4530 Colorado Ave., Sheffield Village, OH www.loraincountymetroparks.com/theatre (440) 949-5200
French Creek
Theatre
A Year with Frog and Toad MUSIC BY ROBERT REALE BOOK AND LYRICS BY WILLIE REALE Based on the books by ARNOLD LOBEL Originally presented on Broadway by Bob Boyett, Adrianne Lobel, Michael Gardner, Lawrence Horowitz and Roy Furman
World Premiere at The Children’s Theatre Company Minneapolis, Minnesota
A YEAR WITH FROG AND TOAD -TYA Is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI)All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. www.mtishows.com
–– PLEASE NOTE ––
The videotaping or other video or audio recording of this production is strictly prohibited
A Note from the director When I was first introduced to this show over a decade ago, I was immediately enchanted. The music is catchy, the characters are vibrant and the heart of the piece shines brightly. What is astounding to me is how it sticks with you. Over ten years later, I am still singing the songs, laughing at the jokes and wondering what the characters are up to. All of that is proof to me of how special this material is. At first glance, A Year With Frog and Toad seems like just a simple children’s show, but upon closer inspection, it brings a depth of feeling that is totally unexpected. But isn’t that the way with the best children’s stories? Winnie the Pooh, The Moomins, Beatrix Potter, The Velveteen Rabbit… all speak of simple journeys that illuminate deeper ideals; friendship, patience, respect, understanding. Frog and Toad lead us by the hand through their year and help us see the beauty around us and remember those themes. Ones I feel are especially important today. So, sit back, relax, grab a cookie, and let your inner child run free. If you let it, I promise you that A Year With Frog and Toad will enchant you, as well.
JOrdan Cooper Director
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Production Team Director...............................................................................Jordan Cooper Scenic Designer/Technical Director.......................Derek Green Stage Manager...........................................................Julie Billinghurst Assistant Stage Manager..............................................Jessica Dupee Sound Designer/Electrician/Rigger/ Special Effects/Carpenter...............................................Stan Kozak Choreographer.......................................................................Kristy Cruz Set Construction.......................................................Gretchen Woods Tech Team....................................................................................Wes Carney Cultural Arts Programmer..............................................Erin Moran
Cast Frog.............................................................................................Eric Fancher Toad........................................................................................Danny Simpson Bird 1............................................................................................Sarah Clare Bird 2..........................................................................Kate Leigh Michalski Snail.....................................................................Sara Danielle Chapman Man Bird..............................................................................Adam Rawlings
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Actor/Actress Bios
CAST Eric Fancher (Frog) was previously seen at French Creek in She Loves Me (Kodaly), You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown (Charlie), and Altar Boyz (Luke). Other past credits include Evil Dead: The Musical (Ash), The Rocky Horror Show (Brad), and The Texas Chainsaw Musical! (Steven) at Blank Canvas Theatre; A Little Night Music (Henrik), Merrily We Roll Along (Frank), and Violet (Monty) at Lakeland Civic Theatre; The Music Man: In Concert (Harold Hill), Godspell, and The Frogs (Charon/Aekos) at Cain Park. He is the founder and webmaster of Cleveland Stage Alliance, a website providing comprehensive information regarding all locallyproduced theatre in Northeast Ohio. He also works as a performer for The Musical Theater Project and a is monthly soloist at Unity Spiritual Center in Westlake. Eric is an Equity Membership Candidate, cancer survivor, and haberdasher at Men’s Wearhouse in Strongsville. Thank you to mom and dad. Much love to Sarah and the fur babies. Danny Simpson (Toad) is very excited to be performing this wonderful show with such talented friends. This is Danny’s
