As was mentioned yesterday, Burke Moses is, indeed, in The Frogs, unlike Mr. Kattan.
Warning, long post ahead:
I saw The Frogs Friday evening. It's a mixed bag. While I'm always glad to see Sondheim, this is not vintage or great Sondheim. Perhaps part of the problem will be fixed by the replacement of Mr. Kattan. He just didn't work in the role of Xanthias (sp) the slave. Not that there is ANYTHING WRONG with being a sketch comic, but I don't think you can throw a sketch comic into a production with solid theatre performers and have him come out looking good. He was the weakest link in the show. His singing was adequate (although he doesn't have much to sing) and there wasn't a great deal of chemistry between him and Lane. He also came off as the gayest slave this side of Athens. Which is fine, except in Act Two he is supposed to be hot for an Amazon Queen.
Most of the first act dragged. There are two good numbers, Invocation and Instructions to the Audience(which many people may be familiar with) and a quite nice number called Adriadne, a number which Nathan Lane sings to his late wife. The score is somewhat different from the recording that came out (I think it was released last year) paired with Evening Primrose. The other number in Act One that I liked was Dress Big. It's not great but it was given a very good performance from the aforementioned Burke Moses. He's excellent in the small role (funny since he's so literally big) of Herakles.
The show gets much better in Act Two when we get the debate between Shakespeare and Shaw. Daniel Davis plays Shaw and I didn't recognize him until I checked the program after the performance. He was wonderful. Davis may be best known to many people as the Butler from Fran Dreschers' television show, The Nanny. I also saw him in Talking Heads off-Broadway last year. The man is a wonderful, talented actor. Michael Siberry who plays Shakespeare is also excellent.
I'm not sure the show will hold up as a long-standing musical theatre piece. It feels like a "piece of its time" if that makes any sense. While I certainly have no problem with the "tone" of the political arguments expressed in the show, and while they could be applied to most politicians at some point in history, much of the banter seems so current that when the show and the current political crises (plural of crisis although it just doesn't look correct in print) have passed, I don't know if the show will seem so funny. The debate between Shaw and Shakespeare (with some Dionysus thrown in), though, is quite wonderful and worth listening to on its own.
As I mentioned, there is nothing outstanding in the score. As with Bounce, there were moments when I said to myself, "Self" I said, there are strains of many other Sondheim shows here and there, Company, Forum. That being said, if there is a recording of the show, I will most likely purchase it, since I am so fond of Mr. Sondheim's work in general. I would want this piece for my collection.
All that being said, DR Matt H., I would recommend getting a ticket for the show if you can. Especially now that Roger Bart is replacing Chris Kattan. It could be a whole new first act with him playing Xanthias. Even if Equity goes on strike this week, Frogs won't be affected because it operates under a LORT contract, as does Assassins (though that's closing on Sunday), After the Fall and Sight Unseen. It's also been reported in the paper today that Boy From Oz signed a separate new contract with Equity so that if they strike, BFO will stay open working under the new contract. The other Broadway producers, apparently, have signed a letter saying that they will NOT do what BFO did. They will negotiate as a single unit and not create separate contracts for each show, something that Equity seems to be willing to do.
That's it for The Frogs.
I'll be back.
