The Frogs
Lincoln Center Theater, New York City

Review by Stephanie Nolasco

A large audience chatters away in a spacious theater, while martini glass cups clink and candy wrappers are ripped apart. The lights slowly dim and all sound ceases. Twinkling light bulbs slowly transform into glossy blood drops, drenched in mountainous curtains. Suddenly, the curtains open, revealing marble Greek statues. Two Greek men, one claiming to be a god, stares excitedly towards the audience. Future meets past as modern day New Yorkers attend a presentation of The Frogs, a musical adapted by Burt Shevelove and originally composed by Aristophanes. However hard it leaps, the revival of the 405 B.C. comedy achieves unamusing results.

In a scene familiar to a modern audience, The Frogs is set in a war-plagued zone, where the Greek god Dionysus sets off on a journey into Hades to capture a playwright who can inspire freedom from worldly corruption. But if the purpose is to lure the audience away from current social problems to a fictional world, that purpose is butchered by Nathan Lane's inadequate attempt to serve as both moral advocate and drama queen. I would expect the two-time Emmy Award winner to successfully draw his audience away from what that most dreaded subject: current events. With song titles such as "It's Only a Play" and "Fear No More" that imply exactly the opposite, "The Frogs" makes Broadway into a tired joke, with Las Vegas dancers, cheesy cigarette lighter costumes, and hordes of plastic bombshells leaping from sheer scarves. Wait, am I in a Broadway production or a dimming cabaret?

The Frogs, starring prestigious actor/comedian Nathan Lane, has been one of the leading Broadway compositions with A-List actors, since the production of "The Boy From Oz," starring Hugh Jackman. So, it's not surprising that The Frogs even had Tyler Hanes from "Oz" as part of their elaborate ensemble. Lane stars as the Greek god Dionysus and enlivens the stage with his humorous remarks, wacky facial expressions, and haughty imitation of a metrosexual. He even goes so far as act in a romantic scene with co-star Kathy Voytko, which proves unrealistic and mechanical.

When the audience is not subjected to political polemic, they are hearing a quoted lecture between George Bernard Shaw (Daniel Davis) and William Shakespeare (Michael Siberry). By the way, I was secretly ecstatic that Shakespeare won the quote battle. He was clearly the better writer and performer.

Despite it all, I was entranced by the fire belly bouncing frogs act, consisting of bungee cords and neon flaming costumes designed by William Ivey Long. At least one portion of the play stole me away from current issues, as Broadway should. Yet I was surprised that choreographer Susan Stroman, best known for Contact, relied on bungee cords for her elaborate background.

Although The Frogs had its memorable moments, like any typical Broadway play, I wasn't pleased on being subjected to a political lecture, coated with sugar in the form of dance, comedy, and song. Wasn't Michael Moore's infamous film, Fahrenheit 9/11, enough to endure? Broadway and politics simply clash, leaving a sour aftertaste, and The Frogs is perfect proof.