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Deborah
Henson-Conant's "The Frog Princess"
IN
CONCERT
“The
Frog Princess,” live, is a lushly orchestrated one-woman
show, with a cast of characters, from the gruff, bumbling King
to the wise-cracking fool, the evil governess, the handsome captain
of the guards, the romantic Josquin and Amphibia herself. The
supporting cast (thousands of frogs) is performed by the audience.
Scenes
from "The Frog Princess" live on stage
(With Orlando Philharmonic - Photos by Brion Price)
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Once
upon a time ....
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there was a princess... |
who
thought ...
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...
she was a
frog! |
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A
STORY-TELLING HARP PLAYER?
In the olden days long before there were movies or films, the ancient
“bards” or “troubadours” would travel from
town to town with harps slung over their backs.
The
movie screens of those times were the people’s imaginations,
and on those magic screens, scenes of wonder appeared that even
Steven Spielberg couldn’t create. It is the harper’s
tradition to spin such tales, beginning with the magic words: ‘Once
upon a time…'
Those
were the same magic words that brought "The Frog Princess"
to life. It all began in the mid-90's when composer/performer Deborah
Henson-Conant took an intensive storytelling workshop from mime
actor Tony Montanaro. In the midst of the workshop, a set of opening
lines came to Deborah: “Once upon a time there was a princess
who thought she was a frog. She didn’t look like a frog. She
was just convinced that, deep down inside, she really was one.”
From
there, the story of Amphibia, continued to spin in her head until
she completed the story, orchestrated it for full symphony and premiered
it with the Buffalo Philharmonic in 2000. “The Frog Princess”
is now a standard part of Deborah’s Family shows, and has
been featured with many orchestras as well as in the 2002 Chicago
Humanities Children's Festival.
To imagine The Frog Princess, think "One-Woman Show" with
full orchestra presents “Fractured Fairy Tales” meets
“Peter and the Wolf” …with a lot of frogs.
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Meet
the cast of this fairytale: |
The silly,
wild, and... |
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unpredictable Fool.
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The
dashing Captain Worthington...
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...and
snobby Miss Littlebottom, the Royal Governess. |
THE
STORY: The
"Frog Princess" is a sequel to
the famous “Frog Prince” fairytale. The Frog Princess
is Amphibia, daughter of the Frog Prince (now King) of Lilypadia.
Amphibia dreams of being King, just like her father, but she’s
afraid that ‘just like her father’ she’ll turn
into a frog someday. Amphibia's fears aren't completely self-inflicted:
her snobby, evil governess, Miss Littlebottom thinks no girl should
dare to be King - and fuels Amphibia's fears by telling her that
the minute she puts her father's crown on her head, she'll turn
into a frog.
“Let
me get this straight,” says the cockney-voiced Fool, “you’re
afraid there’s an ancient curse in your family, handed down
from generation to generation and suddenly one day you’re
going to find yourself completely humiliated in front of the whole
world? But … I mean…EVERYBODY’S afraid of that
… but if it's really an ancient curse, I
can fix it!”
The
fool creates a curse-reversing song and dance for the whole pond
(er ... I mean, audience). |
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But even his valiant efforts are in vain and the
night before her coronation, Amphibia imagines the frog she will
become.
Hopeless
and demoralized, she wanders into the old abandoned tower, lured
by strange and wonderful music.
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She
climbs the old tower steps and at the very top -- she finds a big
surprise!
In
the tower, Amphibia meets Josquin, a young man with what appears
to be a magic trumpet, a trumpet that Josquin says only plays the
music of his inner self. When Amphibia blows the trumpet, the sound
she gets convinces her that her inner self is truly a frog. Yet,
once she reveals her whole, tragic story to Josquin, he admits that
he has fallen in love with her inner self, whether it be frog or
princess. |
With the strength of this new-found love, Amphibia vows to accept
her fate and to wear the crown, whether it makes her a Girl King
or a Frog King.
Trembling
with fright, she puts the crown on her head …
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… and she turns into a frog! Or ... well, she feels
like she turns into a frog. In fact, the clammy, parched, slimy
feeling she has -- is simply her fear.
Once
she's embraced her own inner frog and triumphed over her fears,
the crowd shouts: "Long Live Amphibia!" |
"Long
Live Amphibia!" |
And
everyone lives happily … and hoppily … ever after.
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