A Year with Frog and Toad Leaps to Daytona Beach

 

Plan on watching your kids hop for joy this summer when they see Seaside Music Theater's production of A Year with Frog and Toad, a delightful and exuberant musical based on the well-loved books of Arnold Lobel.  This musical for children opens Saturday, May 27, just in time to celebrate the end of a school year!

In A Year with Frog and Toad, directed for SMT by Gary Cadwallader, there's a story for each season, each focusing on the true spirit of friendship. Cheerful Frog (Justin Sargent) and the grumpy Toad (Nick Scalzo) are best friends who spend the year flying kites, planting gardens, baking cookies, riding sleds, and more.  For each memory they create, there's a lesson to be learned about how their differences make their friendship stronger. 

The story of A Year with Frog and Toad begins in 1970, when Arnold Lobel's classic book Frog and Toad are Friends was first published. Lobel received a Caldecott Honor award, and went on to publish three additional volumes of Frog and Toad adventures. In 1973, Frog and Toad Together was named a Newbery Honor book, making Lobel one of only a handful of authors to have received honor citations from both of children's literature's highest awards.

In 2002, Adrianne Lobel, the author's daughter, and a successful designer and producer in her own right, commissioned a musical based on her father's most beloved characters.  A Year with Frog and Toad, which incorporates stories from all four books, premiered at the Children's Theater Company of Minneapolis on August 23, 2002. The next stop was the off-Broadway New Victory Theater, specializing solely in family-oriented fare. After stellar reviews and a sold out run, the show transferred to Broadway, where it opened at the Cort Theater on April 13, 2003. A Year with Frog and Toad received three Tony nominations, including Best Musical.

TICKET INFORMATION

A Year with Frog and Toad will be performed at The News-Journal Center, 221 N. Beach Street, Daytona Beach, in the Elaine & Thurman Gillespy, Jr. Theater.  Tickets, specially priced at only $9 per child (under 18) and $12 per adult, are available by calling the Box Office at 386-252-6200.  To purchase in person, visit the Box Office at the News-Journal Center.  Show dates:  May 27; June 2, 3, 10, 16, 23; July 1, 7, 8, 15, 21, 22, 28, 29; and August 4, 5, 12, 19.  All shows begin at 10am.

HOP TO the Children's Theater Luncheon with Frog and Toad!

Sponsored by: Bennigan's Grill & Tavern, Central Florida Zoo, Entenmann's Bakery Outlet, Food Supply, Inc., Lecy Fredo and Music for Special Occasions, Party World, and Subway

Extend your stay with Frog, Toad and friends at special post-performance luncheons on Saturday, June 10^th and Saturday, July 22^nd.  Tickets are $27 per child or adult and include the performance of A Year with Frog and Toad followed by lunch, visits from the cast complete with autographs, a live animal exhibit by the Central Florida Zoo, and face painting!  Reservations and advance payment are necessary ($10 per reservation is tax-deductible).  Both parties will be held at News-Journal Center, located at 221 N. Beach Street, Daytona Beach. Proceeds benefit SMT's Arts Education and Community Outreach Funds.  Purchase tickets to the Children's Theater Luncheons with Frog and Toad by calling 386-226-1945.

Subscriptions and single tickets for the 2006 Summer Season are also available for purchase at this time.  The Season includes Jesus Christ Superstar, June 8 – 18, Sisters of Swing: The Story of the Andrews Sisters, June 15 – July 16; A Little Night Music, June 29 – July 9; The Threepenny Opera, July 13 – 23, and Singin' in the Rain, August 3 – 20.

Seaside Music Theater is presented by the Daytona Beach News-Journal.

For more information, visit www.seasidemusictheater.org 

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