Samantha Barks and Stephanie McKeon Share Details About FROZEN in the West End

Samantha Barks and Stephanie McKeon are starring as Elsa and Anna in the West End production of Frozen, set to open at the newly refurbished Theatre Royal Drury Lane on 8 September 2021, with previews from 27 August.

The two stars shared with the BBC their excitement about returning to the stage.

"We'd been so excited about doing this together, and then everything fell apart," Barks revealed. "But the two of us kept in touch constantly. Having each other meant every time you had a bit of an 'urgh' moment, we could be there for each other." She continued "More than every rehearsal process I've been a part of, everyone was so on it," says Barks. "There were a couple of scripts around in the first week and then I never saw a script again. You could feel that excitement in the room."

McKeon shared, ""I was shocked by that," McKeon adds. "But I think it's just that we all had a lot of time to mentally prepare - as soon as we had the green light, everyone was raring to go."

Frozen features music and lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, and book by Jennifer Lee, Frozen is directed by Michael Grandage.

The full cast for the production is Samantha Barks (Elsa), Stephanie McKeon (Anna), Obioma Ugoala (Kristoff), Craig Gallivan (Olaf), Oliver Ormson (Hans), Richard Frame (Weselton), and alternating the role of Sven, Mikayla Jade and Ashley Birchall; with Jeremy Batt, Cameron Burt, Lauren Chia, Laura Emmitt, Emily-Mae (Bulda), Hannah Fairclough, Danielle Fiamanya, Chris Fung, Matt Gillett, Joe Griffiths-Brown, Emily Lane, Justin-Lee Jones, Jason Leigh Winter, Jacob Maynard, Leisha Mollyneaux, Gabriel Mokake (King Agnarr), Sarah O'Connor, Jemma Revell, Joshua St. Clair (Pabbie), Jacqui Sanchez (Queen Iduna), Jak Skelly (Oaken/Bishop), Jake Small, Kerry Spark, Isabel Snaas, Monica Swayne, and Anna Woodside.

Frozen, a full-length stage work told in two acts, expands upon and deepens the tale's indelible plot and themes through new songs and story material from the film's creators; in fact, this new stage production features more than twice as much music as the film.

Based on the 2013 film written by a trio of Oscar winners, Frozen features music and lyrics by the creators of the film score Kristen Anderson-Lopez (Up Here, Winnie the Pooh, In Transit) and EGOT-winner Robert Lopez (Avenue Q, The Book of Mormon, Up Here) and a book by Jennifer Lee (Zootopia, Wreck-It Ralph), the film's screenwriter and director (with Chris Buck). Frozen won 2014 Oscars for Best Song ("Let It Go") and Best Animated Feature.

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