A fabulous cast finds its funny as gods, mortals and more in Sondheim’s merry musical fable
One of many potent reasons for admiring Stephen Sondheim is his eclectic range of subject matter. From Sweeney Todd, the murderous barber of Fleet Street, to the reunion of still sparkling retired chorus girls in Follies, he and his collaborators excel in storytelling onstage through song, dance and music – often about unlikely sounding subjects.
The Frogs has perhaps one of the most unlikely origin stories of any of his musicals, Aristophanes’ ancient Greek comedy of the same name (dating from 405 BC), which features a chorus of the eponymous amphibians. There are gods, too, as well as the odd mortal, at least two of whom are famous playwrights. George Bernard Shaw and William Shakespeare are sought out in Hades (AKA the underworld) by the immortal Dionysus (god of wine and drama) to compete for the crown of best ever playwright, and thus solve the lack of contemporary dramatic talent. Accompanied by his mortal sidekick, Xanthias, a resourceful slave, Dionysus boards the ferry to Hades to brave his worst fears – a huge colony of unpredictable leaping frogs making waves around the boat.
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