third production on the French Creek stage and would like to thank Jordan, Julie, Jess and Kristy for making this experience a memorable one. Danny graduated from John Carroll University with a B.A. in Communications and Theatre Arts and currently works in manufacturing. Favorite stage credits include Blank Canvas Theatre’s productions of We Will Rock You (Galileo Figaro) and Rocky Horror Picture Show (Riff Raff), Cain Park’s Ragtime (Father), Beck Center for the Arts’ production of American Idiot (Ensemble) and French Creek Theatre’s productions of The Last Five Years (Jamie Wellerstein) and She Loves Me (Georg Nowack). Danny would like to thank his friends, extended family, Cathy, Tasha, Bennie, and Molly for their unconditional love and support. Sarah Clare (Bird 1) has worked as an actor, director, c h o re o g r a p h e r and teacher all over Northeastern Ohio. She has a B.A. in Dramatic Arts from, Cleveland State University and received her AYA Integrated Language Pg. 5
Actor/Actress Bios Arts teaching license through Baldwin Wallace University’s education program. Favorite previous performing credits include A Little Night Music (Anne Egerman), You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown (Sally Brown), Into the Woods (Rapunzel), and Company (Kathy). By day Sarah works as the Associate Director of Theater Education at Beck Center for the Arts, where she also teaches early childhood and teen theater classes. She is incredibly thankful to be a part of this incredible show, with some of her favorite people on the planet. “Love to Eric, Charlie, Gizmo, Rory, and the outdoor babies. Thank you for supporting the arts, and live theater.” Kate Leigh M i c h alsk i (Bird 2) Past credits at French Creek Theatre include: She Loves Me (Amalia Balash), Parade (Lucille Frank). The Drowsy Chaperone (Mrs. Tottendale) ...Spelling Bee (Olive), You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown (Lucy); other credits Evil Dead: The Musical (Cheryl), We Will Rock You (Oz), Reefer Madness (Mae), The Texas Chainsaw Musical (Lucretia), Jekyll and Hyde: 2018 Benefit Concert (Lucy Harris), Ragtime (Emma Goldman), The Toxic Avenger (Mayor/Ma). Pg. 6 BFA Musical Theatre
Point Park University. Love you Mom! Love you Dad. Sara Danielle Chapman (Snail) is oozing with excitement to be back doing live theatre!
A da m Rawlings (Man Bird) is overjoyed to return to French Creek Theatre and to perform in front of a live audience again. Before the pandemic, he revolted as The Escapologist (Matilda) and then roller-skated into the role of Robert Martin (The Drowsy Chaperone). When he is not on stage, he works as a Patient Care Specialist or devours a pint of “Half Baked” while watching YouTube videos. Follow him on Instagram @adamerawlings. It’s a totally awesome page. Shoutout to my family, especially his nieces and nephew (Avery, Easton, Peyton, Zoey). With that being said, “..let us begin another year, A Year With Frog and Toad.” Enjoy the show!
Actor/Actress Bios
Production Team: Derek Green (Scenic Designer, Technical Director) French Creek Design Credits include Tuck Everlasting, Into the Woods, She Loves Me, Little Shop of Horrors, The Elephant Man, Children of Eden, I’m Not Rappaport, Bonnie & Clyde, Willy Wonka, Our Town, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Other design credits include Getting Near to Baby (Cleveland Play House); The Tempest, Richard II (Cleveland Shakespeare Festival); South Pacific, The Curious Savage, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (NDCL). Derek currently serves as the Associate Producer at Cleveland Play House. Julie Billinghurst (Stage Manager) is happy to be the SM for French Creek’s outdoor summer season! It’s so great to be back doing live theatre again! She has been stage managing for FC Theatre for the past 6 years. Some of her favorites include She Loves Me, The Drowsy Chaperone and The Last Five Years. Enjoy this fun and silly show with Frog and Toad! Special thanks to the amazing cast and crew! Teamwork makes the dream work! Stan Kozak (sound designer electrician, rigger, special effects, carpenter…) is credited for dozens of productions here at the French Creek Theater. Recently he also has served as sound designer/mentor/ systems tech for the Breen Center for
