In the heart of the Pannonian Steppe, from among the whistling reeds and ochre skies, a new voice emerges...
She is a Toad. He is a Frog. According to the rules of nature, their union is an impossible one. Their hearts sing otherwise.
A series of misfortunes and bad timing separate these star-crossed lovers… but forever?
is their story.
Score by Jack Dauner Libretto by Kristin Hurst
a few samples of music...
Prince Ribit and Toadette love each other, despite 'the way of things'
Toadette's brother Todd breaks up the happy couple
Prince Ribit battles a giant stork, but gets tossed into the sea...
Toadette bemoans her lost frog... is he at the bottom of the sea?
Ribit is rescued by a ship of crabs.
Prince Ribit (falsely) learns that Toadette married someone else.
Todd tells Prince Ribit about his past.
Toadette debates the end. How shall it end?
narrated concert version
5 singers, 8 piece orchestra,
pianist. Cinematic projections and a storyteller. That is all. This simple set-up immerses the senses into the world of Toadette. The narrated concert version of Toadette is an easy choice for opera on the go, outreach programs and small venues.
the score
and libretto
... are available for production! The score and libretto are written for an 8 piece orchestra plus pianist and 5 singers. We have created a minimal version for solo piano and 3-5 singers, and a maximal version including 2 dance numbers and unlimited parts for non singing roles.
the puppet
movie
While Toadette was originally written for humans, we could not resist making a puppet film of this fairy-tale opera!
See the film here:
For the debut of Toadette, we decided to create a puppet show and a puppet film.
Working on this version of Toadette helped us to keep the ball rolling during the pandemic. We were able to work without distancing restrictions from our cast of puppets!
The challenge was how to turn a show for humans into something that puppets can perform without losing the emotion.
Even if a writer ‘creates’ someone, it takes living with the character for a time to really know them.
Puppets add a certain innocence, which works well with this quasi-fairy-tale.
We wanted to capture the beauty of the fragile environment in which we live, which is also the world of Toadette.
Captivating projections of this amphibian universe, a small cosmos nestled in the Pannonian Basin, flood the stage in beautiful and alluring pigments.
All puppets, scenery, camera work, performance, the whole shebang… by Kristin Hurst and Jack Dauner.