By Bruce Karnick

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The Hastings High School Drama Club, Black Dirt Theater, and Hastings Community Education are working together to bring you, A Year with Frog and Toad a musical that made its way from Children’s Theater Company in Minneapolis to Broadway in New York City, and now to Hastings.

This musical, written by brothers Robert and Willie Reale is based on the children’s stories written and illustrated by Arnold Lobel. The story follows two amphibious friends over the course of a year through all four seasons. Frog, the happy, perky part of the pair, and Toad, the worrywart, can be seen hopping, flying and crawling through their adventures together.

The five cast member production was workshopped in New York in 2000 and the first production was premiered at the Children’s Theater in Minneapolis in August of 2002. That run ended in November od 2002 where it moved back to NYC to the Off-Broadway, New Victory Theater where it sold out for several weeks. The success pushed it to Broadway’s Cort Theater for 73 performances. The show is geared toward younger audiences, mostly the 3-10 age range.

The cast is made up of 2021 graduates, Nathan Schindler and Adam Iverson will be playing the roles of Frog and Toad respectively, Jenna Norgaard, Eliana Lawrence, and Ash Clark each play multiple supporting roles in the production.

According to the HHS Drama Club social media, Lawrence has a special connection to the show. “As a kid, Frog and Toad was a show that kickstarted my love for theatre. While growing up, the soundtrack was always playing, in the car, around the house, just about anywhere you can think of. As we perform this show to young audiences, I hope to inspire that same love for theatre.”

The show starts with Frog and Toad in hibernation and looking forward to Spring. The progression of the show happens with Frog looking out for his friend and their little adventures. It touches on basic feelings Sadness, Happiness, Excitement, Fear, etcetera. A recurring call back is regarding a letter that Frog sent to Toad because Toad is sad that he never receives mail. The issue is, Frog used Snail to send the mail and we all know Snail mail is frightfully slow.

The show will be performed two weekends. First at Hastings Middle School, 1000 11th St West, on Friday, August 13 and Saturday, August 14, both at 7:00 p.m. The second weekend will be Friday, August 20th at 5:30 at the Rotary Pavilion in Levee Park. That showing will be followed by Black Dirt Theater’s Improv at 7 and 9.

The admission is a free-will donation. According to the event description, ‘while not required, your donation is greatly appreciated!”

2021 HHS Graduates (L to R) Jenna Norgaard, Eliana Lawrence and Ash Clark round out the cast of A year with Frog and Toad. The trio play multiple characters in this short play. Photo Courtesy of The Hastings High School Drama Club

Hastings High School 2021 Graduates Nathan Schindler (L) will play the role of Frog and Adam Iverson (R) will play that of Toad. Photo courtesy of The Hastings High School Drama Club.