Paul Szmal: Frog and Toad, a year with Frog and Toad actually, is the production that's currently running at the Bristol Valley Theatre in Naples and a couple of the performers from the show are joining us here this morning. We have Zach West who is playing Frog. Good morning, Zach.
Guest: Good morning.
Paul Szmal: And we have Brian Zeman who plays Toad. Morning, Brian.
Guest: Good morning. How are you guys this morning?
Paul Szmal: We're doing well. How about you?
Paul Szmal: Good, good. Zach, I want to start with you because it says, looking at the credit roll and the listing of the cast on the website, it says not only Frog but puppeteer.
Zach West: Yeah, so our director had a lot of concepts for shadow plays. So there is a couple moments where I get to do some shadow puppetry as well as some ribbon dancing. I got to add that to my special skills after the show.
Paul Szmal: Okay, that's something different. And Brian, you kind of have that same duality in your role too.
Brian Zeman: Yes, yes. Actually, all five of us are getting to do a little bit of puppetry. Mine is mostly limited to the ribbon dancing, which like Zach said, is a new special skill. You're also a kite puppeteer.
Paul Szmal: That's true.
Brian Zeman: I do get to puppet the kite as well, which is pretty exciting. So yeah, there are a few moments throughout the show of different shadow puppetry and things like that, which is really fun for the kids.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, and it sounds like then this is a different than the average production that probably both of you have worked in.
Zach West: Yeah, it's been a lot of fun. There is so much doubling of cast members. So people getting to play multiple parts, jumping quickly between characters. The shadow plays have been a ton of fun to get to add a little extra element to it. We also have real puppets happening in front of a screen as well.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, and maybe one of you can explain what that shadow term means in this context.
Brian Zeman: Yeah, so we have like a big kind of screen in the back of the set. And so there's light projected behind it. So when there's light projected behind it, we can do all sorts of different puppetry that cast a shadow that the audience can see. And when there's not light projected on it, it's just blank. And we can use lighting to light it from the front with different colors and things like that.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, that's something that's maybe a little bit different too from the standard production. So Brian, let me ask you a little bit about your background. How many years you've been involved in theater?
Brian Zeman: Oh, goodness. I started doing theater in eighth grade. My first ever show was Annie Get Your Gun. And I had one line and I got to ring a triangle going across the stage as the dining car waiter. And I've been involved ever since. And this is I've been working at Bristol Valley since 2012 was the first time I ever did a show there. So it's a long history.
Paul Szmal: And Zach, how about you?
Zach West: This is my 10th show at BBT. I started here in 2015, 16, somewhere around there. And I've been lucky that they brought me back ever since. But yeah, I did my first show in third or fourth grade. I was in a not Disney's Aladdin, a different version of Aladdin. And it's been a bug I couldn't get rid of.
Paul Szmal: Now, each of you and Zach, I'll start with you on this one. What's your favorite role that you've done as part of BBT? I think I know Brian's answer as well. It's probably going to be the same.
Zach West: We were fortunate the summer of 2020. They had to cancel everything that little pandemic that went around. And then the summer after that, when they looked at how to reestablish a theater, it was awkward to be inside summer 2021. So they moved us to the parking lot. And the artistic director called the two of us and said, Hey, I know a couple that does theater. We don't need to do all one person shows this summer because you're married. What show do you want to do? And both of us went, I have no idea. And she goes, that's fine. I'll write one for you. So, uh, so they actually wrote a show just for the two of you to perform.
Paul Szmal: That's awesome.
Zach West: Yeah. It was a super fun. It was called dead air. And the premise of it was that my character, it was an old radio play kind of show and my character sat on the desk and broke it. So we had to make it all up as we went, um, murder mystery.
Brian Zeman: Yeah. Like nine or 10 characters each. So it was really, uh, it was really, um, challenging for the brain at times, but a lot of fun. Cause we really got to just like play and be silly and goofy and explore all sorts of different people all in one show. It's not often you get to play a nine-year-old boy, a 35-year-old woman and an old man on the same show.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, there you go. Uh, we're talking with Zach West and Brian Zeman. They are the frog and toad in a year with frog and toad, which is based on a series of popular children's novels by Arnold Lobel. And performances are happening currently at the Bristol Valley theater in Naples. Uh, we'll get you the, uh, performance rundowns and dates here at the end of the conversation. I don't think we've done this before on this program, but I understand that you guys have a number prepared to do for us.
