When Company of Fools came together to decide their spring production, they originally planned to perform the very serious and thought provoking John Patrick Shanley's "Doubt," a 2005 Tony Award winner. However, it did not work out, and the Fools decided to bring back last year's heartfelt and inspirational "A Year With Frog and Toad."
"It was brought back for a second season because it was a huge success last year," said "Frog and Toad" director and player John Glenn. "We saved everything because at some point we thought we would want to do it again, but we thought in a couple of years."
From the amount of positive feedback and queries about last year's production of "Frog and Toad," how could the Fools resist?
"I contacted the cast, everyone said yes and wanted to do it," Glenn said. "One of the reasons it's so successful and we are doing it again is it allows all of us to have that inner child come out."
Arnold Lobel's classic story about the close and understanding friendship between two very different hopping amphibians, a popular Frog and rather naïve Toad, was inspired by his daughter Adrienne Lobel. Adrienne Lobel, a set designer and wife to film and television actor Mark Linn-Baker, produced the first "A Year with Frog and Toad" at The Children's Theater of Minneapolis. The musical eventually opened on Broadway in 2004 and was nominated for several Tony Awards, including best musical, best book and best original score.
"The books are so lovely and speak to everybody—certainly right now in the world we live in with all the conflict and opinions," Glenn said. "They speak about friendship and how to take care of each other and how to be patient with each other. It's these universal needs that we all have and it's done in such a charming way."
The opportunity for a repeat performance of "Frog and Toad" has allowed for improvement in some areas of the presentation. "It's a fun thing to revisit a piece because you have the opportunity to change things," Glenn said. "We get to redesign closer to the original illustrations, and we are tweaking a couple of costume things. Last year, the band was behind a scrim. This year, the band is out front."
The band will have some different members, mostly due to scheduling, but the cast is all the same. Leslie Harrington has returned as choreographer and she has made a few changes as well.
The show is for all ages and allows Company of Fools to do a different type of production.
"It's for everybody," Glenn said. "As artists we are attracted to different shows and respond to families and the community here with all the kids. We see couples in their 20s and 70s, and sometimes just by themselves. They come and have a real smile."
Even more rewarding, Company of Fools was approached by the Wood River Jewish Community, who are underwriting 100 tickets through The Advocates Against Domestic Violence and St. Luke's Center for Community Health to support Hispanic families. There will be two different matinees, which have been sold out.
'Frog and Toad'
-Company of Fools presents "A Year With Frog and Toad" based on the book by Arnold Lobel with music and lyrics by Robert and William Reale.
-The show runs from Wednesday, April 18, through Sunday, April 29, at The Liberty Theatre in Hailey.
-Performances are 7 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, Saturday 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. and Sunday matinees at 3 p.m.
-There will be a "Pay What You Feel Preview" Wednesday, April 18, at 7 p.m.
-Tickets are $18 for adults and seniors, $10 for children under 18.
-Tickets will be available one hour prior to the performance at The Liberty Theatre box office.
-For more information, call the box office at 578-9122.
Photo by Kirsten Shultz
The Birds, Rachel Abrams, John Glenn and Lynn Allison come back for the spring season.
