The Departments of Theatre and Dance and Music at West Virginia Wesleyan College will be presenting the hit Broadway musical A Year with Frog and Toad as part of its Fall 2018 season. The family show is based on the popular children’s books by Arnold Lobel, with book and lyrics by Willie Reale and music by Robert Reale.
Frog and Toad’s stories are witty, exciting, challenging, and entertaining; children who follow the book series by Arnold Lobel will catch similarities to the musical adaptation. The story follows the duo through the four seasons of the year as they go on many adventures, learn life lessons, and encounter other animals along the way.
With three Tony Award nominations including Best Musical, the “jazzy, upbeat score” and “part vaudeville, part make-believe, part charm” characteristics make this show a fun experience for the entire family quoted from www.mtishows.com/a-year-with-frog-and-toad.
The department is working with guest choreographer and costumer Donald Laney, the Producing Artistic Director of the West Virginia Dance Company. Laney is also an adjunct professor of WVWC for the fall 2018 semester, teaching a tap class and a dance history course.
The lighting design for this production is done by guest artist R. Jonathan Shelley, a freelance designer from Richmond, Va. Shelley is a Pro Technician at the Modlin Center for the Arts at the University of Richmond. The creative team is rounded out by Dr. R. Daniel Hughes as Music Director and the scenic design and technical direction by Director of Technical Theatre Keith Saine.
The cast includes Wesleyan students, staff, and faculty members, including Aaron Harris of Annmore, WV as Toad; Dominick Gray of Belle, WV as Lizard, Snail, and Bird; M. Eric Jett, Wesleyan’s Director of Strength and Conditioning as Large and Terrible Frog; Pippa McGinley of Morgantown, W.Va. as Father Frog, Squirrel, Mole and Bird; Elizabeth Mearns of Nutter Fort, WV as Mouse, Mole Mother Frog and Bird; and Sinead Tobin of Fairmont, WV as Turtle, Mole, Young Frog and Bird. Thomas Schoffler, Associate Professor of Theatre Arts, will also be appearing in the show as Frog.
Show dates run Oct. 4-6, with shows at 7:30 p.m. on the 4th and 5th, and at 7 p.m. on the 6th. Ticket prices are $10 for adults, $8 for students and seniors, and $5 with a WVWC ID and are available at the door an hour prior to each show time. Free matinee performances are open to the public on Monday, Oct. 8 at 9 a.m. and Tuesday, October 9 at 9:30 a.m. All shows will be performed in the Virginia Thomas Law Performing Arts Center’s Culpepper Auditorium at Wesleyan.
The show is appropriate for young audiences.
