RELATABLE FRIENDSHIP Theatre Department takes the stage in "A Year With Frog and Toad" The beginning of the fall semester marked a momentous occasion for the Theatre Department. The Searcy Summer Dinner Theatre had its normal running season in June and July, showing "A Year with Frog and Toad." However, the theater owner and Professor of Theatre Steve Frye decided to do something he had never previously done. Because most cast members would return in the fall as students, he continued the show through the first weekend of the fall semester, making "A Year with Frog and Toad," Harding's longest running show. "Extending a show is something that we always wanted to do, but because of the casting, it was never quite feasible,'' show director and Assistant Professor of Theatre Dottie Frye said. "This show was different because all but one person would be returning as a student." Auditions for the show were held in May, and the decision was made to cast only college-age actors. "Due to the nature of the show, the physicality, it just seemed like a better bet to go with college students,'' Dottie Frye said. "I knew I was going to have hard workers because I have worked with every one of the actors before." "A Year with Frog and Toad" was quite literally that: a year in the life of a frog and a toad who were best friends. The musical began and ended with the birds flying back from their winter homes as Frog and Toad awoke from hibernation. It had many different chapters with seemingly little coherency. The variety included episodes about cookies, swimming, sleeping, snow sledding and Christmas. However, all of these were connected by a common theme. "It is the story of life in little snippets that fit together through the bond of friendship,'' senior cast member Dustyn Stokes said. Frog and Toad's friendship had its ups and its downs; they even refused to speak to each other for an entire season. In the end, however, the two shared such an incredible bond, they could hardly handle to be apart from one another. "A Year with Frog and Toad" became Harding's longest running production with 12 shows spanning over two months. Because only six actors played a total of 18 roles, the show demanded patience and dedication from every participant. The whole play was produced within a matter of weeks. Long rehearsals, held as often as five days a week, helped strengthen the already powerful bonds between the actors, all of whom had worked with one another in previous productions. "They all bought into the play's central concept of friendship, and it all grew from there," Dottie Frye said. "The ease with each other grew as we all got to know each other better. The cast members learned more about their characters and in turn learned more about themselves." While the cast grew closer together, so did the crew members who worked behind the scenes. "We became a very close-knit group," props mistress junior Angela Duggins said. "Almost everyone had worked with each other in Spring Sing and had already formed bonds with one another." As the actors, stage crew and directors worked together to produce "A Year with Frog and Toad," they realized the experience became more about their own lives than just about producing a quality show. When asked about the bond between the cast members, Stokes said, "We saw the ups and downs of each other, just like Frog and Toad, but we had to stick through it because we became a family. But just like they fought and made up, so did we. The play parallels life." Grant Schol 105 HOURS OF PRACTICE m the epic 20 costume changes 18 ~haracte~s 6 cast members story 83
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