Grammy-nominated and SAG Award-winning Glee star Kevin McHale will make his UK stage debut in The Frogs, a comedy written in 405 B.C. by Aristophanes, freely adapted by Burt Shevelove, and even more freely adapted by Nathan Lane, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The production is directed by Georgie Rankcom.
The Frogs will be performed at Southwark Playhouse Borough from 23 May to 28 June 2025, with the press night scheduled for Tuesday, 27 May at 7pm.
Kevin McHale, best known for playing Artie Abrams on the Fox TV series Glee, stars as Xanthias in The Frogs. McHale’s character, who uses a wheelchair after a car accident, joined the McKinley High Glee Club in the first episode and had his first solo performance with “Dancing with Myself”. McHale has since appeared in multiple TV series, including The Office, When We Rise, and Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Stories. As a singer, he released his debut EP in 2019. McHale and his Glee co-star Jenna Ushkowitz host the hit iHeart Podcast “And That’s What You Really Missed.” He recently starred in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at the Kennedy Center.
Dan Buckley plays Dionysos. Buckley was Rowan in Fisherman’s Friends: The Musical (UK tour), Chris in The House on Cold Hill (The Mill at Sonning), and Ferris in Eugenius! (The Other Palace).
Joaquin Pedro Valdes is Herakles. Valdes is currently playing Michael/Deitz in Alfred Hitchcock Presents – The Musical (Theatre Royal Bath). He was recently seen as Luke/Ares in The Lightning Thief (The Other Palace), Dominique in The Baker’s Wife and John Manjiro in Pacific Overtures (both Menier Chocolate Factory), and Light Yagami in Death Note The Musical (London Palladium/Lyric Theatre).
Carl Patrick plays Charon. Patrick played George Evans in Sinatra The Musical (Birmingham Rep), Zoltan Karpathy in My Fair Lady (London Coliseum & UK tour), Phil in On Your Feet (London Coliseum), and Billy Flynn in Chicago (Pitlochry Festival Theatre).
Bart Lambert is Shakespeare and Cover Xanthias. Lambert recently played Dominique/Philippe/Antoine in The Baker’s Wife (Menier Chocolate Factory). Films include Napoleon and Overlord.
Martha Pothen is Shaw and Cover Dionysos. Pothen is currently in Now That’s What I Call A Musical (UK tour), Oliver! (Leeds Playhouse). She was nominated for an OFFIE Award (Female Performance in a Supporting Role) as Sylvia Morgan in Privates on Parade (Union Theatre).
Alison Driver is Ariadne and Swing. Driver was in Madagascar The Musical (UK tour), Rent and Head Over Heels (both Hope Mill Theatre), and What’s New Pussycat? (The Birmingham Rep).
Evonnee Bentley-Holder is Ensemble and Cover Shaw & Charon. Bentley-Holder was Luna in Burlesque The Musical (Manchester Opera House) and Mama Rose/Tammi Terrell/Flo Ballard in Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations (UK tour).
Milo McCarthy is Ensemble/Dance Captain, Cover Shakespeare & Herakles. McCarthy recently played Edward Ashbrook in Coram Boy (Chichester Festival Theatre). Other credits include Gatch in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (Southwark Playhouse) and Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella (Hope Mill Theatre).
Casting for the role of Pluto will be announced next month.
The first production of The Frogs was written and directed by Burt Shevelove in 1971, while he was a graduate student at Yale University. It was staged in the swimming pool in the Payne Whitney Gymnasium with the Frogs, played by members of the Yale swimming team, swimming around the boat. The ensemble included then Yale students Meryl Streep, Sigourney Weaver, and playwright Christopher Durang. Stephen Sondheim compared the acoustics of the production to “putting on a show in a men’s urinal”. For the 2004 Broadway revival, Sondheim wrote seven new songs.
Listings and ticket information can be found here
