The Frogs (1974)
Words & Music: Stephen Sondheim
Written by: Arisophanes in 405 BC and "free adapted in 1974" by Burt Shevelove
Premise: Demigod Dionysos, appalled by political corruption and cultural emptiness, travels to the Underworld with his servant Xanthias to bring back a writer who can help save the world. Comic encounters, role reversals and a chorus of frogs lead to a verbal sparrinb contest between George Bernard Shaw and William Shakespeare. The debate centers on moral responsibility, ending with a blunt appeal to artists and citizens to choose moral courage over cynicism. Can theatre – and democracy – still change society when it matters most?
Background: Sondheim and Shevelove developed The Frogs in the early 1970s amid political unrest in the USA. Commissioned as a modest piece for students, it was conceived as an experimental, topical response to the Vietnam War and a growing sense of civic disengagement. Shevelove "freely adapted" Aristophanes, sharpening the satire and expanding moments of direct address, while Sondheim supplied a compact score blending vaudeville styles with pointed, contemporary lyrics. Intentionally designed for minimal resources, the show emphasized performance, language and audience connection over spectacle. Yale University premiered The Frogs in 1974, famously staging it in a swimming pool – aligned with the show’s experimental spirit, its collegiate origins and its embrace of playful theatrical solutions over polish or scale. Decades later, the actor Nathan Lane encouraged Sondheim to revisit the piece, prompting an expanded version with new songs and material for its 2004 Broadway premiere.
Major productions/concert performances/recordings:
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1990 Old Brentford Baths Production
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2000 Library of Congress Concert
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2001 Studio Recording
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2004 Broadway Revival (Lincoln Center)
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2017 London Revival (Jermyn Street)
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2023 Lincoln Center Concert
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2025 London Revival (Southwark Playhouse)
Yale University Repertory Production (1974)
Yale Exhibition Swimming Pool, New Haven, Connecticut
Opens: 20 May 1974
Closes: 26 May 1974
Performances: 8
Producer/Director: Yale Repertory Theatre
Director: Burt Shevelove
Choreographer: Carmen de Lavallade
Musical Director: Don Jennings
Scenery Designer: Michael H. Yeargan
Costume Designer: Jeanne Button
Lighting Designer: Carol M. Waaser
Stage Manager: Frank S. Torok
Selections from Shakespeare and Shaw Selected and Arranged by Michael Feingold
Cast:
Dionysos: Larry Blyden
Xanthias: Michael Vale
Herakles: Dan Desmond
Charon: Charles Levin
Hierophantes: Ron Recasner
Aeakos: Alvin Epstein
A Handmaiden: Carmen de Lavallade
An Innkeeper's Wife: Carmen de Lavallade
An Innkeeper: Stephen R. Lawson
Pluto: Jeremy Dempsey
William Shakespeare: Jerome Geidt
Bernard Shaw: Anthony Holland
Guards: Joseph Costa, Jonathan Marks, Gil Rochon III, Paul Schierhorn
Flagbearers: Christopher Brown, Darryl Hill
A Band of Initiates: Singers: Joan Berliner, Peter Bogyo, Alma Cuervo, Franchelle Stewart Dorn, Christopher Durang, Beth Hatton, Brock Holmes, Richard Larsen, Stephen R. Lawson, Susan LeFevre, Robert Picardo, Ron Recasner, Gil Rochon III, Stephen Rowe, Jeremy Smith, Kate McGregor-Stewart, Meryl Streep, David Thomas, Scott Ulmer, Bob Van Nest, Sigourney Weaver, and Donald Woodall
A Band of Initiates: Dancers: Diana Belshaw, Linda K. Harold, Ron Porter, Nora Peterson, Diana Raffman, Susan Strassburger, Alfonso Wilson, and Kathryn Woglom
A Splash of Frogs: Steve Edelson (The Leader), Wade Agurcia, Michael Armstrong, Robert Barnett, Michael Cadden, Jack Callahan, Gary Cavaliere, Peter Crawford, David B. Fisher, Ed Hornsby, Alexander Lawler, Quentin Lawler, Frank Lawlor, Kevin Lawlor, Dave Lichten, Pat Monahan, Ralph Redpath, Curt Sanburn, Ted Stein, Jose A. Taboada, and Richard Taus
Understudies: Robert Brustein (Shaw), Charles Levin (Dionysos), Jonathan Marks (Xanthias), Eric A. McFarland (Harakles), Paul Schierhorn (Shakespeare), Sigourney Weaver (Handmaiden/Innkeeper's Wife)
Musical Numbers:
Fanfare – Orchestra
"Prologos: Invocation to the Gods and Instructions to the Audience" – Dionysos and Xanthias
Travel Music [chant] – Frogs
"Parodos: The Frogs" – Frogs
"Hymnos: Evoe!" – Dionysians
"Parabasis: It's Only a Play" – Dionysians
"Paean: Evoe for the Dead"
"Invocation to the Muses" – Dionysians and Dionysos
"Fear No More" – Shakespeare
"Exodos: The Sound of Poets" – Dionysians
Yale University Band:
Flute/Piccolo: Lori Laitman
Oboe/English Horn: Rami Levin
Bassoon: Frank Holden, Bill Cobb, Wendy Haskins
French Horn: Karen Toupin, Mark Leder
Trumpet: Chris Standless, James Sinclair
Trombone: Tom Olcott, Randy Brion
Percussion: Peter Wasserman
Mallets: Roberta Brockman
String Bass: Bruce Rosenblum
Harp: Sarah Cutler
Rehearsal Accompanists: Bob Goldstone, Carol Lees, Amy Rubin
Pictured: An advertisement for The Frogs; production still © Eugene Cook, 1974: Larry Blyden (standing), Charles Levin (seated) and the company of The Frogs.
