![]() ![]() The song opens with Dionysos and his slave Xanthias – played by Roger Bart – asking the Gods of the Theater to “bless our play and smile on us” before launching into a list of dos and don’ts for the audience: WHEN THERE’S A PAUSE, PLEASE, LOTS OF APPLAUSE, PLEASE. He also updated lyrics, like in his wonderfully humorous opening “Invocation and Instructions to the Audience”. In the end, he contributed six new songs to the show. It was thrilling to think we would be collaborating with Sondheim on new music. As we sat there discussing the plight of the American theater, Nathan said, “What would you think of revisiting The Frogs?” To our delight and surprise, Sondheim said, “Yes, I’m on board.” Nathan and I bravely called Sondheim and we were immediately invited to his home for lunch. If he were to say yes, that would mean writing new songs – and you never know if an artist wants to revisit their previous works. I knew we would have to ask Sondheim for his permission and to implore him to join us in developing this short one act into a full evening. I was so excited about all the possibilities. As a satirist, Aristophanes used Dionysos as his voice to address the audience with the news of the day. Nathan said he wanted to take a crack at opening up the book and to also play the title role of Dionysos. The Peloponnesian War was devastating their empire and Aristophanes, like Nathan, didn’t feel the leaders of our country were addressing the nation with care. Nathan presented me the original Shevelove/Sondheim materials and I was completely taken with how pertinent the story was for the day – this was only a year after September 11th and people were still reeling. In 405 BCE, Athens was facing the same problems that we were grappling with in the present. But that was all I knew – college kids singing Sondheim in a swimming pool. When he said, “ The Frogs” I recognized the title right away from the legendary theater tales of its staging in the Yale University swimming pool. I got a call from Nathan one day, asking to meet up – “I have an idea I want to put in front of you”. The Frogs: A New Broadway Musical “even more freely adapted" by Nathan Lane. Ultimately, Dionysos decides to bring back the poet to save civilization.Ĭut to – The Vivian Beaumont Theater 2004. While in the underworld, Dionysos stages a contest, pitting Shaw against William Shakespeare to see who is the better writer. In this version, Dionysus travels to Hades, accompanied by his slave Xanthias, to bring back George Bernard Shaw in order to save civilization. ![]() The Frogs is a musical “freely adapted" by Burt Shevelove and Stephen Sondheim from Aristophanes’ original work. Ultimately, Dionysos decides to bring back the poet to save civilization.Ĭut to – Yale 1947. ![]() While in the underworld, Dionysos stages a contest, pitting the playwright Euripides against the poet Aeschylus to see who is the better writer. It tells the story of the god Dionysos – who travels to Hades, accompanied by his slave Xanthias, to bring back Euripides in order to save the city of Athens. The Frogs is a comedy written by the ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes in 405 BCE. ![]()
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