CINCINNATI, OH- It prowls along the wooded banks of the Little Miami River. Seen and documented by few, the creature has nonetheless captured the imagination of many across the country, immortalized in local lore, countless cryptozoology guides, and (naturally), a stage musical!
Hugo West Theatricals proudly presents the tenth anniversary production of HOT DAMN! IT’S THE LOVELAND FROG!, playing September 5, 6 and 7, 2024 at 7:30pm at The Loveland Stage Company (111 S. 2nd Street) in Loveland, Ohio. Tickets are $25 and may be purchased at LovelandStageCompany.org or by phone at 513.443.4572.
Book, music and lyrics of THE LOVELAND FROG are written by Loveland native Michael D. Hall and Cincinnati native Joshua Steele.
Show Synopsis
Something is lurking in Loveland, the Sweetheart of Ohio, where the disappearance of a community outcast has rekindled the hysteria surrounding America’s most alluring cryptozoological phenomenon: The Loveland Frog. Join Luke Honeywell and a smokin’ bluegrass band on a riotous river adventure with maniacal moonshiners, a strange professor and crooked cops as they rescue Peepaw from the wondrous and elusive Loveland Frog. Based on real accounts, and featuring an all-star local cast.
It Came From Loveland…
Native Cincinnatian and Loveland High School alumnus Michael D. Hall grew up in the haunts of the Frog, which has bred campfire stories and local sports team nicknames, as well as the Loveland Frogman Festival and a triathlon. Upon sharing the story with collaborator Joshua Steele in 2013, the two instantly committed to penning an original musical on the fun (if bizarre) subject matter.
“I lived in Loveland for a good part of my life, and somehow didn’t hear the story until after I had graduated high school,” says Hall. “Once I did, I learned as much as I could about this creature. I still find the story fascinating, and I feel like he’s a part of my life now.”
The 2024 staging celebrates the tenth anniversary of the musical, which premiered to sold-out houses at the 2014 Cincinnati Fringe Festival. Critics raved about the debut production:
“Hot Damn! It’s The Loveland Frog! is what’s going on – smart and funny, amiable and high energy.” – LINK nky
“There’s a lot to love about this little gem of a musical. Let’s start with Mike Hall and Joshua Steele, the talented playwrights and songwriters who have crafted a riotously funny but infectiously endearing tale… a joy from start to finish.” – Citybeat Cincinnati
“The sold-out opening night audience laughed out loud through the entire production… great bits peppered throughout the show… THE LOVELAND FROG will make you hoot and holler with laughter.” – Behind The Curtain Cincinnati
The timing of the 2024 production isn’t happenstance; performances will share a weekend with The Loveland Frogman Race, a mini triatholon that sees teams and individuals run, kayak and bike to the finish line.
The 2024 production of THE LOVELAND FROG will be helmed by director, actor, playwright and educator Kevin Crowley. A Cincinnati native with a world-class resume, Crowley spent much of his acting career in Los Angeles, California, where his television appearances included CSI, Reba, Without a Trace, Murphy Brown, Drew Carey, Malcom in the Middle and Boy Meets World. Crowley’s film credits include Major League I and II, The Fugitive, Backdraft, Suicide Kings, The Package and Goat, as well as the feature films Carol and Dark Waters filmed recently in Cincinnati. On the boards, Crowley was a director and teacher with the famed Second City in Chicago, Illinois, where he also performed with Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Northlight Theatre and Victor Gardens Theatre. His other regional theatre credits at the David Geffen Theatre, St. Louis Repertory Theatre and Cincinnati’s Playhouse in the Park and Ensemble Theatre. No stranger to new and “fringe”-style works, Crowley’s writing credits include DISGRUNTLED EMPLOYEES (National Playwrights Conference; productions in New York, LA, Chicago and Cincinnati), THE MONKEY’S PAW (London, New York and Cincinnati Fringe Festivals), HITCHHIKERS MAY BE INMATES, WE DID IT GIRL, SARGE (Critics Pick of the Cincinnati Fringe 2014) and THE VEGETABLES (Audience Pick of Cincinnati Fringe 2019). Most recently, Crowley concluded an unexpected “second act” teaching acting at Cincinnati’s School for Creative and Performing Arts.
Reprising his role in the 2014 production of THE LOVELAND FROG, Steve Goers will serve as music director and pianist for the production, and will do a spot of acting. One of the region’s premier musical directors, Goers recently served as music director of HANDS ON A HARDBODY at Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati, where his other credits include FUN HOME, THE GREAT AMERICAN TRAILER PARK MUSICAL, and GREY GARDENS. Goers is a member of the musical theatre faculty at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music and has worked locally with theatres throughout the region, including Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati, The Carnegie, Cincinnati Landmark Productions and Northern Kentucky University. A composer of musicals himself, Goers has written numerous works for a variety of media, including ten feature film scores and twenty internationally produced musicals for young audiences. He toured the U.S. and Africa with productions of BARNUM, JERSEY BOYS, and BUBBLING BROWN SUGAR.
