Children’s Theatre Company’s Original, Tony®-Nominated Production of
A Year with Frog and Toad Leaps to the Stage

Minneapolis, Minn. – Children’s Theatre Company (CTC) is proud to present the return after 10 years of the audience favorite, A Year with Frog and Toad beginning April 18, 2017. The production is directed by Peter Rothstein (seven-time Ivey Award winner, Star Tribune Artist of the Year and Founding Artistic Director for Theater Latté Da) and choreographed by Daniel Pelzig (credits: Metropolitan Opera, Arena Stage, La Jolla Playhouse, Alliance Theater and Broadway), who choreographed the original production as well. Starring Ivey Award winner Bradley Greenwald as Frog and CTC Company Member Reed Sigmund as Toad, the production premiered at CTC in 2002. Immediately following its premiere, the production transferred to the New Victory Theatre (OffBroadway) then to the Cort Theatre (Broadway) where it was nominated for three Tony® Awards including Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score. The original Broadway sets (designed by Adrianne Lobel, Frog and Toad author Arnold Lobel’s daughter), costumes and props, which were created by CTC artisans, are included in this production.

“One of the most gratifying aspects of working with Children’s Theatre Company on Frog and Toad was working with their amazing artisans – painters, builders and prop artists,” reflects Scenic Designer Adrianne Lobel (Arnold Lobel’s daughter) on the development of the work. “It is a little known fact that many of the objects from the books – like the arm chairs and mantle clock – are ones I grew up with that my father put into the books. To then recreate these objects back into the ‘real world’ was a very moving experience.”

“A Year with Frog and Toad is a celebration of friendship – a deep friendship based on patience, kindness and understanding,” states Director Peter Rothstein. “In many ways Frog and Toad are polar opposites and yet they are best of friends and true advocates. It's a profound thing to have an advocate in the world, and to be an advocate for someone who is quite different from yourself.”

Waking from hibernation in the spring, the perky Frog and the worrywart Toad plant gardens, swim, rake leaves, go sledding, and learn life lessons through four, fun-filled seasons. The amphibian odd couple celebrate and rejoice in their differences that make them the best-est of friends while joined by a colorful cast of birds, mice, turtles, and that slo-o-ow snail with the mail. Nominated for three Tony® Awards including Best Musical, this unforgettable and tuneful musical is back on our stage after almost a decade! Don’t miss this exuberant story based on the treasured books by Arnold Lobel in a musical that soars like a kite and blossoms like spring.

A Year with Frog and Toad runs April 18 through June 18, 2017 on the UnitedHealth Group Stage and is recommended for all ages. Tickets are on sale now starting at $15. For more information, visit childrenstheatre.org or call the Ticket Office at 612.874.0400. This work is supported by Deluxe Corporation, Piper Jaffray and Thomson Reuters.

Children’s Theatre Company (CTC) is the nation’s largest and most acclaimed theatre for multigenerational audiences. It creates theatre experiences that educate, challenge, and inspire for more than 275,000 people annually. CTC is the only theatre focused on young audiences to win the coveted Tony Award® for Outstanding Regional Theatre and is the only theatre in Minnesota to receive three Tony® nominations (for its production of A Year with Frog and Toad). CTC is committed to producing world class productions at the highest level and to developing new works, more than 200 to date, dramatically changing the canon of work for young audiences.

CTC’s engagement and learning programs annually serve more than 85,000 students ages 2-18 through Theatre Arts Training, student matinees, Bridges, and early childhood arts education programs that bring students to the theatre and bring teaching artists into the classroom. The ACT One program is CTC’s comprehensive platform for access, diversity and inclusion in our audiences, programs, staff, and board that strives to ensure the theatre is a home for all people, all families, reflective of our community. www.childrenstheatre.org