One Froggy Evening

In 1955, a construction worker pries off the top of the cornerstone of the J. C. Wilber Building and uncovers a metal box. Inside sits a commemorative document dated 1892 and a live frog wearing a top hat and cane. The worker immediately imagines a payday from the frog’s peculiar talents.

The man opens the box and the frog performs a spontaneous musical number right on the spot. He quickly sees an opportunity to cash in on the frog’s unusual gift and its potential for show business. The moment demonstrates the impossibility of controlling a talent that only responds to its owner.

The man takes the frog to a talent agent, hoping for a quick breakthrough. The agent banishes him and dismisses the frog as uncoachable. Disappointed, the man begins to plot a more personal path to fame.

Undeterred, he spends his life savings to rent an abandoned theater. He intends to stage the frog as a solo act and lure an audience with the promise of entertainment. The plan is reckless but his desperation drives him forward.

The frog performs atop a high wire behind the closed curtain while the man struggles to draw a crowd. The act is kept secret until the moment of revelation, with the promise of free beer to entice spectators. The tension builds as the curtain trembles and the audience grows curious.

As the man finally yanks the curtain cord, the audience catches a glimpse of the singing frog. But the creature instantly reverts to an ordinary frog, leaving spectators puzzled and disappointed. The failed reveal echoes through the hall and underscores the failure of the venture.

Anger replaces curiosity as the crowd pelts the man with rotten vegetables. The show collapses, and his dream collapses with it, leaving him ruined and humiliated. He staggers away from the theater with the frog still in his box.

Now homeless, the man camps on a park bench while the frog continues to sing only for him. He remains unable to monetize the talent, and the dream of easy wealth fades further away. The strange bond between man and frog survives the setback.

A policeman overhears the nocturnal singing and approaches the park to investigate. The man is arrested for vagrancy and deemed insane, and he is taken to a psych hospital with the frog. The surreal situation deepens the downward spiral of both man and creature.

After release, the man is worn down by life and returns to the construction site where he first found the box. He dumps the box into the new cornerstone for the future Tregoweth Brown Building and runs away, finally freeing himself from the burden. The box remains behind as the building rises and time moves on.

One hundred years later, in 2056, the Brown Building is being disintegrated by futuristic demolition workers. The box with the frog is rediscovered by a 21st century crew member who envisions a new windfall. The cycle seems ready to begin again.

Motivated by greed, the crew member absconds with the frog in the box and the cycle appears ready to begin again. The talent resurfaces in a new time and place, threatening to repeat the founder’s mistakes and the doomed pursuit of easy wealth.