Zach West: Yeah, we're going to do just a brief snippet. There's a song in act two that we both sang called he'll never know. Um, so we're just going to do a little bit of that acapella, which means with no, um, no background music. So forgive us for eight 44 in the morning, crunchy voice, but this is what we've got for you. The concept of this number is we have both gone over to the other's house to rake the leaves, to make their day a little bit better.
Paul Szmal: Okay. Okay. Okay. Here we go.
Zach West and Brian Zeman: He'll never know. He will not ever suspect who raked the yard, nor will he ever detect. He will come home. I'll scratch his head. He'll furrow his brow, broke his chin and wonder how I aching back. The work is slow. Oh, what a tedious chore and kind of dog raking is rather a bore. But despite a little ache, I'm going to rake, rake, rake, rake.
Paul Szmal: Excellent dance break. Yes. Very well done.
Zach West and Brian Zeman: Thank you. You'll have to come see us.
Paul Szmal: Yeah. Yeah. I appreciate that. So the role that you're playing here that each of you are playing is something that's got, you know, its own unique set of challenges, but the play itself actually covers the four seasons of a year.
Brian Zeman: Yes.
Paul Szmal: And how does, I'm curious with all the work that you've had to do to prepare for this, how much time you actually had to prepare for the role? Because I realized that with a lot of the smaller theater companies, it's usually pretty quick turnaround.
Zach West: It is, uh, five or six days of rehearsal, three days of tech, and then we're doing it for an audience. Yeah. So we do a lot of the prep work, uh, beforehand. So we both came in completely memorized, um, knowing all of the music so that we could really just hit the ground running as soon as we started rehearsal. And we were able to do the show on our porch for about a month before we came.
Brian Zeman: And there's the added element too, because this has some musical numbers in it. It's not only memorizing lines, but it's also learning the songs. And I'm sure there's some choreography associated with those two.
Zach West: Yes. And we are both brilliant, gifted dancers who do not struggle with that at all. And as you mentioned, you're, you're both doing ribbon dancing for the first time for the both of you as part of this production too. You never know what they're going to task you to learn. All of a sudden they're like, do you play the tin whistle? Sure. Why not? I can figure that out. Kind of the joy of theater.
Paul Szmal: How much are you enjoying doing this production?
Zach West: It's been just such a gift. Um, the first time it was 2011, uh, was the first time I remember somebody telling Brian and I, that we should play these parts opposite each other. So to get to finally do it after 15 years is just like a, and to do it at my artistic home is just this really beautiful full circle moment.
Brian Zeman: Yeah. BVT has been really, um, just a special place for us to create theater for a number of years. And then to get to do this show together has been really, uh, just, uh, uh, an exciting and special experience for sure.
Paul Szmal: Now, if you want to see a year with frog and toad, uh, the next run of productions starts Wednesday. Uh, it's a matinee. There's a matinee and a seven 30 performance on Thursday, uh, seven 30 performance on Friday and a matinee on Saturday, the 18th. Uh, then there are some additional dates, uh, running through the, uh, end of July into the first of August. If you want to find out more BVT will close up, uh, on the 18th. The next show starts the following weekend. So there's a fantastic season at the Bristol Valley theater this summer. Uh, dial M for murder is going to be their next show. It is a new adaptation of that classic movie that we all love, uh, followed by that will be Ken Ludwig's moon over Buffalo. And they're ending the season with pump boys and the dinettes, which is a fantastic musical.
Zach West: Yeah. I'm so jealous. I can't play the guitar to be in that one. I, I have to apologize because I'm looking at a color coded, um, calendar on the webpage and I didn't realize it was a change in production. Uh, and as you said, dial M for murder is the next one. So that'll start on July 23rd with performances through the end of the month. So if you want to see a year with frog and toad, and by all means, bring the kids, because this is a family friendly fun show matinee performance Wednesday at two, two and seven 30 on Thursday, seven 30 on Friday and a matinee performance on Saturday tickets are family friendly priced at $25 each. Uh, gentlemen, thank you so much for being here. Thank you for sharing that little number as part of the shell. And I wish you continued success in your theatrical endeavors. Shall we say, thank you so much.
