A YEAR WITH FROG AND TOAD—Production Photography with Young People's Theatre of Chicago

Last week, we photographed Young People’s Theatre of Chicago’s tech rehearsal for their next production, A Year with Frog and Toad, which opened November 29 at the Greenhouse Theater Center in Chicago and runs through December 21.

Earlier in the fall, I had the opportunity to photograph Elephant and Piggie’s We Are in a Play! with Young People’s Theatre of Chicago. I’m always amazed to witness the talent of everyone this company brings together for their shows. I seldom photograph more vibrant, colorful productions than those Young People’s Theatre of Chicago creates.

Frog (Ryan Stajmiger) singing while—and singing about—raking his friend Toad’s leaves.

Frog and Toad

The Frog and Toad series, by Arnold Lobel, was published between 1970 and 1979. I remember them from my own childhood, growing up in that decade. I especially remember learning about willpower from Frog and Toad as they struggle to resist eating too many cookies. At their core, these easy reader books were about the adventures the two friends experienced together, and this 2002 musical brings these moments to the stage in color, song, and dance.

Toad (Teddy Gales) sledding at high speed in wintertime.

Photography

I photographed A Year with Frog and Toad primarily with a wide angle lens to capture as much of the action as possible.

For giant stage pictures like those of the cast flying the kite, it would have been difficult to get that moment straight on without such an angle.

At the end of our time photographing the tech, we created a few portraits of the actors with a handheld flash (special thanks to Kira Nutter for being an excellent grip).

This was a lighting round of portraits, taken in the last few minutes I had with the cast, as I photographed the show on my way to the airport for Thanksgiving travel. Since I couldn’t bring a ton of gear, I shot these with my old portable Canon Speedlites, the way I used to shoot between 2017 and 2020. We used various set elements as the backgrounds for our portraits. The actors were fantastic, showing a variety of character expressions.

Ryan Stajmiger (Frog), Teddy Gales (Toad), Hannah Remian (Bird/Turtle/Ensemble), Sam Hook (Bird/Snail/Ensemble), Maliha Sayed (Bird/Mouse/Ensemble).

A Joyous Magic

I had such fun photographing the enchanting seasonal special effects in A Year with Frog and Toad. It’s hard to accurately describe the magic one feels when the actors frolic among falling leaves or sled through a snowstorm, but I think the actors show these emotions in the photographs.

It was an excellent time once again with Young People’s Theatre of Chicago. I’m grateful to everyone who brought their all to the tech. Thanks to Randy White and Kira Nutter for bringing me into the beautiful storybook world of Frog and Toad. Thanks also to costumer Cindy Moon for recommending me for Elephant and Piggie earlier this year. I wish Young People’s Theatre of Chicago a massively successful opening and glorious run!

A Year with Frog and Toad runs through December 21, 2026. Tickets are available via the Young People’s Theatre of Chicago website, here.

But Wait, There’s More!

In a December 17 update to this post, I’m pleased to share a few more images from A Year with Frog and Toad. Young People’s Theatre of Chicago invited me to a performance the morning of Tuesday, December 16. On that day, I got to see the full show among an audience of delighted elementary school children. With my shutter on silent, I captured images featuring costumes we weren’t able to photograph during the tech rehearsal. After the performance, we photographed some of the other animal characters played by Hannah Remian, Sam Hook, and Mliha Sayed—Turtle, Lizard, and Mouse, in particular—and we got some images displaying those performers’ incredible dancing skills.

Part of Distant Era’s reason for being is the preservation of the work of theatre artists. Thus, it felt important to return to A Year with Frog and Toad to make some memorable images of the work that we weren’t able to capture in tech.

Cast and Creative

Frog Ryan Stajmiger

Toad Teddy Gales

Hannah Remian Bird, Turtle, Ensemble

Sam Hook Bird, Snail, Ensemble

Maliha Sayed Bird, Mouse, Ensemble

Jake Elkins Understudy Frog, Toad

Evan Morales Understudy Snail

Isadora Coco Gonzalez Understudy Turtle, Mouse

Based on the books by Arnold Lobel
Book and lyrics by Willie Reale
Music by Robert Reale
Directed by YPT Artistic Director Randy White
Choreographed by Tuesdai B. Perry
Musical Direction by Sam Shankman

Director Randy White and musical director Sam Shankman at work during tech rehearsal for *A Year with Frog and Toad*.

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Steven Townshend is a fine art/portrait photographer and writer with a background in theatre, written narrative, and award-winning game design. As a young artist, Steven toured the US and Canada performing in Shakespeare companies while journaling their moments on paper and film. In his transition from stage to page, Steven continued to work as a theatre photographer, capturing dramatic scenes while incorporating elements of costume, makeup, and theatrical lighting in his work. Drawn to stories set in other times and places, Steven creates works through which fellow dreamers and time travelers might examine their own humanity or find familiar comfort in the reflections of the people and places of a distant era.