Kristen Anderson-Lopez | |
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Born | Kristen Anderson March 21, 1972 New York City, U.S. |
Alma mater | Williams College (BA) |
Occupation | Songwriter |
Spouse | |
Children | 2 |
Awards | 2014: Academy Award for Best Original Song 2015: Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media 2015: Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media 2018: Academy Award for Best Original Song 2021: Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics |
Kristen Anderson-Lopez (born March 21, 1972) is an American songwriter. She is known for co-writing the songs for the 2013 animated musical film Frozen and its 2019 sequel Frozen II with her husband Robert Lopez. The couple won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Let It Go" from Frozen and "Remember Me" from Coco (2017) at the 86th and 90th awards respectively. She also won two Grammy Awards at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, and she is signed to Disney Music Publishing. [1]
Anderson-Lopez was raised in Croton-on-Hudson, New York (a suburb of New York City), until 1986; the Myers Park neighborhood of Charlotte, North Carolina, from 1986 to 1990; and Waxhaw, North Carolina (a suburb of Charlotte), from 1990 onward (which was her home during her college years). [2] [3] Her parents, Erin and John, still live in Waxhaw. [3] [4] According to her father, Anderson-Lopez first fell in love with the theater at the age of four, when he took her to see a U.S. Bicentennial musical tribute staged in their then-hometown of Croton-on-Hudson. [4] After her family moved to North Carolina, she attended and graduated from Charlotte Country Day School. [2] She went on to Williams College in western Massachusetts, where she double-majored in drama and psychology and graduated in 1994. [3] [4] After a theater internship in Florida, [3] Anderson-Lopez spent several years working temporary jobs while pursuing her dream of becoming a Broadway theatre performer in New York City. [4] In 1999, she entered the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop [2] and found her true calling as a lyricist, and also met her future husband Robert Lopez. [5]
In October 2003, [6] Anderson married Lopez, who would go on to become an EGOT-winning [7] [8] songwriter, composer and lyricist, including three Tony Awards [9] [10] for Avenue Q and The Book of Mormon . They have two daughters; [11] Katie and Annie, who both had voice parts in Frozen. [11]
Anderson-Lopez's sister, Kate Anderson, co-wrote the songs for Olaf's Frozen Adventure .
In 2006, Anderson-Lopez and her husband wrote the songs for the Walt Disney World production of Finding Nemo – The Musical . [12]
Anderson-Lopez is the co-creator of the musical In Transit , developed at the O'Neill Musical Theatre Conference. The musical ran Off-Broadway at the 59E59 Theatre, from September 21, 2010, to October 30, 2010. [13] The production received the 2011 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Ensemble, as well as a nomination for the 2011 Lucille Lortel Award, Outstanding Musical (among others) and the 2011 Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical. It opened on Broadway at the Circle in the Square Theatre in November 2016, directed and choreographed by Kathleen Marshall. [14] [15] [16]
She co-created the romantic stage musical Up Here, which debuted in 2015, with her husband and Alex Timbers. [17]
Her work for young audiences includes numerous short and full-length musical adaptations for Theatreworks USA (Diary of a Worm, Fancy Nancy , Condensed Classics).
Anderson-Lopez worked with her husband on the Disney Theatrical Productions stage musical adaptation of Frozen , with Jennifer Lee writing the book. [18]
Anderson-Lopez's first collaborations with her husband involved writing several songs together for children's televisions shows, such as Wonder Pets on Nick Jr. and Bear in the Big Blue House on the Disney Channel. [19]
Anderson-Lopez, along with her husband Robert Lopez and Henry Jackman, wrote and produced music for the 2011 Disney film Winnie the Pooh , [20] for which they were nominated for an Annie Award for Best Music in a Feature Production. [21] [22] She also provided the voice of Kanga in the film. [23]
Her work with her husband writing songs for the 2013 Disney film Frozen , [24] including "Let It Go", won her an Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 86th Academy Awards and two Grammy Awards at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards. [25] [26] Anderson-Lopez and her husband also wrote the music for the sequel, Frozen II . [27]
Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez again collaborated in writing songs and lyrics for the 2017 Pixar film Coco, [28] for which she won for an Annie Award for Music in a Feature Production. [29] She also won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for the song "Remember Me" at the 90th Academy Awards.
