The first kids to see Chicago Children’s Theatre’s inaugural production back in 2006 are all adults now, and it’s likely some of them have children of their own. If so, they can come full circle with a family outing to see A Year with Frog and Toad, CCT’s latest remount of its first-ever show, which also helped open its West Loop space in 2017. This version should bring back a lot of fond memories while creating new ones.
This time, A Year with Frog and Toad is presented in the round, with Toad’s home upstage, Frog’s downstage and a giant toadstool in the middle of the space where many of the adventures adapted from Arnold Lobel’s award-winning picture books play out mere inches from the excited young audience members.
This musical, which debuted 22 years ago and had a brief Broadway run, was adapted by brothers Robert and Willie Reale. The score is peppy, with highlights including “Getta Loada Toad” and “Cookies.” You get the idea.
Inhabiting the main characters with appropriately childish verve are Eduardo Curley-Carrillo as the endlessly upbeat Frog and Nick Druzbanski (who recently killed as Dewey Finn in School of Rock at the Paramount) as his sometimes grumpy and somewhat dense best friend, Toad. They make a winning odd couple as they emerge from hibernation one fine spring and then hop their way through each successive season, with Frog encouraging Toad to swim even though he’s embarrassed by his lumpy swimsuit bod and Toad working up the courage to take a wild toboggan ride.
It’s sweet, wholesome, spirited fun with big appeal for the toddler set, though probably less so for older kids. Meanwhile, parents may end up with some neck stiffness due to the somewhat awkward layout of the set, which requires significant head swiveling when the action swings between Frog and Toad’s bachelor pads.
A subplot about a snail mailman is a bit, well, slow moving, though it does pay off in Diego Vazquez Gomez’s show-stopping performance of “I’m Coming Out of My Shell,” about a can-do guy who’s made up of “a lot of shell [and] a little goo.”
By the time hibernation season rolls back around, most of the adults will be ready for a good stretch and a yawn themselves. But the kids, at least on opening morning, were still beaming.
A Year with Frog and Toad runs through June 9 at Chicago Children’s Theatre.
For a full roundup of reviews of this show, visit Theatre in Chicago.
Photo by Liz Lauren
