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<p class="MsoNormal"><b style><span style="color:windowtext">“The Frogs” fails to create much excitement at Cain
Park</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Times;color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext">“The Frogs,” Stephen Sondheim
and Burt Shevelove’s musical adaptation of Aristophanes’ ancient Greek comedy,
had a novel introduction to the stage.<span style>
</span>In 1974 it was produced in Yale University’s Swimming Pool by the Yale
Repertory Theatre.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext">The fact that the show closed
in 8 performances should have been an omen of what was to come.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext">Like many Greek plays, “The
Frogs” looks at serious issues.<span style> </span>In
this case, it examines the challenges of human existence and confronts fear,
understandings, life, death, the role of the arts in changing the course of
human evolution, and whether the common man is coerced by dubious politicians,
conservatives and right-wing thinkers.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext">The outrageous musical, like
the play, follows Dionysos, the God of wine and theatre, as he attempts to go
to Hades in search of a theatrical spokesman to spread the word about earthly
problems.<span style> </span>Dionysos doesn’t think
that present day playwrights have the ability to make major impact like Chekov
did, who is, often referred to as the” father of the Russian Revolution.”<span style> </span>Dionysos’ intention is to get
Irish/British playwright George Bernard Shaw to write plays about today as he
did at the turn of the century when he attacked the British political,
educational, social and medical systems in his uncompromising language. </span><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Helvetica;color:rgb(28,28,28)"><span style> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Helvetica;color:rgb(28,28,28)"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext">After an arduous trek, Dionysos
and his slave arrive in Hades, convince the powers that be to hold a battle of
words between Shaw and Shakespeare to determine who gets to come back to earth
and help out society.<span style> </span>It’s like a
prose/poetry slam.<span style> </span>Shakespeare
wins and comes back with Dionysos, supposedly to “cure” the ills of the world
with the powerful tool of theatre speech.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext">The musical “The Frogs,” as
was the case of the original Greek version, is filled with pratfalls, satire,
choral speaking, homosexual revelations, outlandish characterizations, and overblown
situations. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext">In July, 2004, a version of
the musical, which was revised “even more freely by Nathan Lane,” who starred
in the production, opened in New York.<span style>
</span>Though Sondheim added seven songs, none of them is memorable.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext">The show opened to mixed
reviews.<span style> </span>Most commented on how “Lane
used the stage as a forum” for his Borsht-belt shticks which were made possible
by the “loose” nature of the plot.<span style>
</span>The run lasted only 92 performances.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext">The Cain Park version makes
allusions to people afraid of change (e.g., conservatives and Tea Party
members), politicians who lie to get their needs met (e.g., G. W. Bush and Dick
Chaney), and takes a general pro-liberal bent.<span style> </span>At the end of the show, Dionysos steps forward and addresses
the audience.<span style> </span>He urges them to
shake off lethargy, and to take action to resolve the earthly problems that
plague our times.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext">In spite of the cast wearing
microphones, The Cain Park is plagued by a sound system which makes much of the
dialogue and singing unintelligible.<span style>
</span>Since the lyrics are unfamiliar to many, the story is lost in the
sloshing sound.<span style> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext">The show is creatively staged
by Martin Friedman, the local Sondheim maven.<span style> </span>Friedman understands the complexity of Sondheim’s story
development and erudite lyrics, but not even he can overcome the script’s
weaknesses.<span style> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext">Dan Folino, portrays Dionysos
as a 60s stoner.<span style> </span>This is a little
strange as he relates that the play takes place “today.”<span style> </span>That withstanding, Folino has a strong singing
voice, and displays a nice sense of the ironic.<span style> </span>He doesn’t have the Nathan Lane comic aura, so some of the
extended humor that Lane added to the show is not present, but with the sound
as it was, we probably wouldn’t have heard the asides anyway.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext">Michael Regnier (George
Bernard Shaw) and Mitchell Fields (Shakespeare) both look amazingly like the
men they are portraying, and are wonderful in reciting the writings of “The
Shaw” and “The Bard.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext">The standout of the
production may well be wrestler turned dancer, Tom Sweeney.<span style> </span>The University of Michigan student
lights up the stage with his dancing and expressive face.<span style> </span>He would make a great candidate for
TV’s “Dancing With the Stars” competition and could step into a dancing role in
Broadway’s “Newsies” right now.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext">The highlight of the show is
Martin Céspedes’s choreography.<span style>
</span>The ability of his well-synced dancers to creatively change moods and
step-styles is impressive.<span style> </span>The
section where the dancers marched like Nazis, dressed in black suits, and
waving little flags emblazed with The Tea Party emblem, was meaning-filled and
delightful.<span style> </span>The dancing gives the
show its only creative texturing.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext">Musical Director Nathan
Motta’s orchestra is excellent, backing up rather than drowning out the
singers.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext">Ron Newell’s scenic design,
complete with a river of real running water, and Tesia Dugan Benson’s costumes
help in setting the right mood for the production</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style><span style="color:windowtext">Capsule judgement: Though the message of “The Frogs”
is generally clear, and Martin Friedman’s directing is on target, and Martin Céspedes’s
choreography is prime, the script, the music, and the lyrics fail to incite
much excitement.<span style> </span>The tepid
response of the audience on preview night brings into question the wisdom in
selecting this script.<span style> </span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style><span style="color:windowtext">“The
Frogs” runs from July 31-August 17 in the Alma Theatre of Cain Park in
Cleveland Heights.<span style> </span>For tickets
call </span><span style="color:windowtext">216-371-3000
or go on line to <a href="http://www.cainpark.com">www.cainpark.com</a></span></p>
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