THE LOVELAND FROG features a sparkling cast of local professional actors. Reprising his 2014 role as demented moonshiner Clem Stank is Randy Lee Bailey. Bailey pairs with celebrated actress and singer Bethany Xan Kerr (Randi Mae Stank), who will join the production immediately following her star turn as Carole King in the musical BEAUTIFUL at The Carnegie in Covington, KY. That show is co-directed by respected theater artist Ed Cohen, known best for his directing work at The Carnegie and the UC College-Conservatory of Music, who takes a rare acting turn as Alvin Schwartzman in THE LOVELAND FROG. Well-loved Cincinnati actor and educator Deondra Means, fresh off of a lauded performance of HANDS ON A HARDBODY at Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati, plays Police Chief Roy Barkley, a character who becomes an unwitting accomplice to the villainous Jeb Schmidt, played by stage and screen actor Paul Morris. Cian Steele and Chloe Esmeier, both former students of playwright and producer Joshua Steele at Northern Kentucky University’s School of the Arts, play THE LOVELAND FROG ingenues, Luke Honeywell and Dharla Barkley. Cian Steele joins the production after appearing in Drew and Leah Lachey’s LABEL∙LESS at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. His older brother, Kelcey, played the role in the 2014 production. Esmeier makes time for THE LOVELAND FROG following a summer of performances at King’s Island. Gifted alumni of past Hugo West Theatricals productions Linsey Rogers (UTOPIA, OHIO), Tom Highley (DON’T CROSS THE STREAMS) and Chris Stewart (DON’T CROSS THE STREAMS, HARAMBE) round out the cast as The Old Woman, Peepaw and Assistant Professor Schroeder Kipling.
A complete cast and production team list can be found following the end of this release.
The Loveland Frog 101: Based on Real Accounts
It was a late night in May of 1955 when Robert Hunnicut, a short-order cook, was driving home from his shift at a Loveland diner and saw three strange figures by the side of Hopewell Road. Feeling as though they may have been stranded motorists, Hunnicut brought his vehicle to a stop and got out, only to find that the creatures were gray and vaguely frog-like, one of them wielding a strange chain that emitted blue sparks. Hunnicut left the scene and gathered Police Chief Fritz. They returned to the location to find no sign of the creatures, save for the strange odor of almond and alfalfa.
17 years later, March 7, 1972, Loveland police officer Ray Shockey was driving his beat when his headlights revealed a figure in a field along Twightwee Road. The figure rose up on two legs, revealing itself to be a frog creature, which fled in the direction of the river. A mere ten days had passed when on St. Patrick’s Day, Shockey’s fellow officer Mark Matthews drew his cruiser to a stop on the Riverside Drive overpass, where a creature he presumed to be a dead dog lay in the road. As Matthews slammed his car door, the creature rose up to its full 4.5’ height and leapt over the guardrail. Matthews inexplicably fired his gun, either missing or only grazing the creature, creating a local controversy which attracted national media attention.
In 2016, local news outlets covered a supposed sighting of The Loveland Frog from the banks of Lake Isabella.
While often with different details and exaggerated accounts, tales of The Loveland Frog are readily available on the internet and in many published cryptozoology handbooks and publications.
About Hugo West Theatricals
Hugo West Theatricals is the lunatic hobbyhorse of Cincinnati native writing and producing team Mike Hall and Joshua Steele. Called “smart playwright[s] who know how to surprise an audience in unexpected ways” (LINK nky) with an “uncanny ability to bring us local history in theatrical form” (Behind The Curtain Cincinnati), their often sold-out productions have been dubbed “fun and mysterious” (Cincinnati Enquirer) and “unexpectedly entertaining and thoughtful” (National Review).
HWT’s most recent production, UTOPIA, OHIO, enjoyed a sold-out run at The Carnegie Center of Columbia Tusculum in 2023. The original musical followed the real history of three little-known utopian experiments through the voices of individuals whose lives led them there: a widowed shoemaker, a Black man who escapes enslavement with his family, and a Jewish immigrant fleeing persecution.
Founded in 2012, HWT has produced award-winning stagings of original, adapted and existing works, with a special interest in remarkable Cincinnati history topics. Their production history includes DON’T CROSS THE STREAMS: THE CEASE AND DESIST MUSICAL; A KLINGON CHRISTMAS CAROL; HOT DAMN! IT’S THE LOVELAND FROG!; ZOMBIE-LOGUE; CESSNA; THE LETTERS OF VINCENT VAN GOGH: A LIVE PERFORMANCE; SUMATRAN RHINO; THE GOSPEL OF BARABBAS, HARAMBE and UTOPIA, OHIO. Their works have appeared at The Cincinnati and Indianapolis Fringe Festivals, The Art Academy of Cincinnati, the Cincinnati Art Museum, The Carnegie Center of Columbia Tusculum and Falcon Theater (Newport, KY).
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CAST & BAND
Peepaw – Tom Highley
Chief Roy Barkley – Deondra Means
Alvin Schwartzman – Ed Cohen
Luke Honeywell – Cian Steele
Dharla Barkley – Chloe Esmeier
The Old Woman / Fiddle – Linsey Rogers
Jeb Schmidt – Paul Morris
Clem Stank – Randy Lee Bailey
Randi Mae Stank – Bethany Xan Kerr
Assistant Professor Schroeder Kipling – Chris Stewart
Keyboard – Steve Goers
Bass / Banjo – Bill Jackson
Guitar – Tom Steele
PRODUCTION TEAM
Director – Kevin Crowley
Music Director – Steve Goers
Puppetry Director – Dylan Shelton
Costumer – Beth Joos
Sound Designer – Kevin Semancik
Stage Manager – Clare Jaymes
Producer – Joshua Steele
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