Indy Theatre Habit

Last Saturday afternoon I went to see Robert and Willie Reale’s “A Year with Frog and Toad” as presented by Actors Theatre of Indiana at the Pike Performing Arts Center.  It was directed by Judy Fitzgerald.  It closed the next day, so this review won’t help you decide whether or not to see it this year, but it has become ATI’s holiday season family show so you will probably have a chance to see it next year.

This was my first year to see it, but I am going to see it every year from now on.  It is charming!

Actor Dan Flahive (pronounced FLAY-hive) accompanied me.  By the way, he is rehearsing “A Night in Las Vegas,” by Joe Marshall.  It will open at Theatre on the Square on New Year’s Eve.

There were a gazillion children in the audience with us at “Frog and Toad.”  Every time I glanced around during the show, I saw mesmerized little faces.  Several children climbed into their parents’ laps to watch the friendship between the two main characters unfold.

The stories are based on the early reader books by Arnold Lobel.  I love these books because they manage to use a controlled vocabulary to tell really good, honest, insightful stories about friendship and authenticity.  They engage adults as well as children. 

I was afraid that a staged presentation of them would damage or dilute the realness.  I mean, yes, the main characters are a talking toad and a talking frog, but I relate to both of them in the books very strongly!

Dan and I got a chance to chat a few moments with director Fitzgerald before the show, however, and she assured me that Arnold Lobel’s daughter, Adrianne Lobel, who was one of the original presenters of the musical on Broadway, worked hard to make sure the show stayed true to the spirit of the books.

I related to Frog and Toad in ATI’s production of the musical very strongly, too.  Whew!  The wonderful songs, the cheerful choreography, and the clever theatrical effects enhance the genuineness of the stories.

Bradley Reynolds plays Frog.  He reminded me a little of Mr. Rogers: comforting and calm.  ATI’s producing artistic director Don Farrell plays Toad.  I don’t know who he reminded me of, but I loved his adorable, nothing-held-back portrayal of the emotional Toad.

Each character is exuberant in his own way – singing and dancing and storytelling and going about his life and enjoying the other’s company through the seasons.  Each is also kind in his own way.  Each does his best to be a good friend, and each values the other’s uniqueness, without making a big deal about it.

Each is funny and each makes mistakes. 

Most of the time I make mistakes like Toad: I think it’s a bad thing that I look funny in a bathing suit or I yell at my seeds to “Grow!” or I just don’t get what’s going on.  But sometimes I make mistakes like Frog: sensitive as I am, I still forget and bring up topics that remind my friend of the fact that he broke his clock or that he never gets any mail.

Farrell and Reynolds play their roles with wit and lovability. They have lots of comedic energy but also tenderness.  I just wanted to hug each of them!

The songs they sing (and each man has a beautiful voice!) are a lot of fun.  I want to own the sound track!

“Cookies” comes right before intermission, for example.  You go out of the auditorium humming, “Eating cookies! Eating cookies!” under your breath and wishing you had a cookie to eat.  Fortunately, someone is selling cookies for $1 in the lobby.

I want to know who is in charge of making sure there are two full pans of cookies for Frog and Toad to throw around every show!  Maybe it is Jeff Stockberger, the stage manager.  Or maybe Michael Long, the production manager.

Three gorgeous red Birds with lovely voices accompany Frog and Toad some of the time.  The actors who play the Birds play other animals as well.  In the song “Getta Load of Toad,” for example, Kyra Jeanne Kenyon plays a gossipy Turtle who calls Mouse (Jill Kelly) and Lizard (Tim Hunt) to come see what Toad looks like in a bathing suit.  The three dance like flappers in a way that made me want to get up and dance, too.  (Choreography is by ATI’s resident choreographer, Cynthia Collins.)

Tim Hunt’s portrayal of Snail, the mail carrier, prompted the woman sitting next to me to say out loud, “He’s so cute!”  He is, indeed. As he himself says, he “puts the ‘go’ in ‘escargot.’”

In the ladies’ room at intermission, everyone was “walking like Snail” from the sinks to the paper towel dispensers.

Snail’s shell, and Turtle’s shell, and really all of the costumes are beautifully detailed.  Sharon Cruz and Merideth Kille are credited for “Wardrobe/Running Crew” but doesn’t that mean they help the actors change costumes?  I can’t tell from the program who designed them.  Well done, whoever you are!

Dan and I both commented after the show on how blissfully, and unusually, well done the sound was: the band and the singers were well balanced in terms of volume; the quality of the sound was clear and crisp; and the sound effects – such as the splash when Frog jumps into the pond – are delightful.

I’m not sure who designed the sound.  The program says that Jeremy Cales is the sound board operator and audio engineer, so maybe he designed everything sound-related, too. 

Dan and I got to talk with Cales a bit at intermission.  He told us about the crew required for this show.  I learned the expression “fly” for the crew member who opens and closes the curtains as needed AND who operates any and all flying objects in a show.  I’m not going to tell you what those are because you might go see this show next year and it’s more fun when the “flies” are a surprise, but I will say that they are very effective embellishments to the show.  Kyle Bredehoeft and Michael Long run the “fly rail,” according to my program.

Also during intermission, Dan and I and several children went to the edge of the orchestra pit/pond to see what Frog had jumped on when he jumped in.  (It looked like the thick mat that a high jumper uses.)  We were surprised to see only a few chairs for musicians in the pit.  The music sounded full and rich, but there were only chairs for four musicians.

David Duncan is the musical director.  He is also the pianist.  Schuyler Brinson is on keyboards.  Greg Wolff is on percussion (and more than once had me tapping my toes!)  Neil Broeker is on “reed.”  We could see that he had several instruments – saxophone, clarinet, flute, etc. – at the ready.

I loved the lighting design, too, by Gary DeMumbrum.  Dan pointed out the warm, inviting quality of the pre-show lighting patterns on the red velvet stage curtain.   My favorite lighting effect was the huge, full moon.

Don Farrell is the “scenic draftsman” with scenic construction by McGuire Scenic, Inc.  Frog and Toad’s cozy houses swivel to show the insides as well as the fronts.  Each has its own mailbox, too, labeled “Frog” or “Toad.”

The seasons change and, as Frog (or maybe one of the Birds) says at the end, “Some things change and that’s good.  Some things don’t change, and that’s good, too.  Frog and Toad will always be good friends.”

I hope that ATI will always put on this show.

2008 sponsors for “A Year with Frog and Toad” include Printing Partners; McGuire Scenic, Inc.; Riley Hospital for Children; the City of Carmel; the Indiana Arts Commission; the Arts Council of Indianapolis; and Rose, McKinney, and Evans.

ATI will soon announce its 2009 season on its website:  http://www.actorstheatreorindiana.org/.

Oh!  And guess what?  After the show, Dan gave me a plate of YUMMY cookies that he had baked and brought for me!  “Eating cookies, eating cookies…”

Hope Baugh – www.IndyTheatreHabit.com