee-Wee Herman Show" and "Rocky" on Broadway, had been initially tapped to direct "Frozen" but left this summer.

Grandage won the Tony Award for his direction of "Red," John Logan's acclaimed drama about painter Mark Rothko. His recent Broadway work include "The Cripple of Inishmaan," ''Hughie" and "Evita."

Disney Theatrical Productions said it will mount the show at the Buell Theatre in the Denver Center for the Performing Arts in August 2017. It is expected to land on Broadway in 2018 alongside its hits "Aladdin" and "The Lion King." Casting will be announced later.

The husband-and-wife songwriting team of Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, who wrote music for the blockbuster 2014 film, is returning to work on the stage show, and Jennifer Lee, co-director and screenwriter of the film, is writing the story.

In other "Frozen" news, Christopher Oram will design the sets and costumes. He replaces Bob Crowley, a Disney veteran who designed "Aida," ''Tarzan" and "Mary Poppins" for the stage.

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