A Frozen Muse

March 3, 2014

Prospect Park Alliance supporters Bobby Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez do not need to travel far to find inspiration for their acclaimed songwriting career. When they were approached to write the score the Disney movie Frozen, they simply took a walk in Prospect Park. The lead single “Let it Go” then became a runaway hit, and now has won Best Original Song at the Academy Awards.

No stranger to accolades, Mr. Lopez is one of an elite group of artists to have won the grand slam of entertainment industry awards—an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony, known as EGOT—a feat he earned in only 10 years. He previously won Tonys and a Grammy for his work on the music for “Avenue Q” and “The Book of Mormon.”

As regular visitors to Prospect Park, Bobby and Kristen headed to the Long Meadow for inspiration when it came time to create the lead song for the movie. The piece marks the moment when Elsa, the film’s heroine, accepts her magical abilities. To get into the right frame of mind they stood on a bench near the Picnic House and said to themselves, “You’re on a mountain alone and lost everything you knew. But also everything you’ve been holding back.” Writing the piece in a single day, it served as a cornerstone for the rest of the music, helping the songwriting duo to find the “true north” of the score. Anyone who has walked through the Long Meadow on a quiet winter’s day will recognize the sense of solitude and majesty in “Let It Go.”

In the photo above, Bobby and Kristen enjoy this season’s plentiful snow with their daughters Katie, 8, and Annie, 4, who have voice parts in the film.

View The New York Times video on Frozen.

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