Returning to Old Friends

Returning to Old Friends

by Jessica Celli

I had just turned four when I saw my first show at the Arden, A Year with Frog and Toad. It was my Christmas gift from my aunt and uncle, packing a van full of cousins and driving down to the winter children’s show at the Arden is now a tradition, and it all started with this show. Being four, I had no idea what was going to unfold before my eyes. I remember climbing into my seat and my feet not even touching the ground. I didn’t know what to expect when I sat and looked at two houses illuminated by stage lights. It was enchanting to watch, things came from the ceiling, and people came from under the floor! My four year old self was enchanted by this magic. I fell in love with theatre that day, and I haven’t looked back. I see multiple shows at the Arden every year. Now I’ve became a performer myself. I wanted to learn all of the magic, and make people feel exactly as I had.

Seeing it again was wonderful. I hadn’t even remember a lot about the show until the first song had broken out, and I began to also sing along, like I had seen the show yesterday and not twelve years ago. I brought my boyfriend and dad to see this production. Our first Arden experiences were the same show, just twelve years apart. Even being nearly seventeen and fifty five, they were just as captivated as I was all those years ago. The oldest of three younger brothers, my boyfriend knows the Frog and Toad stories by heart. He was bouncing in his seat when the cookie scene started. It was his favorite story, and he was so excited it was included in A Year with Frog and Toad.

 

A Year with Frog and Toad runs thru Jan. 29. Buy tickets online at www.ardentheatre.org, or call the Box Office at 215.922.1122.