Kristen Anderson-Lopez sings Elsa’s part in “I Seek the Truth”, an outtake song of the Frozen II soundtrack, along with Patti Murin singing Anna’s part. Murin had originated the role of Anna in the Broadway production of Frozen. [30]
Anderson-Lopez and her husband wrote and produced music for the 2021 series WandaVision , set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The series features multiple title theme songs based on various classic American sitcoms, as well as the song "Agatha All Along". [31] [32] In 2024, Anderson-Lopez and her husband returned to write multiple versions of "The Ballad of the Witches’ Road" for the WandaVision spin-off Agatha All Along. [33]
Year | Category | Nominated work | Result |
---|---|---|---|
2013 | Best Original Song | "Let It Go" (from Frozen ) | Won |
2017 | "Remember Me" (from Coco ) | Won | |
2019 | "Into the Unknown" (from Frozen II ) | Nominated |
Year | Category | Nominated work | Result |
---|---|---|---|
2011 | Music in an Animated Feature Production | Winnie the Pooh | Nominated |
2013 | Frozen | Won | |
2017 | Coco | Won | |
2019 | Frozen II | Nominated |
Year | Category | Nominated work | Result |
---|---|---|---|
2022 | Outstanding Short Form Program | We the People | Won |
Year | Category | Nominated work | Result |
---|---|---|---|
2013 | Best Original Song | "Let It Go" (from Frozen ) | Won |
2017 | "Remember Me" (from Coco ) | Won | |
2019 | "Into the Unknown" (from Frozen II ) | Nominated |
Year | Category | Nominated work | Result |
---|---|---|---|
2013 | Best Original Song | "Let It Go" (from Frozen ) | Nominated |
2017 | "Remember Me" (from Coco ) | Nominated | |
2019 | "Into the Unknown" (from Frozen II ) | Nominated |
Year | Category | Nominated work | Result |
---|---|---|---|
2015 | Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media | Frozen | Won |
Best Song Written for Visual Media | "Let It Go" (from Frozen ) | Won | |
2019 | "Remember Me" (from Coco ) | Nominated | |
2021 | "Into the Unknown" (from Frozen II ) | Nominated | |
2022 | "Agatha All Along" (from WandaVision ) | Nominated |
Year | Category | Nominated work | Result |
---|---|---|---|
2015 | Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics | "Kiss an Old Man" (from The Comedians: Celebrity Guest) | Nominated |
"Moving Pictures" (from The Oscars ) | Nominated | ||
2021 | "Agatha All Along" (from WandaVision: Breaking the Fourth Wall )" | Won | |
Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music | WandaVision | Nominated |
Year | Category | Nominated work | Result |
---|---|---|---|
2018 | Best Original Score | Frozen | Nominated |
Alan Irwin Menken is an American composer and conductor, best known for his scores and songs for films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and Skydance Animation. Menken's contributions to The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), and Pocahontas (1995) won him two Academy Awards for each film. He also composed the scores and songs for Little Shop of Horrors (1986), Newsies (1992), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), Hercules (1997), Home on the Range (2004), Enchanted (2007), Tangled (2010), Disenchanted (2022), and Spellbound (2024), among others. His accolades include winning eight Academy Awards — becoming the second most prolific Oscar winner in the music categories after Alfred Newman, a Tony Award, eleven Grammy Awards, seven Golden Globe Awards, and a Daytime Emmy Award. Menken is one of twenty-one people to have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony.
Idina Kim Menzel is an American actress and singer. Particularly known for her work in musicals on Broadway, she has been nicknamed the "Queen of Broadway" for her commanding stage presence, powerful mezzo-soprano, and reputation as one of the most influential stage actors of her generation. Having achieved mainstream success across stage, screen, and music, her accolades include a Tony Award and a Daytime Emmy Award. In 2019, Menzel received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Robert Lopez is an American songwriter for musicals and playwright, best known for co-creating The Book of Mormon and Avenue Q, and for co-writing the songs featured in the Disney animated films Frozen, its sequel Frozen II, and Coco, with his wife Kristen Anderson-Lopez. He is signed to Disney Music Publishing.
Finding Nemo: The Big Blue... and Beyond! is a live puppet and musical stage show based on Disney/Pixar's 2003 film Finding Nemo, located at the Theater in the Wild in DinoLand U.S.A at Disney's Animal Kingdom in Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. The original 40-minute show titled Finding Nemo – The Musical started holding previews on November 5, 2006, officially opening on January 24, 2007. The music is composed by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, who also composed the music for Frozen, using direct lines from the film.
