Review: A YEAR WITH FROG AND TOAD at Live Theatre Workshop

A YEAR WITH FROG AND TOAD at Live Theatre Workshop is the perfect family show for the holiday season. Based on the books by Arnold Lobel with music by Robert Reale and book/lyrics by Willie Reale, A YEAR WITH FROG AND TOAD is like a warm cookie. It's heartwarming, rich, and delightful. The show itself has sequences involving cookies so that alone is worth seeing the show for! I remember reading the books about Frog and Toad growing up. I particularly enjoyed the one about the giant frog, who is present in this musical. The children's stories of Frog and Toad are delightfully recreated onstage in this excellent production.

One of my favorite elements of FROG AND TOAD was the music. Often when LTW does musical productions in their children's theatre, they qualify as "plays with songs." However, with RANKED and now with FROG AND TOAD, LTW has delved more into the realm of fully-staged musicals, and it is a delight to see FROG AND TOAD join their collection. I would venture to say that there might even be more music than talking in this show. There are no duds here; all of the songs are catchy and earwormy and will leave you humming the tunes on your way out of the theatre.

FROG AND TOAD feels like a children's storybook come to life. Richard Gremel's supervision over technical elements such as lighting and set design contributes to the show's fantasy world brilliance. I particularly enjoyed how the beds of Frog and Toad folded up to become their homes. There were so many clever visuals in this show. One standout moment included using a rolled-up sleeping bag to create the Snail's costume! This was one of many brilliant ideas by Costume Designer Kathy Hurst.

Personally, I found FROG AND TOAD to be one of the best offerings from LTW in recent memory. The entire cast owned their roles and brought smiles to every person's face. This show is all about the joy and wonder that Arnold Lobel's world creates. Amanda Gremel is a delight as Frog. She is humorous, relatable, genuine, and brings the heart. I also really loved Gremel's vocals. This particular role really gave her a chance to show the full depth and breadth of her skill set. All of this said, what I enjoyed most about Gremel's performance was the joyous sincerity she brought to the role.

Holli Diffin is a master of comedy as Toad. She plays off of Gremel well; their onstage chemistry clearly indicates years of work together but also a deep understanding of the source material and the ability to bring that world to life for kids. Children's theatre is not easy; this audience can often have the shortest attention span, so to be able to breathe life into dynamic characters and worlds that will keep the smallest audience member entertained is no small feat. Diffin got many laughs and applause from our audience. Her Toad is just as fun and as funny as Gremel's Frog.

As the snail in particular, Michael Martinez steals the show. He has multiple reprises of a song where he is trying to deliver a letter to Toad...and literally takes the entire show. Martinez is full of energy and enthusiasm onstage. He is a true performer and really brings forward the idea of theatre at LTW being accessible and enjoyable to all. I loved everything Martinez did onstage. Stephen Frankenfield and Samantha Cormier round out the supporting cast with Martinez, also playing multiple roles. They put in a lot of work and enhance the proceedings, making the show feel so much bigger because of their dynamic and memorable performances.

A YEAR WITH FROG AND TOAD feels like a true musical...because it is. There are big dance numbers that are fun and brassy. Audience participation plays a small part as well during a sequence with a kite. Vocally the ensemble does great work. Not every chord lands, but most of them do. And this particular show is more about the spirit of the material and bringing joy and wonder to the audience. It doesn't need to be vocally perfect. That said, I was impressed with a lot of the singing, particularly by Gremel and Martinez.

Phoenix Awards - Live Stats

Best Musical - Top 3

1. TOOTSIE (Arizona Broadway Theatre)

23.3% of votes

2. ANASTASIA: THE MUSICAL (Don Bluth Front Row Theatre)

8.8% of votes

3. WE ARE THE TIGERS (Velvet Curtain Productions)

7.1% of votes

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