The Frogs (musical)

The Frogs
Theatrical poster for the 2004 Broadway production of The Frogs
Music	Stephen Sondheim
Lyrics	Stephen Sondheim
Book	Burt Shevelove Nathan Lane
Basis	Aristophanes The Frogs
Productions	1974 Yale University 2004 Broadway Regional productions

The Frogs is a musical "freely adapted" by Stephen Sondheim and Burt Shevelove from The Frogs, an Ancient Greek comedy by Aristophanes, originally performed in Yale University's gymnasium's swimming pool in 1974.

Dionysus, despairing of the quality of living dramatists, travels to Hades to bring George Bernard Shaw back from the dead. William Shakespeare competes with Shaw for the title of best playwright, which he wins. Dionysus chooses to bring Shakespeare back instead, thereby improving the world, and its political situation. This original production is most famous for having Meryl Streep, Sigourney Weaver and Christopher Durang in its ensemble. Sondheim compared the acoustics of the original production to "performing in a urinal."

Shevelove first wrote and directed an adaptation of The Frogs in 1941, his senior year at Yale University. According to Mary-Kay Gamel, "His central production concept involved Charon and Dionysos rowing across the Exhibition Pool in the Payne Whitney Gymnasium, while the Frogs, played by members of the Yale swimming team, swam around the boat."

The Frogs was performed by the Yale Repertory Theatre in the Yale swimming pool, opening on May 20, 1974 for 8 performances. Shevelove directed, with choreography by Carmen de Lavallade and Larry Blyden as Dionysos. The piece used a Greek chorus: "Sondheim's works frequently focus on an ensemble of characters, a practice which has led one critic to compare his use of the chorus to Greek drama. In 1974, Sondheim was becoming interested in contrapuntal writing, and most of the songs in the 1974 version correspond to choral numbers in the Greek." Among those who reviewed it, the musical was a critical success, though it was rarely produced after its premiere.