By Kiara Catanzaro
Staff Writer
Tapping into the inner child of the SBU theater group, the cast will perform the musical “A Year with Frog and Toad” March 20 through 23 at 7:30 p.m. in the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts.
Brett Keegan, a senior philosophy major, will play Frog and Ian Rogers, a senior modern language major, will play Toad.
“A Year with Frog and Toad” is the first musical SBU theater has produced in more than five years, according to Ed. Simone, director of the theater program.
“Musicals are fun,” Simone said. “We have done heavy shows recently and we have wanted to do a musical for a while. We have been looking at a lot of different shows for a while and we found Frog and Toad. It’s a family show, which will be nice because everyone can enjoy the production.”
Working with a larger group of people allows for a better production, according to Simone.
“Musicals require more people to get involved,” Simone said. “We have Kathryn Black, artist-in-residence of the visual and performing arts department, who is our vocal coach for the group. Professor Sabina, professor of music, is directing the pit orchestra and Professor Peterson of the finance department is working with us as well. We have a large portion of the music department involved in the show.”
Simone said he enjoys directing musicals because there is more to a musical besides acting.
“Musicals have large pieces that come together very quickly,” Simone said. “There are many components such as music, choreography and scene that all merge together in a short time. It’s nice to come back to musicals when you have the right people involved in the production.”
Keegan is excited for his final SBU Theater appearance as Frog simply because of the singing and dancing.
“I love this show because it’s heart-warming,” Keegan said. “It’s essentially about two life-long friends and their experiences together. The songs in the musical are endearing. It’s been a long time since I’ve had the chance to sing and dance on stage. It’ll be a great way to end my senior year.”
Keegan also thinks the show will have a lot to offer not only young children, but for SBU students as well.
“The students I’ve talked to seem excited about it,” Keegan said. “Some students aren’t familiar with the play, but when I mention that it’s based off the books, their faces light up. They remember what it was like to read those books as kids.”
“A Year with Frog and Toad” is Rogers’ fifth show at SBU. Rogers says this production is different from previous shows he has done and said he is excited to participate in the production.
“Frog and Toad is different from the shows I’ve done in the past,” Rogers said. “It is simple and light-hearted, but also a fable. The show is a mélange of children’s stories that carry their own lessons.”
One of the concepts Rogers wants students to take away from the production is how the theme of friendship is portrayed in the musical.
“I think that students can take away the simplicity of the show and how it plays to the theme of friendship and how that theme is portrayed as real.”
