History Theatre / TheFrogs

[[caption-width-right:215:[[OhCrap Brek-ek-ek-ek!]] [[HellIsThatNoise Bred-ek-ek-ek!]]]]

-->She was young, she was shy. Ariadne! She was young, so was I, surely she was much to young to die!

* AHellOfATime: Heracles describes the Underworld in glowing terms when Dionysus asks him what it's like.

An adaptation of a play by Creator/{{Aristophanes}}, this musical was created for a college performance at Yale in 1974. Written by Burt Shevelove with music and lyrics by Music/StephenSondheim, it was based on an adaptation that Shevelove had written and directed during his own senior year at Yale in 1941. It was staged in the college gymnasium, with the scenes involving the River Styx and the frogs being performed in the pool, with the Yale swimming team (hence lines in the original opening song, begging the audience not to swim during the performance). It was revived in 2004 on Broadway, with Creator/NathanLane and Roger Bart as the leads.

** When Dionysus tries on Hercules's lion skin and asks Xanthias, "How do I look?", Xanthias replies, "[[Disney/TheLionKing Like the Circle of Life has stopped]]."

* YouBastard: A mild example. At the end of the play, Dionysus tells the audience for agreeing with him just because he's a god and implying that many are or soon will be fine with sitting and letting the world fall apart rather than try to change things.

* HijackedByJesus: Subverted in general, as the musical remains faithful to Aristophanes's play, however there are a few instances where the characters (including Hades himself) refers to the Underworld as "hell". In some cases it's clearly a case of the character not understanding the Underworld, and the place is shown to be quiet pleasant.

An adaptation of a play by Aristophanes, this musical was created for a college performance at Yale in 1974. Written by Burt Shevelove with music and lyrics by Music/StephenSondheim, it was based on an adaptation that Shevelove had written and directed during his own senior year at Yale in 1941. It was staged in the college gymnasium, with the scenes involving the River Styx and the frogs being performed in the pool, with the Yale swimming team (hence lines in the original opening song, begging the audience not to swim during the performance). It was revived in 2004 on Broadway, with Nathan Lane and Roger Bart as the leads.

* SelfDeprecation: In the Invocation of the Audience, one of the instructions is that "if by some miracle a tune should appear that's lyrical, don't hum along". May also double as TakeThatCritics, considering how Sondheim's songs once were criticized for being too complex to hum along to.

* BreakingTheFourthWall: The very first number, "Invocation of the Audience", has the actors playing the leads go onstage and instruct the audience how to behave (turn off cell phones, don't talk during the performance, etc). The finale number, which is a reprise, has Dionysus directly address the audience with a plea to not stand by while everything falls apart around them.

An adaptation of a play by Aristophanes, this musical was written and directed by Music/StephenSondheim during his senior year at Yale and was performed in the gymnasium, with the scenes involving the River Styx and the frogs being performed in the pool, with the Yale swimming team (hence lines in the original opening song, begging the audience not to swim during the performance). It was revived in 2004 on Broadway, with Nathan Lane and Roger Bart as the leads.

An adaptation of a play by Aristophanes, this musical was written and directed by Creator/StephenSondheim during his senior year at Yale and was performed in the gymnasium, with the scenes involving the River Styx and the frogs being performed in the pool, with the Yale swimming team (hence lines in the original opening song, begging the audience not to swim during the performance). It was revived in 2004 on Broadway, with Nathan Lane and Roger Bart as the leads.

* ArtisticLicenseReligion: The show's about Greek mythology, so why is the god of the underworld going by his Roman name "Pluto"? [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that the Greek equivalent would be Hades, but that name came to signify both the god and the underworld itself in Greek myth. Sondheim was [[OneSteveLimit already using "Hades"]] as the name of the underworld, so he had to fudge the details a little and pull the name "Pluto" out of Roman mythology.

!!! Tropes in this work:

* AnAesop - Dionysus gives one to the audience in the final number, in which he warns everyone about the dangers of apathy and how important it is to take action before the world falls apart.

** Actually, in the original play by Aristophanes, the king of Hades is called Pluto. Pluto was the later Greek name for Hades, as Hades was a name relegated to describing the Underworld itself. So the trope is subverted.
* BreakingTheFourthWall - The very first number, Invocation of the Audience, has the actors playing the leads go onstage and instruct the audience how to behave (turn off cell phones, don't talk during the performance, etc). The finale number, which is a reprise, has Dionysus directly address the audience with a plea to not stand by while everything falls apart around them.

