If you’re a millennial or Gen Xer who was called an “old soul” as a kid, odds are you gravitated toward Arnold Lobel’s “Frog and Toad” books during your early reading years. What could be cozier than amphibian besties — dressed like they’re on a walking holiday in the English countryside — sharing pots of tea and sending each other handwritten letters? The uncomplicated friendship between two male characters who are thoughtful, kind and loyal was a wholesome addition to the canon of children’s literature.
Nostalgic parents and young theatergoers alike will find plenty to smile about in the spring production at Chicago Children’s Theatre, “A Year with Frog and Toad.” Michelle Lopez-Rios directs this musical adaptation of Lobel’s 1970s book series, which was nominated for three Tony Awards when it ran on Broadway in 2003. The sweet, whimsical show was the debut production for Chicago Children’s Theatre in 2006, and the company is now producing it for the fourth time.
Eduardo Curley-Carrillo and Nick Druzbanski make a delightful duo as Frog and Toad, who are nearing the end of their winter hibernation and dreaming about each other when the show begins. After a chorus of birds (Diego Vazquez Gomez, Laura Murillo Hart and Leslie Ann Sheppard) heralds the arrival of spring, Frog wakes and immediately goes to visit his friend. Here, we first see the difference between the two: Frog is chipper and optimistic, while Toad is fretful and prone to melancholy — not to mention a grumpy riser. Nevertheless, either would do anything for the other.
As the title suggests, the musical cycles through four seasons of the friends’ adventures. Well, adventures might be too strong a word; the wildest activities they get up to are sledding down a steep hill (Frog’s idea, of course) and telling scary stories on a dark and stormy night (again, Frog). In another vignette, they secretly rake each other’s lawns, but mischievous squirrels (Murillo Hart and Sheppard) ruin the surprise by scattering the leaves again. Frog also tries to surprise Toad with a letter after learning that his friend never receives any mail, but he naively entrusts the delivery to a snail. This becomes a running joke — and an adorable performance by Vazquez Gomez — as the slow but determined snail treks through spring, summer, fall and winter to finish the job.
This production has a brighter, more colorful look than the muted earth tones of Lobel’s original illustrations. Costume designer Rachel Healy dresses the anthropomorphic characters in human clothes that evoke their animal forms. For example, the turtle (Murillo Hart) wears a plaid skirt, striped shirt, green beret and shell-shaped backpack. Frog sports the loudest costume, with a neon green puffer vest, green striped pants and bright orange socks and sneakers. To visually highlight the friends’ contrasting personalities, Toad is given a more homespun style, with hunter green overalls, a plaid shirt and the occasional cardigan.
Lopez-Rios stages this production in the round, and Courtney O’Neill’s set design situates Frog and Toad’s houses at opposite ends of an open space anchored by a large toadstool. Sightlines tend to be difficult — likely more so for the smallest viewers — during the scenes that are set off to one side. But there’s no bad seat in the house for the center-stage scenes, which are enhanced by Lonnae Hickman’s imaginative props. When Frog and Toad go swimming in the pond, they each dive into a Hula-Hoop-like contraption with sequined blue fabric hanging down from it, allowing them to independently “swim” around the stage.
Music director and sound designer Christie Chiles Twillie leads the accompaniment from the keyboard, with cast members joining on percussion, guitar, banjo and kazoos. Though simply orchestrated, Robert Reale’s jaunty tunes and Willie Reale’s upbeat lyrics set the tone for Micah Figueroa’s playful choreography.
Good stories about friendship never go out of style, and what makes Frog and Toad so special is the way they see the best in each other, warts and all. Toad’s tendency to catastrophize is met with patience and compassion by Frog, who never makes his anxious friend feel like a burden but emphasizes how much he brings to their relationship. May we all find such friends.
Emily McClanathan is a freelance critic.
Review: “A Year with Frog and Toad” (3.5 stars)
When: Through June 9
Where: Chicago Children’s Theatre, 100 S. Racine Ave.
Running time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
Tickets: $45-$55 ($12 lap seat tickets for children 18 months and under) at chicagochildrenstheatre.org or 312-374-8835
