Kristen Bell Talks Musicals, The Stage And Plans To Work With Frozen Song-Writers Again

Kristen Bell is on fire lately. Not only did her gone-too-soon detective series Veronica Mars earn itself a much-deserved comeback in the form of a Kickstarted film that arrives this week, but she was a key part of the massively popular Disney musical Frozen, in which she not only got to show off the sense of humor we're already familiar with, but also her vocal talents. So when we got to talk to her last week about the Veronica Mars movie, we also spoke to her briefly about what might be in the future for her on the musical front. As it happens, she thinks she'll be collaborating with Oscar winning Frozen songwriters Robert and Kristen Lopez on a project in the future!

Bell was vague on what she and the song-writers might have planned, but the subject of another collaboration came up as she was addressing her interest in musicals and Broadway:

I like the fact that the movie musical has become more and more popular over the last five years. I loved singing and I studied music at NYU. That’s kind of how I got into this business. So, I did a bit of Broadway before I left New York. I would love to go back. The reality is you can’t do a show for less than a 12 month commitment, because the production has to make their nut back. There is an economic reality to doing a Broadway show and I have a kid now and husband who works in LA, so I’m not willing to be bicoastal until they’re willing to be bicoastal with me, but I would love to do a musical, and I would like to collaborate again in the future with Bobby and Kristen Lopez who wrote the music for Frozen. I think that’s going to happen.

She sort of slipped that last sentence in at the end, so we actually asked her to confirm that she does think it'll happen and she did. She didn't elaborate much beyond that, only to say -- when asked if this collaboration would be screen or stage -- that it would be related to the stage. Which is kind of awesome, especially if it means something Broadway-related.

Bell, Lopez and Anderson-Lopez proved to be a winning combination with Frozen. While Idina Menzel's powerful vocals dominated the Oscar-winning "Let it Go," Kristen Bell's voice and humor complimented the story and Robert and Kristen Lopez's funny and charming music and lyrics beautifully. With that in mind -- and with Robert Lopez's other stellar credits (The Book of Mormon and Avenue Q) also in mind -- the thought of Bell doing something stage-related with the song-writers is absolutely brimming with potential, so let's hope it happens, if not in the near future then eventually!

As Bell notes, she and her husband both have commitments in Los Angeles right now. While Bell currently stars in Showtime's House of Lies, her husband Dax Shepard stars as Crosby on Parenthood. We asked Bell if she'd ever be up for making an appearance on Parenthood, and her response was an emphatic "Absolutely. If they asked I absolutely would."

Someone ask her!

Back to musicals, if you haven't seen it already, be sure to watch this clip of Kristen Bell and Santino Fontana singing "Love is An Open Door" at the Frozen Caberet...

And find out what Kristen Bell had to tell us about the Veronica Mars movie here!

Kelly West
Assistant Managing Editor

Kelly joined CinemaBlend as a freelance TV news writer in 2006 and went on to serve as the site’s TV Editor before moving over to other roles on the site. At present, she’s an Assistant Managing Editor who spends much of her time brainstorming and editing feature content on the site. She an expert in all things Harry Potter, books from a variety of genres (sci-fi, mystery, horror, YA, drama, romance -- anything with a great story and interesting characters.), watching Big Brother, frequently rewatching The Office, listening to Taylor Swift, and playing The Sims.