* EveryoneHatesHades - Subverted. The song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xeTSecKRho Hades]] is all about how great the Underworld is, and how awesome everyone finds living there to be.

* HappilyMarried - Dionysus and Ariadne.
* HijackedByJesus - Subverted in general, as the musical remains faithful to Aristophanes's play, however there are a few instances where the characters (including Hades himself) refers to the Underworld as "hell". In some cases it's clearly a case of the character not understanding the Underworld, and the place is shown to be quiet pleasant.
* LeaningOnTheFourthWall - When Dionysus goes to Pluto and begs him to allow George Bernard Shaw to come back to Earth, Pluto and the GreekChorus point out that it's very naive (if optimistic) to think that one playwright's works would be all it would take to change the world. The GreekChorus follows up by singing for Dionysus to relax because "[[SeriousBusiness It's only a play]]!"
* PromotedFanboy - InUniverse, Dionysus, a massive fan of Shaw's work, ''squees'' at being able to meet his idol.
* SelfDeprecation - In the Invocation of the Audience, one of the instructions is that "if by some miracle a tune should appear that's lyrical, don't hum along". May also double as TakeThatCritics, considering how Sondheim's songs once were criticized for being too complex to hum along to.
* ServileSnarker - Xanthias

* ShoutOut - The last line of the title song (spoken by Xanthias after seeing his master attacked by a giant frog) is "I think we're gonna need a [[Film/{{Jaws}} bigger boat]]."

* TheLostLenore - Ariadne.
* WeAreAsMayflies - One of the few things that makes Dionysus act truly sorrowful is the memory of his wife, who died years ago because she was mortal and he was not.
--> ''She was young, she was shy. Ariadne! She was young, so was I, surely she was much to young to die!''
* YouBastard - A mild example. At the end of the play, Dionysus tells the audience for agreeing with him just because he's a god and implying that many are or soon will be fine with sitting and letting the world fall apart rather than try to change things.

* PromotedFanboy - Dionysus, a massive fan of Shaw's work, ''squees'' at being able to meet his idol.

* EveryoneHatesHades - Heavily subverted. The song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xeTSecKRho Hades]] is all about how great the Underworld is, and how awesome everyone finds living there to be.

The world is in a bit of a mess. The art of good theater and literature in general has gone downhill, and things seem to be going to pieces. The [[GreekMythology Greek god Dionysus]] decides that he won't stand for this nonsense, and sets off with his DeadpanSnarker slave Xanthias to bring Creator/GeorgeBernardShaw back from Hades to set things back on track. What follows is a hilarious journey as the pair try to break into the Underworld, are beset by singing frogs in Hades (the creatures hate change and want things to stay the way they are), and finally must decide if Shaw really ''is'' the best playwright to bring back to life.

* ShoutOut - The last line (spoken) of the title song is "I think we're gonna need a [[Film/{{Jaws}} bigger boat]]."

The world is in a bit of a mess. The art of good theater and literature in general has gone downhill, and things seem to be going to pieces. The [[GreekMythology Greek god Dionysus]] decides that he won't stand for this nonsense, and sets off with his DeadpanSnarker slave Xanthias to bring GeorgeBernardShaw back from Hades to set things back on track. What follows is a hilarious journey as the pair try to break into the Underworld, are beset by singing frogs in Hades (the creatures hate change and want things to stay the way they are), and finally must decide if Shaw really ''is'' the best playwright to bring back to life.

* WeAreAsTheMayfly - One of the few things that makes Dionysus act truly sorrowful is the memory of his wife, who died years ago because she was mortal and he was not.

* EveryoneHatesHades - Heavily subverted. The song [[ Hades]] is all about how great the Underworld is, and how awesome everyone finds living there to be.

* SelfDeprecation - In the Invocation of the Audience, one of the instructions is that "if by some miracle a tune should appear that's lyrical, don't hum along". May also double as TakeThatCritic, considering how Sondheim's songs once were criticized for being too complex to hum along to.

* WeAreAsTheMayflies - One of the few things that makes Dionysus act truly sorrowful is the memory of his wife, who died years ago because she was mortal and he was not.

An adaptation of a play by Aristophanes, this musical was written and directed by Creator/StephenSonheim during his senior year at Yale and was performed in the gymnasium, with the scenes involving the River Styx and the frogs being performed in the pool, with the Yale swimming team (hence lines in the original opening song, begging the audience not to swim during the performance). It was revived in 2004 on Broadway, with Nathan Lane and Roger Bart as the leads.

* HellIsThatNoise - The frogs. ''Brek-ek-ek-ek! Bred-ek-ek-ek!''