UTS Students Stage Australian Premiere of Little-Known Sondheim

UTS Backstage Film & Theatre Society stages the Australian Premiere of The Frogs: A New Musical in September 2015.

The time is the present, the place is Ancient Greece.

Student theatre company UTS Backstage announces its 2015 Major Musical Production, the Australian Premiere of Sondheim’s ‘The Frogs: A New Musical’. Originally starring Nathan Lane in the title role on Broadway, The Frogs: A New Musical is one of Sondheim’s lesser known shows about a journey to Hades; an epic quest of one man’s desire to entertain and drink wine.

This unique show has strange origins with the production originally preformed in Yale University’s gymnasium pool in 1974. The Frogs: A New Musical is also famous for having Meryl Streep, Sigourney Weaver and Christopher Durang in the original ensemble.


Based off the Aristophanes play of the same name, The Frogs: A New Musical follows Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and drama, and his slave Xanthia, on a journey to the underworld, with one goal - to find a great writer who challenges and enlightens the easily misled and coerced masses of Earth. But along the way, they encounter a few strange mishaps, including a run in with some violent and exuberant frogs on the journey to Hell.

Director Chris McKay sheds light onto the show and its dynamic protagonist. “I fell in love with The Frogs just from reading the synopsis,” he explains. “Dionysus starts off hot-headed and passionate about everything, but soon learns that the world is more layered and complex than he thought. It isn't his passion that changes, it's his approach.

“The Frogs deals with a range of themes. The power of theatre, the importance of passion, but primarily it is an examination of cynicism. We live in cynical times, where it's easy to simply dismiss the bad as 'part of our society', or merely pointing out problems without giving any solutions. The Frogs starts in that kind of world, but quickly moves through a very old-fashioned, almost pantomime style show, filled with big laughs and dance numbers, and by the end everything is more genuine.”

“It’s not the sort of show that you will leave feeling profound, but hopefully it will make you think about the world. Or at the very least it will make you laugh, because that's good too.”


The Frogs: A New Musical will be showing from August the 13th-15th at the Lend Lease Darling Quarter Theatre. Tickets are $15 for Backstage Members, $20 Concession and $25 Adults and can be purchased online.

Ticket Link: http://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/uts-backstage-presents-the-frogs-a-new-musical-tickets-17791392534


Directed by Chris McKay


Produced by Liam Shand Egan


Musical Director, Alexander Mau


Choreographer, Emily Newberry



Assistant Choreographer/Producer, Chelsea Haddon

Costume Design, Raynor McKay


Set Design, Emily Burke


Lighting Design, Alex Casanova


Sound Design, Ben Hinchley


Stage Manager, Alicia Easaw-Mamutil


Graphic Design, Shanya Buultjens


Photographer, Stephen Godfrey

Principal Cast:


Luke Baweja as Dionysus


Gabrielle Rawlings as Xanthia


James Wilson as Herakles


Abigail Dixon as Charon


Oliver Morassut as Pluto


Michael Mulvenna as George Bernard Shaw

Alan Zhu as William Shakespeare


Alissa Del Vecchio as Ariadne

Ensemble/Chorus: Bethany Bradhurst, Kelsi Nichola Chow, Jack Clarke,Claudia Coy, 
Tom Crotty
, Rachel Ennis, Emma Gibbons, Kate Gogolewski, Ninah Jo Kopel, Blake O’Brien, Alex Radovan, Emma Rawlings, Ethan Taylor, Victoria Thompson, Rachael Versace Justin Westlake.

The Hellblazer’s Band: Percussion, Tony Ling; 
Keys, Alexander Mau; 
Brass (Trombone), Kai Faulkner; Brass (Trumpet), Lorna Hennessy; Strings, Andre Brimo; Reeds Hannah Ward and Neta Arad.