SAUGUS — The Theatre Company of Saugus is proud to present A Year With Frog and Toad, the clever, Tony-Award-nominated musical comedy that is tailored for the whole family. The show centers on the friendship of Frog and Toad, two Odd Couple-like personalities, and follows their story over a year. The the story starts with Spring, as the birds wake up Frog and Toad, and ends after Christmas, when Frog and Toad return to hibernation, only to be awoken when Spring returns again.
Performances of A Year With Frog and Toad will be on two weekends, April 26-27-28 and May 3-4-5, 2013. On Friday and Saturday evenings, performances start at 7:30 p.m., and on Sunday afternoons at 2 p.m. The location is the East Saugus United Methodist Church, at 85 Chestnut St. in Saugus. Tickets are $15 for adults, seniors and students. Tickets are only $12 for children up to age 12. For large groups of 10 or more, tickets are only $10 each. For ticket purchases, directions and more info about the show, please visit the Theatre Company of Saugus website at www.tcsaugus.org.
The show will be dedicated to Saugus High School drama teacher Nancy Lemoine, who died last week after a nearly year-long fight with cancer.
The Broadway musical, which was nominated for the Best Musical Tony Award in 2003, is based on the Frog and Toad children’s stories of Arnold Lobel, published between 1970 and 1979. The clever songs include “Spring,” “Seeds,” “The Letter,” “Getta Loada Toad,” “Alone,” “Cookies,” “The Kite,” “He’ll Never Know,” “Shivers,” “Down The Hill,” “I’m Coming Out of My Shell,” “Toad To The Rescue,” “Merry Almost Christmas,” and the title song “A Year With Frog and Toad.” The Company promises that if you loved Lobel’s stories when you read them as children, or to your children, you will be equally charmed by the musical, which adds an interesting, jazz-influenced score to Lobel’s elegant stories of friendship.
The talented cast consists mostly of veterans of many Theatre Company of Saugus shows. Frog is played by Stephen Russo, a resident of Winchester. His friend Toad is played by Saugus resident Matthew Huffman. The ensemble portrays a number of animal characters inhabiting the neighborhood, such as Birds, Snail, Mouse, Turtle, Lizard, Squirrels and Moles. The ensemble includes Saugus resident Amanda Allen, Patrick Harris from Cambridge and Kathleen Tringale of Lynn.
A young, energetic and accomplished artistic staff will helm A Year With Frog and Toad. The Director is Tre’von Griffith, a student at Berklee College of Music in Boston. The Music Director is Suzanne Jalbert, a new graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music. The Choreographer is Thea Wigglesworth, a graduate of Mount Holyoke College. The Stage Manager is Lynn resident Jess Stockton. The producer is Cambridge resident Nicholas Meunier.
The Theatre Company of Saugus is in its 45th season serving Saugus and surrounding communities. Recent productions include: Neil Simon’s The Good Doctor, A Very Christmas Christmas, Mel Brooks’ The Producers, Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, Godspell Junior, You Can’t Take It With You, The Proposal, Twelve Months of Music, Oliver!, Twelve Angry Jurors, Cabaret, Props, Celebration of Love, The Wizard of Oz, Guys and Dolls, The Cherry Orchard, The Crucible, and Pirates of Penzance.
