MIA Thespians Ready for Frog and Toad Debut

Sometimes you put a group together and everything just seems to work. MIA performing arts instructor Chris Dayett believes he has a group working on their upcoming production of Frog and Toad that is truly simpatico.

“We had auditions and it was like every single character fell into place,” Dayett said before Friday afternoon’s practice. “That rarely happens. My music director and I went out to dinner afterward and it was like, ‘Oh, we're done.' We didn't realize it was going to take that fast. This is a really good group of kids and it's been a lot of fun watching them bond. It's been a while since I've seen that here. So it's been great to see that.”

Frog and Toad is a classic children’s book series by Arnold Lobel that follows the heartwarming adventures of two best friends. And lo and behold, the MIA production has best friends Samuel Zocco and Joaquin Perez playing the roles of Frog and Toad.

“It's been a really long time since I've had the pleasure of working with Sam Zocco,” Perez said. "My best friend personally, which I have the pleasure of saying.”

"I would have to say the same,” Zocco said. "We haven't gotten to do a full show together since the eighth grade. Joaquin was over at St. Anne's and St. John Neumann for the past few years. So this is the first real major production we've got to come back and bounce off of each other and utilize that energy we have."

The teens first met in an acting group with Gina Sisbarro as grade schoolers at Tommie Barfield Elementary.

"I think dating back to second grade,” Perez said, "when I started acting theater with Sisbarro Acting Studio.”

"I'm also from Gina's acting studio,” Zocco said. “We were in a lot of the same shows together. And he's really who got me into it all. I started in seventh grade. He dragged me to one of their club meetings, and I really had a blast, and it sort of took off from there. People might recognize me from the high school's last musical, Torch, a musical tale where I played the lead role. I'm back again, and I'm with my duo here, and we're putting on an even better show than last year."

Zocco credits Dayett with getting him to branch out into musicals.

"Something about Mr. Dayett is that before I started taking any of his classes or did any of his shows, I was never the musical type,” Zocco said. “I was the kind of person who heard this is a musical, it's not my thing. I'll sit this one out. Maybe next year something better will come. And then he roped me into Torch. It really opened my eyes to theater as a whole. And this is also the first show I've done real dance choreography. Joaquin and I have a dance in the middle of the show."

"This is my first year working with Mr. Dayett,” Perez said, "and he's a pleasure to work with. He's very professional with what he does. He takes theatre very seriously, which is something that I've always yearned for. I wanted theatre with a balance of fun and professionalism, and I feel the Marco Island Academy Theatre Club really achieves that.”

As usual, Dayett has put a lot of effort into his rotating stage sets, with the help of MIA students.

"I wanted the tree to be a focal point in our production,” he said of the huge tree that is planted center stage. "I think it's somewhere around 16 feet, give or take. I didn't know exactly what I was doing, but it is recycled from Torch. The pillars that we had on either side, we opened up the cardboard tubes and then kind of stretched them open to give the tree its big trunk. The frame is the same frame from Torch. Then we added more on and cut them to give them that shape. Then we used glue and brown paper to give it its shape. I happened to see a YouTube video on how to make trees. I read the comments and learned they used carpet padding for the tree’s bark. I went to Lowe's to get carpet padding and realized it was not in my budget. So I went on Facebook and put out, ‘Hey, if anyone happens to be getting new carpet, I will take your old carpet padding.' One of my neighbors wrote back and said, 'We're actually getting new carpet on Thursday.' So I got the carpet padding. And my designer marketing class actually cut out the design in carpet padding. Then we painted it and it looks really good. We're really happy with it.”

A Year With Frog and Toad runs April 17, 18, and 24 at 7:00 PM and April 25 at 2:00 PM on the Rhine Stage at Marco Island Academy. Tickets are $10 for students, $15 for adults, and $20 for VIP (includes early seating and two free items from the concession stand). Purchase tickets at MIATheatre.com.