Frog Kisser

Track Listing:
1. The Queen Bee (Schoettler) 11:34
Ellouise shares: “Why I chose this story: About five years ago I found The Queen Bee presented as a traditional Grimm’s fairytale. I was drawn to the Jack Tale elements in the story – three brothers going out to seek their fortune with a younger brother who proves himself. The ants, ducks and bees give me a chance to add a humorous environmental edge to the story, especially as they are the keys to Jack’s success in breaking the spell. Then stir in the witches spell. This story has it all. I love to tell this story.”

2. The Frog Prince (Ereneta) 6:13
“This was one of the first fairy tales I ever told to other adults,” says Tim. “I told it in a comedy writing workshop, and at the climax of the story, the other students just about fell out of their chairs laughing. They had never heard this version, from the Brothers Grimm. The moment of transformation in the story captured the imagination of the audience so powerfully, that I soon began to seek out other fairy tales that contemporary audiences could respond to.”

3. East of the Sun, West of the Moon (Oglesby) 15:00
 A great bear (or is it?)  falls in love with a poor but beautiful girl.

4. The Scholar and the Bird (Reidy) 5:20
Elly says this about her story: “Research and reading are the on-going work of acquiring and creating new material, so I was hunting through the Asian folktale collection at the library. I discovered ‘White Wave,’ a classic Chinese tale of visitation by a goddess to a mortal, retold and illustrated by Diane Wolkstein. Enchanting book, really, and I was having a very hard time finding a story that met the criterion. This was a story I felt I could tell comfortably, but I knew I couldn’t use this story without permission, and there was no time for that.

I began writing down some ideas that became sentences and four pages later, realizing I was going in the wrong direction, I took a break.

I was working on a separate project that involved sorting through photos from a recent visit to China. A friend, Linda Fang, had told me the story of her ancestor, the son of a scholar. The young man, a boy, really, was spirited away when an enraged emperor ordered the death of the boy’s entire family. He ended up in the Yellow Mountains area of China.

I began thinking about the ancient Chinese scholars and the beautiful gardens I had seen there. I went back to the four pages of sentences, revamped, rewrote and in about an hour, had the Scholar and the Bird ready to record. No one is more surprised than I am.”

5. The Small-Toothed Dog (Buvala) 9:00
Sean Says: “While researching ‘Beauty and the Beast’ type stories, I ran across this old folktale from the late 1890’s. Although there are other variants out there, I thought the way the story was presented was new for most audiences. As well, the odd focus on ’small teeth’ just makes me laugh. I hope in my short version on this CD, the audience can catch with me the subtle nuances as the youngest daughter changes in her perceptions of the dog.

This is one of those stories where I had so much fun playing with words, inflections and delivery. And in the end, I think most of can understand the power of being transformed by love and maybe even a kiss.”

6. A Rose and A Kiss (Brown) 9:22
 Lovely Fox has a dream of a rose and a kiss that will bring her joy.

7. Thyme and Relish (Hedman) 12:15
Rachel tells us: “While reading many stories of enchantment, I came upon the German folktale Der Zwerg Nase—translated as The History of Dwarf Long Nose—by Wilhelm Hauff. His contributions could rival the collections from the Brothers Grimm.

The story seemed to want a song.

At first, my ideas for lyrics and tunes focused on the insults that Jamie made to the old woman in defense of his mother. The intention was for the song to then transform into a song about Jamie when he became Dwarf LongNose.

Finally, I shifted focus on the mother and son relationship. Though I have not yet experienced parenthood, I could connect with the quick passage of time. Of their offspring, many parents mourn the end of childhood and the beginning of adolescence.

The mother either could not accept or understand the transformation of her son. She had no words for this phase of life. She became the silent mother. How does any parent talk to their child at this time?

Only when Jamie reached adulthood at 21 could there be the hope of reconciliation and reunion.

The song was the ’something familiar that had the potential to connect the mother and the son again.”

8. The Frog Princess (Ereneta) 6:06
Tim notes: “Fairy tales are known for moving the action along: the plot turns and twists, but rarely do we get to dive into character. We might hear that a hero or heroine is brave, or distraught, or smitten. But we rarely hear what the character has to say, let alone how they feel. But I was inspired by hearing storyteller Susan Klein of Martha’s Vineyard tell Sleeping Beauty in the voice of the woman who we normally only think of as the villain. Hearing a familiar tale through a first person monologue opened up the story to me, letting me re-imagine and re-engage with what I thought was an old familiar tale. So, while the Ukranian story of ‘The Frog Princess’ might not be familiar to modern audiences, this story is one of several first person monologues I’ve created to explore Prince Charming, that handsome serial monogamist who appears in so many fairy tales to woo the heroine du jour. I imagined that before he became the dashing and heroic figure we know, the prince was all too human, and his first romance was a combination of mishaps, mistakes, and magic.”