Frog Kiss

This adaptation of the fairy tale THE FROG PRINCE took a bawdy direction, making it a bit of a confusing piece of musical theatre. The jokes tend to be too “adult” for a children’s audience and yet anyone in Western culture would assume they should take their kids to a “Frog Prince” musical. Eric Schorr needs to think about his book with regards to exactly who his audience might be. It isn’t adult enough for adults and it’s too adult for children below middle school. The score by Charles Leipart is fun, but it isn’t unified in style, starting out as a swing score with “Manhattan Transfer” vocals and then engaging in the other styles found at a ballroom competition. If “Ballroom” is the style, then it doesn’t hold together the kooky book. The key elements of the shallow children’s story are in tact and it is the duty of the authors to flesh out the limited characters into three dimensional people and to, perhaps, give reason to the random plot points of the simple tale. This challenge was only half met. The original story teaches the reader to keep a promise. The promise is that the princess must marry the frog. There is a slight ick factor with regards to wedding night issues––an issue discussed among the characters. In the original story a witch casts a spell on a prince, turning him into a frog. The frog insists that he is a prince, but the humans of the story don’t believe him. Finally, after making a deal for the Princess to let him live in the palace and live like the prince he is, the Princess, disgusted by the fact that the frog kisses her, throws the frog against a wall which breaks the spell. Poof! Now he’s a human prince again. In FROG KISS we never get the Witch/Prince back story and so we believe that the frog is just a frog. This only adds to the bestiality subtext.

On the other hand, some of the fleshing out of the story is interesting, such as the Princess going through the various methods of training the Frog to be more human. In the process she finds she is falling in love with the Frog just as he is. Good message, but is she really going to marry a frog? Lucky for all of us the unexplained magic of throwing the Frog against the wall works and he becomes human before the wedding. Another twist is added when Claus (Theis Weckesser), the male character of the second couple, has always longed to “come out” as the frog he truly is inside. A little toss against the wall and his dream comes true, humiliating his wife Hortense (Manna Nichols) in the process. This is supposed to be funny, but it’s a little wacky and prolongs the stretched out material too far without good reason. Also, Claus’ coming out is definitely worked in as a gay story parallel––yet another plot point that doesn’t make sense in a children’s story. Not that this musical, by nature of its source material, has to be for children, but the assumption is naturally there. If the show is really for adults, then it isn’t sophisticated enough. Really, it should find the balance of the best Disney classic films where the humor and treatment of the them registers with adults and isn’t inappropriate for the kids. This is what is meant by “family” musical.

FROG PRINCE was a presentation of the New York Musical Theatre Festival and was nicely produced. The cast was wonderful, with Hanley Smith as a delightful Princess Clementine and the outstanding Curtis Holbrook as the Frog. Holbrook is formerly WEST SIDE STORY’S “Action” and his dancing skill was put to great use. He created an endearing character, both physically and vocally. His presence on stage was so dynamic that it was difficult to take your eyes off him, even when surrounded by the entire cast.

A superb band of six was lead by Daryl Waters. Orchestrations were by Daryl Waters and made the show sparkle. Lorna Ventura choreographed some spirited numbers and used the great talents of Curtis Holbrook to the fullest. Kenneth L. Roberson directed, pulling all the elements together and giving the disjointed material as cohesive a production as could be possible. This was an enjoyable entertainment to sit through, but it is a curiosity and needs a serious rethinking to work the idea into a show that will make sense as family entertainment and as a unified work.