The COVID-19 pandemic forced Walt Disney (DIS 1.45%) to pause both its upcoming movie schedule and performances of several popular Broadway shows. Some shows have already raised their final curtain. Frozen: The Musical won't return when the Great White Way springs back into action.
It's time to let it go
Earlier this week, the Broadway League announced that theaters will remain closed until Labor Day and possibly much longer. That's bad news for shows like Frozen, whose young core audience usually flocks to Disney-themed Broadway shows over the summer break.
Frozen is not the first Broadway show to call it quits during the novel coronavirus pandemic, but it is by far the largest and most successful production to be canceled so far.
The musical theater take on Frozen opened in 2018 and has now closed after 822 shows. The musical collected $155 million in box office receipts from nearly 1.4 million audience members along the way.
Image source: Getty Images.
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The numbers may look small next to the original Disney movie's record-breaking run, which added up to $1.3 billion in worldwide ticket sales. But $155 million is nothing to sneeze at, and movie theaters can only dream of a $114 average ticket price.
This is not the final curtain for Frozen: The Musical, as the show still looks forward to a West End premiere and auxiliary productions in places like Japan, Germany, and Australia next year. The North American tour crew should also get back on the road once the coronavirus threat abates. Stripped-down versions should also continue their runs on Disney's cruise ships and upscale resort hotels. But the show is not coming back to Broadway anytime soon.
