Clockwise from top: Gina Ricci, Cosmo Clemens, Chloe Williamson & CJ Pawlikowski
photo credit: Ivona Hedin

Kissing Frogs

Romance. Comedy. Music.

February 4 - 19, 2011

“Kissing Frogs is a charming diamond in the rough… for the price of a ticket you can peel back the curtain and catch a glimpse of how what may be next year’s Broadway hit got its start." ~ Glenn Kaufmann, Herald Times

In February 2011, the Bloomington Playwrights Project produced its first collaborative musical production with Indiana University, Kissing Frogs.

Greta is just days away from hearing her own wedding bells when the former love of her life sends a long overdue text message that sets her spinning.  An already frazzled bride-to-be becomes an emotional disaster as her cold feet turns into frostbite.  With the clock ticking and so many questions to be answered, Greta sets off on a whirlwind adventure revisiting some of the most-telling moments of her past to answer the ultimate love dilemma -  Has she kissed enough frogs and really found her prince?

Two heavy hitters (and Indiana University alumni!) formed the core of the creative team behind Kissing Frogs.  MADtv alumna and Broadway star of Wicked, Nicole Parker, wrote the book, while New York-based singer/songwriter Jeremy Schonfeld composed the lyrics and music for this, the first collaborative musical production between the BPP and Indiana University.  Featuring hilarious insight into the foibles of human relationships and an upbeat contemporary rock score in the vein of RENT, Kissing Frogs was the hit show of the BPP’s 2010/2011 Mainstage Season.

The show featured a cast of all IU college students including Chloe Williamson, Gina Ricci, Matt Birdsong, CJ Pawlikowski, Russell Stout, Aaron Densley, Evan Mayer, Hannah Slabaugh, and Cosmo Clemens under the direction of BPP Producing Artistic Director Chad Rabinovitz.

“These guys are amazing. Best cast of college students I’ve ever had,” says Rabinovitz.  “In their hands, the show is funny, sweet, catchy, and entertaining. It’s a rare opportunity to be a part of something this exciting from the very beginning, and I’m overjoyed that it’s all happening right here at the BPP.”

Kissing Frogs also featured contributions for IU Choreographer George Pinney and designers Scott Brown (Costumes), Shane Cinal (Set) and Marti Meeker (Lights).

Nicole Parker (Book Author, Kissing Frogs) was seen as Rosemary in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying at Reprise! last spring. She last appeared on Broadway as Elphaba in Wicked. Her Broadway debut was Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me. Other theater credits include: Juliet in Second City's Romeo and Juliet Musical at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater (Jeff Nomination), and Pamina in The Magic Flute at the Falcon Theater in Los Angeles.  For six seasons, Nicole was an actress and contributing writer on Fox's MADtv. She recently appeared in Judd Apatow's third film, Funny People. This summer, she won a Best Actress award for her work in the short film Weathered at the Damah Film Festival in Washington. Before joining MADtv, she spent two years in Amsterdam as a writer and performer at Boom Chicago, an American-based sketch and improv theater. During her time there she created two new revues, both of which were featured at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. She made her Birdland debut in New York this winter with her one-woman show, Suitcase Full of Lies. Nicole is a founding member of the Waterwell Theater, a non-profit company in New York City. With Waterwell, she has performed as Laurencia in their adaptation of Fuenteovejuna, and created the role of Victoria Woodhull in Wizard of Wall Street, as part of Premiere Musicals, a new musical workshop series, at her alma mater, Indiana University Department of Theatre and Drama.

Jeremy Schonfeld (Music & Lyrics, Kissing Frogs) is a singer/songwriter/composer/lyricist. The recent production of his musical Drift at North Carolina’s “Hot Summer Nights at the Kennedy” (September 2009), garnered Schonfeld several “Best of …” honors including “Best Show of 2009” from Triangle Arts & Entertainment, and “Best Original Music” from Indy Week. Of the production, critics praised “Schonfeld's courageous rock and soulful song-cycle sensitively articulated a series of moments in a divorce, largely from the husband's point of view … a prismatic set of rocking, thoughtful, raging, aching – but ultimately joyous – confessions. Four Stars.” (Indy Week). Drift was previously presented as a benefit concert at BB Kings starring Adam Pascal, Julia Murney, Terrence Mann, Jarrod Emick, and Adam Kantor, among others; and as part of the 2006 New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF). Other projects include the new holiday musical It Happened One Christmas for the Flat Rock Playhouse in North Carolina, and a new studio album. Other recent projects include: the album 37 Notebooks, which featured the vocal talents of Shoshana Bean, Tracie Thoms, Amy Spanger, Lauren Kennedy, Luther Creek, and Kate Shindle, among others; the feature film Clear Blue Tuesday; as well as the musicals Home and innumerable ATrainPlays; and the Broadway Dreams Foundation’s “Broadway Bootcamp,” for which Jeremy serves on the Board of Directors and as Musical Director. Schonfeld has also contributed original music for numerous benefit concerts including “Defying Inequality,” “Broadway in South Africa,” “The Pink Campaign on Broadway,” and “Broadway for a New America,” among others. He has been the featured composer for “Monday Night, New Voices” and “Cutting Edge Composers II.” Jeremy’s recording, “Song for New Orleans,” featuring Adam Pascal, is currently being used as part of a recruitment video for the American Red Cross. Recent and upcoming performances in New York include Madison Square Garden, Birdland, Joe’s Pub, BB Kings, The Public Theatre, Symphony Space, and Lincoln Center; the Upright Cabaret in Los Angeles; the 14^th Street Playhouse in Atlanta; and in Boston as part of Boston University’s “BU on Broadway” series. Jeremy lives in Brooklyn with his Kiwi wife Sarah-Jane, sassy daughter Alexandra, and hyper dog Byron.