What 9 Works will do with the musical in Manila, however, remains to be seen. The company has announced the production, venue and month but has yet to reveal its cast and creative team.
Filipino audiences will soon experience ‘Frozen’ live on stage.
Photo courtesy of 9 works theatrical
For Filipino fans of Disney’s Frozen, the nearest road to Arendelle once led to Singapore. When the Broadway musical arrived at the Sands Theatre in 2023, Singapore was its only Southeast Asian stop, which meant Filipino theatergoers who wanted to see the stage version had to fly out to catch it. Now, they won’t have to.
9 Works Theatrical is bringing Disney’s Frozen The Broadway Musical to Manila in April 2027, with its Philippine debut set for the Proscenium Theater in Rockwell, Makati, for a strictly limited engagement. But beyond the familiar Disney title, there is another reason to take notice: the musical brings together some of the most accomplished names behind the Frozen franchise.
The creative team behind the magic
At the center is Jennifer Lee, the Oscar-winning writer and director of the original Frozen film. Lee also wrote and directed Frozen 2 and wrote the book for the Broadway musical, earning a Tony nomination for her work. In adapting her own screenplay for the stage, she had the unusual opportunity to return to the world she created and expand it for live theater.
Then there are Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, the songwriting duo behind Frozen’s music. The pair wrote the film’s songs, including the Oscar-winning “Let It Go,” then created additional music and lyrics for the stage version. Their Broadway credentials are formidable: Robert Lopez co-created the Tony-winning musicals Avenue Q and The Book of Mormon, while the pair earned a Tony nomination for the Frozen score.
Robert Lopez also has a distinctly Filipino connection. The Filipino-American composer and lyricist is a two-time EGOT winner, one of the rare artists to have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony — twice. Together with Anderson-Lopez, he transformed the songs of Frozen from film favorites into a larger stage score.
More to discover
That score retains the songs audiences already know — “Let It Go,” “For the First Time in Forever,” “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” and “Love Is an Open Door” — but adds 12 songs written specifically for the musical. Among them are “Dangerous to Dream,” “What Do You Know About Love?,” “Hygge,” “Monster,” “True Love” and “Colder by the Minute.” So even those who can practically sing the movie from beginning to end have new material to discover.
The Broadway musical opened in 2018 and earned three Tony nominations, including Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical for Lee and Best Original Score for Anderson-Lopez and Lopez. Its success also took it well beyond New York, with a North American tour and international productions in markets including Australia, London, Germany, Japan and Singapore.
The London production added another layer to its credentials, with seven WhatsOnStage Awards and four Olivier Award nominations, including Best New Musical. For Manila audiences, that means the show arriving in 2027 is not an untested adaptation but a musical that has already traveled extensively and found audiences in major theater markets.
From Singapore to Makati
What 9 Works will do with the musical in Manila, however, remains to be seen. The company has announced the production, venue and month but has yet to reveal its cast and creative team.
9 Works is also returning to familiar Disney territory. The Philippine theater company previously produced Newsies in 2017, making Frozen its return to the Disney Theatrical catalog nearly a decade later.
So, after years of watching Anna, Elsa and Olaf on a screen — or flying abroad to see them onstage — Filipinos can finally keep their passports tucked away. Arendelle is coming to Makati, and this time, we get to let it go right here at home.
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