Left to right: Lady Bird Megan Arnone, Man Bird Mann Vats, and Lady Bird Beth Lindsey in A Year with Frog and Toad.
Eamon Colglazier plays Toad in A Year with Frog and Toad.
Alex Schmidt plays Frog in in A Year with Frog and Toad.
Eamon Colglazier plays Toad in in A Year with Frog and Toad.
Alex Schmidt plays Frog in in A Year with Frog and Toad.
Ben Donaldson plays many characters including Snail in A Year with Frog and Toad.
Beth Lindsey as Turtle in A Year with Frog and Toad.
Nicholas Kvachkoff plays Large and Terrible Frog in A Year with Frog and Toad.
The cast of A Year with Frog and Toad from left to right: Eamon Colglazier, Ben Donaldson, Nicholas Kvachkoff, Megan Arnone, Mann Vats, Beth Lindsey, and Alex Schmidt.
Wabash College Theater has staged dense dramas, dark comedies, and devised physical works throughout the years. This week, for the first time in recent department memory, it's staging something for younger audiences.
"From what I've heard from people who've been around longer than I have, we have never done a children's show," said Heidi Winters Vogel, associate professor of theater and director of "A Year with Frog and Toad," which opens Thursday. "It's a skill that our majors need to know as children's theater is a huge part of theater in this country."
The musical, based on Arnold Lobel's beloved book series, follows two amphibian best friends — one an upbeat optimist, the other a lovable grump — through the changing seasons of a single year. Winters Vogel first saw the show in its original Minneapolis production two decades ago with her own kids, who were toddlers at the time.
"It's such a sweet, heartwarming show — which is not usually my type of show, but it's just so much fun," she said. "Everybody's spats are little things, and they end up really being good friends. Sometimes the outside world is a little harsher than that, so this is fun."
Despite its sweetness, Winters Vogel said directing for a young audience required recalibrating how her actors approach emotion on stage.
"There's a tendency sometimes for actors to think, 'Oh, I'm just talking to kids — I'm going to be broad, do caricatures.' But kids don't really get into that," she said. "In my experience, they like things they can identify with, emotions they understand. You've got to fully commit to it as an actor. But this is a comedy, so those feelings can't go so deep that the audience gets concerned for them. Being honest, being real, but also recognizing that while they're real emotions, they're not overwhelming."
The production's design leans into the same grounded honesty. Winters Vogel and her design team set the show in a stylized version of 1950s Indiana, matching the era to the show's jazz-inflected score.
"We've taken the idea that these could be Indiana animals," she said. "So the set, though it's cartooned, takes into account both the flora and fauna."
The attention to detail extends to the Fine Arts Center lobby, where the department has built an interactive display — borrowing turtle shells from the biology department, among other items — for the roughly 700 elementary school students expected to attend the performances this week, a first for the department.
Leading the cast as Frog is senior Alex Schmidt, who has appeared in every Wabash Theater production since arriving on campus, except "1984," which he stage managed. Schmidt came to Wabash with a musical theater background and little interest in straight drama — something that changed quickly. After several semesters focused on honing his dramatic craft, "A Year with Frog and Toad" marks a reprise to his musical roots — though Winters Vogel said he's brought the same intensity and commitment he's developed as a dramatic actor to this lighter material.
"His embracing of playing an animal and being completely into it is just really stellar," said Winters Vogel. "He's a leader for the cast. When he's willing to commit and go there, other people feel comfortable to do the same."
Schmidt's commitment came through in his preparation for the role.
"I do a lot of research. I want to understand the history and context of everything," he said. "Even for 'Frog and Toad,' I was looking into the differences between frogs and toads and trying to find ways to build the character of characteristics of the animals in nature."
Opposite Schmidt is Eamon Colglazier ’28 as Toad, Frog's grumpier, more pessimistic friend.
"I think of Toad as someone who is a little overwhelmed by anxiety and new experiences, so he expects the worst about potentially scary experiences unless Frog convinces him," he said. "It's a lot of fun being the cynical one on stage, because it's on Frog to drag Toad along and make him overcome his anxiety."
"Building Frog and Toad's relationship with Alex has felt natural," said Colglazier. "We've known each other since middle school, so the chemistry isn't forced, and we're both pretty similar to our characters in real life."
Despite being an experienced musical theater performer, Colglazier said the show's technical demands caught him off guard.
"I was surprised by how complex the choreography and music are," he said. "I'm no stranger to musicals, but considering this is a family-friendly show, I was not prepared for how difficult sing and dancing are at the same time."
For Winters Vogel, the heart of the show lies in that friendship between opposites. The production's dramaturg, Max Runge ’28, traced the show's themes back to author Arnold Lobel.
"The author talks about how Frog and Toad are two sides of himself," said Winters Vogel. "How he lovingly shows both of them, and how they really meet each other in a deep friendship says a lot about male friendship. It's got some real heft to it, but not because it's desperately dark. It's because it's real. It's just a beautiful, truthful look at what makes good friends — not that they're alike, or they always understand each other, but that they care deeply."
Colglazier found that idea to be reflective of his own experience of friendship, both on stage and off.
"Part of what makes the show so special to me is how relatable it is," he said. "My closest friends, both on and off campus, are extremely different from me. We live different lives, and we might not enjoy all the same things, but we care about and support each other through thick and thin."
"I hope that younger audience members can learn that friends can be different and also go through good and bad times together," he said. "We may not always get along or be the same kind of people, but at the end of the day, we're friends who care about each other. Adults can also learn a lesson from the show: even if we don't always understand our friends' feelings or actions, it is important that we communicate and try our best to understand."
Rounding out the cast are Benjamin Donaldson '29 as Snail, Nicholas Kvachkoff '29 as Large and Terrible Frog, Mann Vats '30 as Man Bird, as well as two familiar faces from Wabash's staff: Beth Lindsay from the College library and Megan Arnone, the theater department's new assistant technical director, as the singing lady birds.
In addition to performances, the theater department is inviting audiences to Community Day, a free event featuring hands-on activities and crafts for elementary school-age children. Attendees can meet and greet with cast members and learn about theater both onstage and backstage through workshops including storytelling with puppets, designing costumes with fabric pieces, and understanding how audio and visual technology enhance a performance, among other activities. Refreshments will be provided. No ticket or RSVP is required.
"A Year with Frog and Toad" runs:
Admission is free but tickets are required and may be reserved by visiting https://www.wabash.edu/boxoffice/.