A Toadly Awesome Production of A Year With Frog and Toad

 On Saturday April 13, 2024 I went with my mom to see A Year With Frog and Toad at The Chicago Children’s Theatre. The play is based on the popular children’s book by Arnold Lobel and was adapted for the stage with music and script by Robert and Willie Reale. Chicago Children’s Theatre’s production was directed by Michelle Lopez-Rios. The story is about a Frog and a Toad who are best friends and they have good times and bad times together. These moments include: Frog and Toad going sledding, Frog and toad go swimming (and Toad looked funny in his bathing suit), Frog and Toad rake each others backyards, Toad bakes cookies, Frog tells Toad a scary story, Frog and Toad have an almost Christmas celebration together, and Frog writes a letter to his dear friend Toad. 

The performances were Toadly Awesome!! Frog is played by Eduardo Curley-Carillo, and Toad is played by Nick Druzbanski.  My favorite part about what Nick Druzbanski did as Toad was when he gathered up all of his courage and all of his weapons (a rope, a frying pan, and a lamp) and prepared to save his best bud Frog. (Side note: I also think it’s pretty cool that this is the 3rd play I’ve seen Nick Druzbanski in!! My brother and I are fans). My Favorite part that Eduardo Curley-Carillo did was when he told Toad a scary story about him when he was little. There were three other talented actors who played many characters in the play and they were really good. 

My favorite character in the play is the snail played by Diego Vazquez Gomez. The Snail is a funny, confident, and slow character who gets a letter from Frog and is on a mission to go send the letter to Toads house- it may or may not take him longer than half the play to get it there. I loved his recurring solo “I’m the Snail with the Mail”. My favorite part that Laura Murillo Hart did was when she played the Turtle and sang a song about how Toad looks funny in a bathing suit. My favorite part that Leslie Ann Sheppard did was when she became Young Frog in the scary story that Frog told Toad and when she was a mouse and helped Toad check on his cookies.

The design of the show made everything shine! The music and sound design was by Christie Chiles Twillie. I loved how all the characters added sounds with small instruments like shakers, kazoos and banjos.The music is awesome, and I especially liked the water sounds. The water sounds happened when Frog and Toad were swimming in the river, and the water sound made it feel that they were actually in a river swimming. The set didn't actually have water but the costume designer, Rachel Healy, created costumes that took on the form of water, it was a clever design that looked like a dress but wide and round. A similar design idea was used to tell the story of Frog and Toad sledding down a hill, but instead of a hill- the costume was the sled AND the hill! I wonder how she made that and how she thought to do it! The bird costumes are also very cool and made from blankets or sweaters! They made me think about what talking birds would look like. It is very cool how the lighting designer, Jared Goodling made the lights look like it was actually about to rain! The set designer, Courtney O’Neill, really created Frog and Toads world, their houses definitely matched their characters. Frogs character is smart, healthy and friendly and his house has a giant lily pad on it. Toads character is lazy, scared, miserable and friendly and his house has giant toadstools on it. I also thought it was cool how there was a giant mushroom in the middle of the stage. The Choreography byMicah Figueroa is really cool, especially the dance the snail did with a hat and a cane after he FINALLY completed his mission. 

I think that kids ages 2-8 and parents from 24-80 will really like this play, especially if you are familiar with the books. I give this play 8 out of 10 stars only because I am almost 10 and I now prefer plays that challenge my mind a bit more. But I also know that if I was 8 right now I know I would probably give it a 10 out of 10 stars, it is a great show! Once again, I am Margot Muses and watch this play if you want a cookie!

A Year with Frog and Toad runs at Chicago Children's Theatre through June 9, 2024: Saturday and Sunday at 9:30 a.m and 11:30 a.m. with added 2 p.m. matinees on select Saturdays. Photo Credit: Liz Lauren