'Frozen' comes to Seoul with K-pop accent, creative team says

The Broadway musical “Frozen” arrives in Seoul next month the way it has everywhere else in the world — and, its creative team insists, unlike anywhere else.

Ahead of the Disney musical’s Korean-language premiere on Aug. 13 at the Charlotte Theatre, four members of the international creative team said the production stays true to the original, while still taking on uniquely Korean qualities, from a K-pop-inflected sound to a lineup of six actors sharing lead roles.

“We try to keep the production the same wherever we do it. Every production is a little bit different because the countries we go to are different. The performers and their talent are different,” associate music supervisor Sebastian de Domenico told reporters in an interview Thursday in Seoul.

Rather than changing the actors’ voices or asking them to sing in particular ways, the team said they adapted to each cast member’s strengths, allowing each international version to develop its own character.

For Korea, that began from the auditions.

De Domenico, a self-proclaimed K-pop lover, recalled asking auditionees to sing a K-pop song of their choice to better understand their voices.

“The vocal style our Korean performers bring by nature seems to be influenced by the K-pop style,” he said. “What feels K-pop to me is a very innate sense for melody, musicality and phrasing.”

“That’s what makes this production beautiful, especially when 30 Korean performers sing together,” he added.

Associate director Adrian Sarple pointed to the Korean system of having multiple actors perform lead roles as one of the country’s defining characteristics.

Jeong Sun-ah, Jung Yoo-ji and Min Kyoung-ah perform as Elsa, while Park Jin-joo, Hong Geum-bi and Choi Ji-hye take turns as Anna.

“One of the unique things to Korea, as opposed to the other territories we work in around the world, is that we have multiple casts,” Sarple said. “It presents its own challenge, but also uniquely helps the other actors playing a part to see sides to the characters they play in a very different way to a solo actor who is approaching the role.”

Sarple said he searched for humor in the Annas, while seeking nobility and emotional depths in the Elsas. Even when portraying the same characters, each actor brings a distinct interpretation to the stage.

“What’s amazing working with these six actors is that they are all so completely different from one another but are playing the same role,” he said. “The audience will see different performances from each Elsa and each Anna and the combinations they’re in.”

De Domenico described Anna’s Act 1 anthem, “For the First Time in Forever,” as one of the most challenging songs in musical theater today, while Sarple noted that performers also face the pressure of singing songs that audiences already know by heart.

The musical staging of “Frozen” features 12 original musical numbers in addition to eight tracks from Disney’s animated film.

The journey of adapting the world-renowned musical to Korean theater brought 47 crew members together more tightly and closer, associate choreographer Charlie Williams said.

“I warned them on Day 1 that I would be physically touching them quite often, which is something that doesn’t necessarily happen much, maybe in 2026 or in Korea,” said Williams. “It’s so fun to see how they’ve grown and how their physical boundaries have really changed, and I’m really proud of them for doing that, and I think you’ll see that.”

Associate physical movement coordinator Adam Jepsen, who also performed as the reindeer Sven in the Broadway production, coached the Korean cast in puppetry and physical movement. He encouraged actors to trust the creative process, sharing his experience from being part of the original production.

“(As a part of the original cast) You’re just trying to figure it out. That’s part of the creative process. ‘Is this the best option?’ It’s a challenge, and oftentimes to figure out what is right, you have to figure out what is not right,” Jepsen said. “It’s very wise for all actors to trust their director and their creative team.”

Sarple added that the process of continual refinement is what makes every production unique and better than the one before.

Based on Walt Disney Animation Studios’ 2013 animated film “Frozen,” the musical features music and lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, with the book by Jennifer Lee.

Since opening on Broadway in 2018, “Frozen” has toured North America, played London’s West End and been staged in Australia, Japan, Germany, the Netherlands and across the Nordic countries.

Sarple said that the years of staging the musical around the world have continually shaped the production, feeding into the Korean premiere. He added that the ever-evolving nature of live theater makes every performance unique, and the Korean production is the accumulation of the ideas and experiences the creative team has found around the world.

Calling Korea’s theater scene “amazing,” Sarple said he was impressed by the country’s vibrant musical culture.

“Musical theater, or live performance, is one of the best things, I think, we as human beings can create. It’s such a unique experience,” he said. “Every night is truly yours, it (the performance) is not the same as the people’s who were there the night before.”

“Frozen” will be staged in Seoul at the Charlotte Theatre through March 1, 2027.