A Year with Frog and Toad KIDS ShowKit

Bring the magic of Broadway to your classroom and school theater with these student adaptations of classic Broadway musicals. Each of these treasured tales is teacher-tested, kid-friendly, and custom tailored for success.   

The ShowKit includes all the resources you need for a successful production with easy suggestions for staging, costuming, and sets, making it a perfect opportunity for an all-school collaboration.

30 Libretto/Vocal Books
Piano/Vocal Score
Director's Script
30 Family Matters Booklets
Production Handbook
Cross-Curricular Book 
Digital Content Access – including accompaniment tracks, guide vocals, choreography videos, and show resources!

Note: School name, director name, and an email address MUST be provided to receive the licensing agreement and digital content. Your order cannot be completed without this information and will delay the arrival of materials.

The vocal parts have been carefully adapted to be sung by unchanged or changed voices and the script and score have been custom-tailored to make the show appropriate for young performers through the ninth grade. Upon placing your order, you will receive a Dramatic Performing Rights License from Hal Leonard Corporation which will allow your organization unlimited performing rights for one year.  

Who is eligible to purchase this showkit?
Accredited schools using actors in Grades K-9, including American schools with an APO address
Homeschool organizations

All other organizations must order directly from Music Theatre International (MTI).

Overview/Synopsis:

Adapted from the three-time-Tony-nominated Broadway hit comes A Year with Frog and Toad KIDS. Based on Arnold Lobel's well-loved books, the jazzy, upbeat score bubbles with melody. Part vaudeville, part make-believe, and all charm, this musical tells the story of a friendship that endures throughout the seasons.

This whimsical show follows two great friends - the cheerful, popular Frog, and the unusually grumpy Toad - through four seasons filled with all the outdoor fun one can imagine. Waking from hibernation, Frog and Toad plant gardens, swim, rake leaves, go sledding and learn life lessons along the way. Throughout the year, two best friends celebrate and rejoice in the differences that make them unique and special.

A Year with Frog and Toad KIDS is a fantastic first choice for young performers, with plenty of ensemble roles, accessible music and minimal sets and costumes.

Songs:
A Year with Frog and Toad
The Letter #1
Getta Loada Toad
The Letter #2
Cookies
Leaves: A Year with Frog and Toad
He'll Never Know
The Letter #3
Down the Hill
Merry Almost Christmas
Merry Almost Christmas (Reprise)
Finale: A Year with Frog and Toad

Cast of Characters:
Frog
Frog is a friendly, confidant, positive and caring character. This leading role requires a strong actor and singer. He should always seem comfortable solving Toad's problems and reacting to Toad's traumas. When auditioning, mix and match your Frog and Toad hopefuls into different pairs and determine the best chemistry.

Toad
Toad is serious, irritable, self-conscious yet an oddly charismatic character. The friendship that he shares with Frog must appear loyal through and through. This role requires a good actor and singer and should be one of your stronger students. Auditioning several pairs of Frogs and Toads will enable you to cast actors that can have fun with this "tight yet quirky" friendship.

Turtle
Turtle is a "rabble-rouser" and loves to get the whole gang to tease Toad in fun! This actor should be a strong singer and be able to be a comedian at the same time. He (or she) only has a solo in one number. Audition this student along with Mouse and Lizard to achieve a good trio for "Getta Loada Toad". There are solo singing lines for this role.

Mouse
Mouse is always able to ask all the right questions like a talk-show host. Mouse, like Turtle, is full of fun and they should have a good chemistry because of their call/response dialogue and song. This could be a good place to use a smaller child that can perform with mouse like qualities.

Lizard
Lizard is definitely the most confused of the Turtle, Mouse, Lizard trio, but eventually joins in the fun. He (or she) should be able to confidently sing the short solo and be a strong addition to the ensemble as an actor and singer.

Snails
The Snails are simply unflappable. They will deliver without fail "in the rain or sleet or snow." Cast actors that can deliver their songs with personality, confidence and musical accuracy. They have few spoken lines but their singing entrances are the comedic relief of the show.

Birds
The Birds communicate the passage of time (seasons) and set the stage for the story to follow. This is a great opportunity to cast children that have a good sense of musical timing and can sell their songs like cabaret singers! Have visual fun with your "bird family" and cast all size actors. Enjoy the "diva moments!"

Moles
The Moles should have expressive faces to convey the excitement in "Down The Hill" as well as sincerity in their angelic solo "Merry Almost Christmas". The Moles should be singers more than actors as their lines are few. A good choral blend sets them apart!

Squirrels
The Squirrels are full of mischief and the actors should be comfortable moving, talking and singing with squirrel like qualities. Cast actors that have good diction, as their soft shoe rendition of "He'll Never Know"" is wordy and quick. Play up the wonderful contrast between the Squirrels and Frog and Toad in this ballad!