Frog Kiss - A World Premiere

A Note from the Artistic Director

I vividly remember the first time I read the script for FROG KISS, the exceptional new musical having its world premiere at the Wells. I was enjoying a beer and steamed shrimp over a July 4 weekend at the Coinjock Marina (great seafood an hour south on the road to Nags Head). Broadway producer Tamara Tunie had sent me the play, raving about it herself, but she was a biased producer and the play was a love story about a frog! I opened the binder ready to roll my eyes, wondering whether I’d need a second beer just to make it through to the Second Act. Instead I was enchanted by page three. I listened to the show’s smashing music on the drive back to Norfolk and called Tunie about producing the premiere as soon as I hit town.

 It’s funny to think back now to that August afternoon noon - and recall neatly printed lines filling fresh white pages - as I watch the show it has all become. Of the many productions I’ve watched mounted on the Wells stage, FROG KISS may be the most alive. It’s certainly the biggest. Perhaps it’s also the most pure fun.

What’s surprised me the most is how closely the show on the stage resembles what I’d imagined reading the play on the page. Bringing imagination to life in this art form is tough and risky work. It means countless design concepts and technical drawings, casting calls and agent negotiations, dance rehearsals and costume fittings – the list goes on and on. Sadly, it can go wrong at any point.

But not this time. Suddenly, it’s opening night and there it all is. Exactly as pictured. To my great surprise and joy, FROG KISS has turned into a stage fairytale through a fairy tale creation.

A basket of steamed shrimp and a love story about a frog. We never know where a true fairytale is about to lead.

Chris Hanna
Artistic Director