Denver Gazette: ‘Frozen’ is melting Arvada Center box-office records

Denver Gazette | John Moore | November 20, 2025

Disney musical will set all-time revenue mark even before it opens on Friday

Performing-arts organizations are entering the most critical time of the year for revenue, and the Arvada Center, for one, is ready to meet the moment – and rub its feet.

Arts nonprofits live on the tiniest of margins, and any formula for sustainability relies on an old truth staying true: Families gather, they buy tickets and they attend shows together during the holiday season. There are some companies that generate up to half of their revenue for the entire year in November and December.

Right on cue, the Arvada Center is set to open the area’s first homegrown staging of Disney’s “Frozen” on Friday night. And it is not only “the biggest thing we’ve ever done,” said Artistic Director Lynne Collins – “it is shaping up to be the best-selling thing we’ve ever done.” And that covers 49 years of shows. 

The biggest-selling musical in Arvada Center history was “Elf” in 2018, which generated $1.196 million in ticket revenue. “Frozen” was within $8,000 of passing that mark by mid-day Thursday – 30 hours before the show even opens to the public. That record is …melting, probably by the end of the day. The Arvada Center is now projecting more than $1.265 million in “Frozen” sales.

Read the full article at the Denver Gazette