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CTC students prepare horticulture projects for entry at Bloomsburg Fair

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Happy birthday Brayden Patrick Nilon!

WILKES-BARRE &#8212; &#8220;Toad, you&#8217;ll be playing a washboard,&#8221; director Dave Reynolds called out as his cast rehearsed a musical number. &#8220;While Frog plays the banjo, you&#8217;ll have a washboard.&#8221;Hearing that, Andrew Martinez, of Wilkes-Barre, who portrays Toad in the King&#8217;s College production of &#8220;A Year With Frog and Toad,&#8221; immediately began to run his fingers over an imaginary, down-home scrubbing board.Other cast members raised their arms and cheered. This addition would add a little extra fun to the family-friendly show set to open on Thursday at the college&#8217;s George Maffei Theatre.And it was already fun.&#8220;It&#8217;s like seeing the book come to life,&#8221; said Talia Johnson, of Nazareth, who plays Snail in the show, which is based on a children&#8217;s book by Arnold Lobel.&#8220;It&#8217;s a goofy story,&#8221; said Dylan Koch, of Franklin, N.J., who portrays Frog.One of the silly elements is the way Snail spends a v&#8212;e&#8212;r&#8212;y, v&#8212;e&#8212;r&#8212;y, l&#8212;o&#8212;n&#8212;g time delivering a letter.&#8220;I move my arms really fast and my legs really slow, to give it a really funny look,&#8221; Johnson said.The show&#8217;s musical numbers have lyrics designed to charm adults as well as kids, such as when Turtle, Mouse and Lizard, played by Ashley Surdovel, of Topton; Dorothy Monforte, of Grahamsville, N.Y.; and Jessica Sudano, of Milford, sing about &#8220;Four things you cannot dispute: Bamboo comes from a bamboo shoot. Rutabaga comes from a rutabaga root. Bananas are the funniest fruit.&#8221;Oh, but what&#8217;s the fourth thing you can&#8217;t dispute?&#8220;Toad looks funny in a bathing suit!&#8221;Ouch. As the group of animals, even including his friend Frog, made fun of him, Toad squirmed and tried to make himself look smaller and less noticeable.The incident seems uncomfortable, but it might lead the rest of the animals to understand toads aren&#8217;t meant to swim the way frogs are.And, for the most part, the naturally upbeat Frog and the somewhat grumpy Toad try to be the best of friends.&#8220;His goal is to make Toad as happy as possible,&#8221; Koch said of Frog.Toad, for his part, becomes worried at one point in the story because Frog doesn&#8217;t show up when he expects him. A naturally worrywart, Toad is determined to rescue Frog from being stuck in a hole or chased by a wolf or whatever the problem might be.&#8220;Don&#8217;t worry, I&#8217;ll save you. I am not afraid,&#8221; he says.Reflecting a moment, he adds, &#8220;Well, I am, but I&#8217;ll be brave.&#8221;Reynolds said he can&#8217;t remember the last time the King&#8217;s Players staged a production with so much appeal for elementary-school and preschool audiences.&#8220;This is a chance to recharge everybody&#8217;s batteries,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We love our dark plays. We&#8217;ll do &#8216;Hamlet.&#8217; But it&#8217;s nice to take a step backward &#8230;&#8221;&#8220;Or a step forward,&#8221; assistant director A.J.Bonk interjected.The Tony Award-nominated musical is full of whimsy as well as vaudeville-style soft-shoe routines and birds whose personalities might remind you of the &#8220;Lion King&#8221; hyenas.Bringing children to see it would be an ideal way to introduce them to &#8220;the magic of theater,&#8221; cast members promised.But even adults who don&#8217;t bring kids will enjoy it, Johnson predicted. &#8220;It&#8217;s a great way to let go of stress.&#8221;<style>
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<div class="neCaption">From left, Dylan Koch and Andrew Martinez star as the title characters in the King&#8217;s College production of &#8216;A Year With Frog and Toad.&#8217; </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_Frog-and-Toad.jpg</photo0><caption0>From left, Dylan Koch and Andrew Martinez star as the title characters in the King&#8217;s College production of &#8216;A Year With Frog and Toad.&#8217; </caption0><photoCredit0>Submitted photo </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Mary Therese Biebelmbiebel@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta>IF YOU GOWhat: &#8216;A Year With Frog and Toad&#8217;Where: George P. Maffei II Theatre, King&#8217;s College administration building, 133 N. River St., Wilkes-BarreWhen: 7 p.m. Sept. 28 to 30 and Oct. 5 to 7 and 1 p.m. Sept. 30 and Oct. 1Tickets: $12 general admission; $7 for senior citizens; $5 for alumni and non-King&#8217;s students. Call the box office at 570-208-5825 or email boxoff@kings.edu. Special arrangements may be made for a subdued-lighting performance that children with autism may enjoy.</factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT.</shirttailMeta></div>

‘A Year With Frog and Toad’ to open at King’s College in WB on Sept. 28