Lincoln Center Theater presents
The Frogs, a musical adaptation of the Aristophanes comedy
written in 405 B.C., freely adapted by Burt Shevelove, now
even more freely adapted by Nathan Lane, with music and lyrics
by Stephen Sondheim, and direction and choreography by Susan
Stroman.
In The Frogs, the Greek god Dionysos (Nathan Lane) is troubled
by the world's ills. He embarks on a perilous and frog-infested
journey to Hades with his slave Xanthias (Chris Kattan) to
bring back an extraordinary writer who, by providing words
of wit and wisdom, will help save mankind from self-destruction.
The cast of 28 also features John Byner, Peter Bartlett, Daniel
Davis, Burke Moses and Michael Siberry.
Stephen Sondheim and Burt Shevelove's adaptation of Aristophanes'
The Frogs premiered in 1974 featuring students of the Yale
Drama School in a university swimming pool. That cast included
newcomers Christopher Durang, Meryl Streep and Sigourney Weaver,
among others. The ancient play focuses on a debate between
Aeschylus and Euripides, to determine who the greater artist
is. The winner of the contest returned to Earth with Dionysus
to save civilization.
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