The Frogs: Chris Kattan Out, Roger Bart In
Center Theater production of The Frogs, which is now in previews at the Vivian Beaumont Theater and is set to open on July 22. Bart is replacing Chris Kattan, who has withdrawn from the production for unspecified reasons. Kattan is best known as a cast member of television’s Saturday Night Live.
LCT’s The Frogs is a revised version of a pre-existing show with a book by Burt Shevelove and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, based on the play of the same title by Aristophanes. The new version has additional songs by Sondheim and a reworked book by Nathan Lane, who also stars in the role of Dionysos. Bart has begun rehearsals for the production and will give his first performance some time this week; in the interim, understudy Timothy Gulan will appear as Xanthias.
Bart won a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award for his performance as Snoopy in the Broadway revisal of the musical You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. He earned a Tony nomination for his performance a Carmen Ghia in The Producers, which originally co-starred Nathan Lane as Max Bialystock and Matthew Broderick as Leo Bloom, and he later returned to that production in the role of Bloom. His Off-Broadway credits include Vampire Lesbians of Sodom, Henry IV, Parts I & II, Up Against It, and Fully Committed.
Directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman, The Frogs began previews at the Beaumont on Tuesday, June 22.
