A Year with Frog and Toad Jumps to ItPlay Takes Place Two More Times in Lake Charles, Louisiana

A snail stands in the middle of the stage singing a song about how fast it can deliver the mail. Of course, it has been months since the original letter was sent, but the snail doesn't realize that it has gone that slowly. This is Po Snail from A Year with Frog and Toad.

Toad (Matt Dye), Tee Bird (Supratik Regme), Papa Bird (Joseph Comeaux), Maman Bird (Himshree Neupane), Frog (Brett Chase)

The musical, written by brothers Robert and Willie Reale and based on the Frog and Toad book series by Arnold Lobel, is currently playing in Tritico Theatre at McNeese State University. In another memorable scene, Cher Turtle sings about how Toad looks funny in his bathing suit and gets all of the animals of the swamp to join in with her singing as they all watch for Toad to get out of the water.

While the show is good from beginning to end, both Anne Sterman as Po Snail and Allison Marino as Cher Turtle give performances that make the show shine. Without these two, the show would still be a good show, but it would not hold up to the great production that it proved to be.

The leads, Brett Chase as Frog, and Matt Dye as Toad, are believable as swamp creature friends, though their friendship portrayed on stage at times seemed distant. However, that does not mean this type of friendship between a bumbling friend (Toad) and a matter-of-fact friend (Frog) doesn't exist.

The birds, Himshree Neupane as Mawman Bird, Supratik Regme as Tee Bird, and Joseph Comeaux as Papa Bird, were definitely convincing as birds, especially Maman Bird. The play also starred Sondre Guy (Hot Gator), Haleigh Gatewood (Boo Rat), Everly Spears (Big Nutria), and Betty Marino (Lil Nutria).

Being the play is being performed in Southwest Louisiana, the swamp was set as if it was a bayou. The lighting for the stage worked very well for a bayou. It was dim on the sides and had a bright yellow to orange light in some scenes with pinks and blues in others conveying the different seasons in the middle as if the sun were shining on a swampy area in front of a bayou full of water.

The set was believable as tiny little houses or camps on swampy land. None of the set pieces looked perfect as if they were newly bought, but like animals had repurposed items into their houses and uses.

All of the set and light was brought to the stage by theatre students and the brilliant tech crew including Rylee Hall (Stage Manager), Bacot Wright (Director), Michael Parker (Musical Director/Piano), Andrew Wang (Piano), and Michelle Brunson (Technical Director).

You can catch this wonderful musical for two more performances. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for McNeese faculty and staff, senior citizens, and K-12 students and teachers, and free for McNeese and Sowela students with ID.

The last two times to see this play are as follows:

• Saturday, September 28, 2019 at 7:30pm
• Sunday, September 29, 2019 at 2pm

The play takes place in Tritico Theatre on the McNeese State University Campus. Tritico Theatre is located inside the Shearmann Fine Arts Annex on the corner of Sale and Ryan St. in Lake Charles, LA. Tickets can be bought online at the McNeese Vendini site for A Year with Frog and Toad, by calling 337-475-5040, or in person at the box office before the show.