By Kiara Catanzaro
Staff Writer
The delight and simplicity of friendship shines through SBU’s theater production of “A Year with Frog and Toad,” SBU’s most recent musical directed and choreographed by Ed. Simone, director of the theater program.
“A Year with Frog and Toad,” book and lyrics by Robert Reale and music by Willie Reale and based on the books by Arnold Lobel, is a mélange of heart-warming stories that describe the adventures of Frog and Toad’s friendship.
The play features Brett Keegan, a senior philosophy major, as Frog and Ian Rogers, a senior modern languages major, as Toad. The two thespians use their experience as a way to say farewell to their senior year.
“I am madly in love with Keegan’s character as Frog,” EmilyJo Manchester, a freshman Spanish major, said. “Keegan and Rogers both know how to perform to appeal to an audience with children and adults. It was great to see that everyone could relate to the simple message of friendship.”
The show begins in spring with the end of hibernation and goes through all of the seasons. Each season brings new explorations for the two friends.
Swimming, raking leaves and sledding are a few of the many experiences that Frog and Toad share throughout the musical. The vaudeville-esque scenery, designed by Rebecca Misenheimer, associate professor of theater, and Emily West, a senior theater and journalism and mass communication major, illustrated a nostalgic resemblance to the original children’s books.
In the director’s notes of the program, Simone summarizes the story of the musical with humble words that express the true message of the performance.
“Frog and Toad have the sort of friendship we all desire: warm, considerate, unabashedly familiar, forgiving,” Simone said. “Their lives are unpolluted by humans and they live in a world that affords them joy, adventures and the sorts of shivers that don’t leave scars.”
Tori Lanzillo, a sophomore journalism and mass communication and theater major, played the part of Snail. Her character was responsible for delivering a letter from Frog to Toad, which took the entire show. When the lights dimmed, the crowd knew Snail would be returning on stage to continue her journey. The audience applauded and cheered for Lanzillo after her shining moment when she sang “Coming Out of My Shell.”
“In some ways, Snail stole the show,” said Jessica Stender, a freshman journalism and mass communication major. “The audience definitely enjoyed her performance and her personality glowed through her character. Tori embraced her character and that’s what made her a great person for the part of Snail.”
SBU students used the show to revisit the memories of their childhood, or as a distraction from studying and long hours spent in the library.
Christopher Russo, a freshman biology major, used the show as an escape from his college life and a chance to reminisce about his childhood.
“I enjoyed taking a break from school to see a show that reminded me of my childhood,” Russo said. “‘A Year with Frog and Toad’ had simple messages of friendship.”
Russo suggests other students take a break from their stressful week and enjoy the show themselves.
“It was great to see college students relax from another stressful week to enjoy a night off,” Russo said. “I definitely recommend other students to see the show, if they haven’t already.”
Overall, the castmembers voices light-heartedly narrated the adventures of Frog and Toad in perfect harmony with the orchestra conducted by Ryan Thompson, a senior music major, who directed the orchestra as his senior capstone.
The final performances of the show will be tonight and tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. in the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts.
