BROCKPORT, N.Y. — The theatre is packed with excited children, parents and community members. Their delighted whispers fill the space, as the cast and crew rush to put in place their final preparations. As the house lights begin to fade, you hear a playful song coming from the orchestra. The curtain opens and you are greeted by Frog and Toad (played by Bella Sanginario and Sonni Amoroso), who whisk you away to join them on their next adventure.

The SUNY Brockport Department of Theatre production of “A Year With Frog and Toad” made campus history on Thursday, Nov. 20. It was the first show in almost two years to take place on the Main Stage since the stage’s lift broke in Fall 2023.

This broken stage has hindered the types of performances the department can do. Since the lift broke, they could only use the Black Box Theatre, a smaller theatre that doesn’t have the space for grandiose sets or a full orchestra like the Main Stage does.

Canceled and modified productions

In Spring 2024, the department had to cancel its highly anticipated production of “The Prom,” which was supposed to feature Ed Popil (who you may know better as “RuPaul’s Drag Race” Season 7 and “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” Season 8 contestant Mrs. Kasha Davis) in one of the leading roles as Barry Glickman. In order to adapt to the Black Box Theatre, the department put on Jason Robert Brown’s “Songs for a New World” instead, which didn’t require as many production elements as “The Prom”

Since Spring 2024, the department has continued to work around the lack of the Main Stage, putting on productions in the Black Box Theatre including “Ordinary Days,” “A Few Good Men,” “POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive” and “Silent Sky.”

While the department has been able to modify their productions to the spaces available to them, the lack of the Main Stage is still a setback. Department of Theatre professor and “A Year With Frog and Toad” producer Danny Hoskins said that that having two contrasting spaces helps students get experience working in each of them.

“The whole purpose of having two theaters, an experimental space where the Black Box is and an intimate, configurable space,” Hoskins said. “And then having the Main Stage, which is a traditional proscenium stage, gives the student artists a chance to practice their craft in two very different dynamics with two very different challenges.”

Without the Main Stage, students have been missing out on the opportunity to put on a production in a theatre of that capacity, especially students who came to Brockport after the stage broke and graduated before productions could return.

“The biggest thing is some of our students never got to perform on the main stage,” Hoskins said.

This includes SUNY Brockport senior Sonni Amoroso. Before “A Year with Frog and Toad,” they only had performed once on the Main Stage during their freshman year.

“Doing this show here, because this is most likely going to be my last show at Brockport, I’m just having so much fun,” Amoroso said. “You know, the Black Box is great, and I’m so glad I got the experience to be in a smaller space because you’re acting right in front of someone. But being on the Main Stage — it feels like theatre to me.”

More than just a campus facility

“A Year with Frog and Toad” was historic for the department outside of being one of the first productions back on the Main Stage — the show signifies the return of the department’s children’s theatre program. Through this program, the Brockport Theatre Department travels to different elementary schools to put on their productions in the local community.

“The theater program had a really strong children’s theater touring program,” Hoskins said “They would put on a production, they would build it, they would costume it, they would rehearse it, and then they would take it out and tour it to the schools. We were hoping that this could be the beginning of that, so there were [set] pieces that were built specifically for touring.”

For “A Year with Frog and Toad,” elementary school students visited campus for a private performance on Friday, Nov. 21. For the matinee on Sunday, Nov. 23, kids were invited to attend a special meet and greet with Frog and Toad before the show. The pre-show fun included different craft stations and a visit from SUNY Brockport mascot Ellsworth Eagle.

This production was Amoroso’s first time performing a children’s theatre piece.

“I’ve always wanted to get more into [children’s theatre] because I love kids, and I love hopefully being able to influence them in a positive way,” Amoroso said.

Hoskins says that this community allows these kids to experience theatre, some for the first time.

“We had 400 kids there, and [department chair] Ruth [Childs] asked at the beginning, raise your hand if this is the first theater production you’ve ever seen,” Hoskins said. “And like half the audience raise their hands. Of course, they’re second and third and fourth graders, but still, that’s a huge impact.”

The reopening of the Main Stage doesn’t only benefit younger audiences. The Main Stage is bigger and more accessible than the Black Box Theatre, serving audience members of all ages.

The Main Stage can fit about 400 people, while the Black Box Theatre can only fit about 80 to 90 people. Fine Arts Events Manager Anna Burklin said this discrepancy created limitations to how many people they could accommodate.

“This past season we had several sold-out shows in the Black Box, and in some cases we even had to turn away patrons who planned to purchase tickets at the door simply because we had reached capacity,” Burklin said.

Alongside having less seating, the Black Box Theatre has less accessibility features than the Main Stage does. Some of the Main Stage’s accessibility features include an assisted listening system, air conditioning and walkway lighting.

“We’ve done our best to mitigate any potential challenges,” Burklin said. “We have worked to make [the Black Box] as safe as possible by adding glow tape, signage, railings, and giving reminders to watch their step, but navigating in the dark simply isn’t as comfortable for some patrons.”

The Main Stage is on the main floor of the Tower of Fine Arts, so theatre-goers don’t have to go up or down any stairs to access it, or the bathrooms near it. This is not the case for the Black Box Theatre, as those interested in going to that space must walk down a few small, but steep, steps.

People who have trouble going up and down the stairs in front of the Black Box Theatre can use the theatre’s wheelchair lift. The inside of the wheelchair lift is completely dark and very narrow, and the lift operates slowly.

Brockport junior Emilee Ramirez uses an electric wheelchair, because she has several chronic conditions, including posture orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, or POTS. Although she has an interest in theatre, she said that the lack of accessibility at the Tower of Fine Arts has prevented her from wanting to attend productions. Ramirez said she questions the upgrades made to other campus facilities while spaces like the Black Box Theatre are left without necessary accessibility modifications.

“I think if we have the funds to change multiple student areas,” Ramirez said, “including the Union, including Tuttle, and we’re developing different things for curriculums that are mostly filled with able-bodied students, why are we not actively choosing to make public spaces accessible?”