the Performing Arts. He is currently in his thirty-fifth seasons at Great Lakes Theater, has more than 50 design credits include Bat Boy: The Musical, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Comedy of Errors. Amadeus, You Can’t Take It With You, Private Lives, Into the Woods and the Tom Hanks’ benefit performances. His work in 1979 and 1981 with Geraldine Fitzgerald on Streetsongs at GLTF led to the original cast album. Mr. Kozak was the resident sound designer for four seasons at the Porthouse Theatre Company, including productions of Driving Miss Daisy, Niteclub Confidential and And a Nightingale Sang. His collaborations with Victoria Bussert at BaldwinWallace College include productions of Chess, Hair, Company, Cabaret, West Side Story, Tommy in Concert, Parade, the Ohio premiere of Stephen Sondheim’s Passion, and one of the first nonprofessional productions of Phantom of the Opera. For Cain Park, his design credits include Secret Garden, Fiddler on the Roof, Grease, Bat Boy, Tick, tick…Boom, Nine, The Wiz, Harold and Maude and Pippin. Mr. Kozak has also designed sound for Wit and Last Five Years for the Dobama Theater, Iolanthe and Sweeney Todd for the Cleveland Opera, I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change and Forbidden Broadway SVU for the Hanna Theatre and A Shayna Maidel, Brooklyn Boy and Pangs of the Messiah for the JCC. He has served as sound designer for the All-City Musical for the Cleveland school system for thirteen seasons. He also had the good fortune to have worked Pg. 7
Actor/Actress Bios with Bebe Neuwirth in her concert performance for the Ideastream Gala in 2005. He was honored to be among the first group of LORT sound designers to achieve recognition in USA 829. Kristy Cruz (Choreographer) is thrilled to be returning to French Creek (and theatre!) where she previously choreographed The Drowsy Chaperone and Big River. Her work has been seen throughout the Cleveland area and beyond on such stages as Near West Theatre, Blank Canvas Theatre, Cassidy Theatre, Aurora Community Theatre, and Solon Center For The Arts. Kristy most recently virtually choreographed Freaky Friday, her 18th show for Solon High School, where she has earned three Dazzle Award nominations for Best Choreography Execution. Kristy sends endless thanks to the cast, Julie, and Jess for all of their hard work, to Jordan for this wonderful opportunity to make magic with him again, and to her friends and family (especially Mom and Summer) for their constant support. Welcome back, enjoy the show! Jessica Dupee (Assistant Stage Manager) is so excited to continue working on the French Creek Theatre 2021 summer season as the Assistant Stage Manager for A Year with Frog and Toad! She has worked professionally for Ohio theatres including Ohio Shakespeare Festival, Porthouse Theatre, and Weathervane Playhouse. Thank you to Julie, Jordan,
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and Kristy for being champions in the rehearsal Gretchen Woods (set construction) is “toad-ally” excited to return for her 9th show at French Creek Theater! When she’s not building sets, making papier-mâché cows, running a spotlight, sewing patches on curtains or buttons on costumes, helping with prop changes, or shooting confetti onstage, Gretchen can be found creating a makeshift chipmunk haven in her yard (or buying yet another bag of birdseed for the pampered pests). Many thanks to her family for putting up with all of the late nights and improvised meals that go along with (community) showbiz! Wes Carney (tech team) is thrilled to be back to work with French Creek Theatre! This is his sixth show at FCT. He graduated from the University of Cincinnati, earning a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering, and currently works as an engineer in Cleveland. He is a Lakewood High School alumni where he was heavily involved in the Barnstormers Drama Club and was inducted into the Thespian Society. While he has filled several acting roles in the past, Wes’s true passion lies in set construction, run crews, spotlight operation, and plenty of other backstage roles. Wes had the privilege of designing the set for ‘Ordinary Days’ earlier this season. Wes hopes to take on technical theater as a bigger role in the future.”
French Creek
Theatre
Remaining 2021 outdoor season The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) [Revised] Aug 20 - 22, 2021 Carlisle Visitor Center, LaGrange
Featured are all 37 of Shakespeare’s plays, meant to be performed in 97 minutes, by three actors. Fast paced, witty, and physical, it’s full of laughter for Shakespeare lovers and haters alike. By Adam Long, Daniel Singer, Jess Winfield
Nightfall with Edgar Allan Poe
September 17 - 19, 2021 Bacon Woods Amphitheatre, Vermilion River Reservation Edgar Allan Poe stands alone in the flickering darkness of his mind, trying desperately to convince himself-and us- that he’s not mad. The spell he weaves brings us a highly theatrical adaptation of four tales of Poe himself considered his best: “The Raven,” “The Fall of the House of Usher’” “The Pit and the Pendulum,” and “The TellTale Heart.” Enter the world of Poe and Check your heartbeat at the door. By Eric Coble
Coming Soon!