"Let It Go" is a song from Disney's 2013 computer-animated feature film Frozen, whose music and lyrics were composed by husband-and-wife songwriting team Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez. The song was performed in its original show-tune version in the film by American actress and singer Idina Menzel in her vocal role as Queen Elsa. It was later released as a single, being promoted to adult contemporary radio by Walt Disney Records in January 2014. Anderson-Lopez and Lopez also composed a simplified pop version which was performed by actress and singer Demi Lovato over the start of the film's closing credits. Disney's music division planned to release Lovato's version of the song before Menzel's, as they did not consider Menzel's version a traditional pop song. A music video was released separately for Lovato's version.
Frozen is a musical with music and lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, and book by Jennifer Lee, based on the Walt Disney Animation Studios' 2013 animated film Frozen. The story centers on the relationship between two sisters who are princesses, Elsa and Anna. Elsa has magical powers to freeze objects and people, which she does not know how to control. After inheriting the throne, Elsa flees, inadvertently causes the kingdom to become frozen in an eternal winter, and nearly kills her sister. She must sacrifice and show true love to save the day.
"Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" is a song from the 2013 Disney animated musical feature film Frozen, with music and lyrics composed by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez. The song is also present in the musical adaptation. As of 25 November 2016, the total sales of the digital track stands at 1,600,000 downloads according to Nielsen SoundScan, placing it second on the list of all-time best-selling Christmas/holiday digital singles in SoundScan history.
"For the First Time in Forever" is a song from Disney's 2013 animated feature film Frozen, with music and lyrics composed by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez. It is reprised later in the musical. Both versions are sung by American actresses Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel who provide the speaking and the singing voices of Princess Anna and Queen Elsa, respectively.
"Love Is an Open Door" is a song written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez for Walt Disney Animation Studios's 53rd animated feature film Frozen (2013). Performed by Kristen Bell and Santino Fontana as Anna and Prince Hans respectively, "Love Is an Open Door" is a romantic duet which takes place during the first act of the film, when Anna meets Hans during the reception of her sister Elsa's coronation. The song was intended by Lopez and Anderson-Lopez to "feel like the perfect first date", inspired by the date depicted in the film The Karate Kid (1984).
Betsy Wolfe is an American actress, singer, and entrepreneur.
In Transit is a one-act musical with book, music and lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez, James-Allen Ford, Russ Kaplan and Sara Wordsworth. The musical, performed entirely a cappella, ran Off-Broadway in 2010, and on Broadway in 2016.
Olaf's Frozen Adventure is a 2017 American animated featurette produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and directed by Kevin Deters and Stevie Wermers. The screenplay was written by Jac Schaeffer, with Josh Gad, Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, and Jonathan Groff reprising their roles from Frozen (2013).
"Remember Me" is a song from the 2017 animated Disney/ Pixar film Coco, written by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez. The song is performed variously within the film by Benjamin Bratt, Gael García Bernal, Anthony Gonzalez, and Ana Ofelia Murguía. Miguel and Natalia Lafourcade perform a pop version of the song that is featured in the film's end credits. Carlos Rivera recorded a cover version of the song, titled "Recuérdame" for the film's Spanish-language soundtrack album. It won Best Original Song at the 90th Academy Awards in 2018. The song was performed live by Gael García Bernal and Federico Ramos on guitar.
"Monster" is a song from the 2018 Broadway musical Frozen, an adaptation of the 2013 Disney's computer-animated musical film of the same name. Sung by Elsa, the song takes place during the second act. The song was written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez. The scene takes place after Elsa strikes Anna with her powers and starts questioning her own mortality, then Hans and his men come to capture Elsa in her ice palace.
"Agatha All Along", also known as "It Was ______ All Along", is an original song from the Marvel Studios Disney+ miniseries WandaVision. Written by the series' theme song composers Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez for the seventh episode, "Breaking the Fourth Wall", the song was performed by star Kathryn Hahn, with Lopez, Eric Bradley, Greg Whipple, Jasper Randall, and Gerald White serving as backup singers. The song drew inspiration from the theme songs from The Munsters and The Addams Family.
Winnie the Pooh is the soundtrack album to the 2011 film of the same name, based on the eponymous novel created by A. A. Milne and E. H. Shepard, and directed by Stephen J. Anderson and Don Hall, the latter in his feature directorial debut. Henry Jackman composed the film score with additional music by Christopher Willis. The original songs were written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez. The soundtrack was released by Walt Disney Records on July 12, 2011.
McKenzie Kurtz is an American stage actress, singer, and dancer. In her Broadway debut, she played the role of Anna in Frozen.
Sara Wordsworth is a Broadway lyricist-librettist. She is a co-writer on Broadway's first a capella musical, In Transit, and a co-producer of the Broadway cast recording. Additionally, she has worked for many years as a show creator with Disney.