High school theater is a rite of passage for many students, but for the cast and crew of Mt. Ararat Stage Company’s “A Year with Frog and Toad,” it’s much more.
Ashby Hayward, as the amiable, easygoing Frog, and Lyra Legawiec, the anxious, less confident Toad, are both seniors this year. Both have been with the company since they started high school. Both said they have been changed by the experience.
“I found myself in this program. I discovered who I am,” Hayward said. “It’s 100% been life-changing.”
With leadership from professionals in the industry, the school’s drama program combines a rigorous schedule with creative exploration and practical instruction to impart lessons students expect to stay with them long after the final curtain call.
For theater students like Hayward and Legawiec, their commitment starts with auditions for the fall play in September and ends with the final performance of the spring musical in March.
Hayward said mentorship from Adam Blais, co-director of the program and director of the spring musical, is a critical component of the experience.
“The most important thing I’ve learned from Adam is that it’s OK to be emotional and vulnerable on that stage,” Hayward said. “I apply that lesson to my life every single day.”
There are other takeaways: the importance of a dedicated team with a strong work ethic and the sense of achievement when he and his castmates receive a standing ovation after a successful performance.
“It’s an adrenaline shock to the system,” he said. “And it’s the most fulfilling and overwhelmingly love-filled feeling in the world.”
Legawiec grew up around theater. Her father, Stephen, founded the Camden Shakespeare Festival. Her mother, Dana, is also a theater professional and directed her in elementary school plays.
“I’m still kind of figuring out where I’d like to go career-wise, but I know that I want to continue performing,” she said. “And I want to keep theater in my life for basically my entire life.”
Exploring characters and motivations has given Legawiec a better grasp on her sense of empathy and emotional understanding. Working with Blais taught her to delve deeper.
“I think he takes a really sophisticated approach to working with us because we’re high schoolers,” she said. “I think, especially with Frog and Toad, this is really important. Nothing that we do, no storytelling we do, is ever surface level.”
William Agius cut his acting teeth with the Brunswick-based Theater Project. A junior, he is interested in a career in law or politics.
“One of the most important things that I’ve learned throughout my time with this theater company is that we’re all playing individual roles, but all of those roles are part of the same show,” he said. “We have to work together and we have to show up for our classmates in order to put on a show that we can be proud of.”
Sophomore Dashiell Legawiec, Lyra’s younger brother, started acting as a child with a toy boat representing the storm in Shakespeare’s “The Tempest.”
“Whether it’s choreography, delivery of lines, or music, we are expected to bring as much as we can,” he said of performing with Mt. Ararat Stage Company. “We work a lot on polishing in rehearsal. There’s a lot of nitpicking things … but it’s really what turns the show from a good show to a great show.”
At performances of “Frog and Toad,” that dedication and attention to detail showed in the smooth staging, the precision of the choreography, the clarity of the vocal performances — and the enthusiasm of the audience. Audience members have compared Mt. Ararat’s shows favorably to professional productions in Portland and Boston.
Kristen Thomas, co-director of the program with Blais and production manager for “Frog and Toad,” has been with Mt. Ararat for 14 seasons and is responsible for gathering the team of experts that helps the company’s productions inspire those comparisons.
An award-winning actress and singer, Thomas is often in the front row during rehearsals, a second set of eyes and ears helping fine-tune the performance. And settling nerves.
“Sometimes kids have a hard time understanding that it’s theater — things happen,” she said. “Things are going to break. You’re going to forget a line. Something will happen. It’s the joy and terror of live performing.”
Blais has been running the Mt. Ararat drama program with Thomas for 13 years while maintaining a professional position with The Public Theater in Lewiston. He is revered by the cast for his theater expertise and for the intangible lessons he imparts throughout the production process.
“When we do theater, we’re equals,” he said of working with young performers. “At the end of the day, we’re all telling the same story with the same truth.”
Costume designer Travis Grant has won national and regional awards for his work, including a regional Broadway World Award for Best Costume Design of the Decade (2010-2020) for his work with Maine State Music Theatre.
Jim Alexander brings national and international experience to his role as technical director. He has worked as a production manager, a lighting supervisor and a master electrician for organizations like the Shakespeare Theatre Company, the Netherlands Dance Theatre, and the Central Ballet of China.
“A Year with Frog and Toad” was a passion project for the advising team. The lesser-known Broadway show based on Arthur Lobel’s classic children’s books let them explore themes of friendship in ways both simple and sophisticated.
“I’ve always gravitated towards the script and the score of it,” Blais said. “The music is incredibly strong — it’s really well written and it’s really jazzy. The harmonies are incredible.”
The four shows on the weekend of March 6-8 included one performance with American Sign Language interpreters and another designed to be sensory-friendly — less dark, less loud, with more freedom to move around during the show.
Carolyn Sweet attended the latter performance with 22-year-old daughter Jaclyn. Jaclyn’s sister Madelyn, who played one of the birds, has been acting since she was 4, but Jaclyn had never seen her on stage.
“My daughter’s autistic. She doesn’t speak, so she’s very vocal with her excitement,” Carolyn Sweet said. “And she can’t sit for very long.”
But Jaclyn Sweet sat spellbound through the entire performance.
“A Year with Frog and Toad” was the culmination of three months of work, with rehearsals three to five times a week that started at 2.5 hours and expanded to six-hour sessions as opening night approached.
That level of commitment and intensity fostered tight bonds within the cast and crew. As they left the stage after the final performance, Lyra Legawiec and Hayward turned toward each other and embraced. Like Frog and Toad, they’re friends.
