In UMD Visit, Kermit Makes a Rainbow Connection With Terps
Famed Frog (and his Performer) Talk With ARHU Dean About Jim Henson ’60, Miss Piggy and Life Lessons From the Muppets
Kermit the Frog led a sold-out crowd in a singalong of “Rainbow Connection” on Friday night, when the Muppet appeared at The Clarice as part of the College of Arts and Humanities’ Dean’s Lecture Series.
Photos by Stephanie S. Cordle
It might not be easy being green, but for one lively evening at the University of Maryland, Kermit the Frog sure made it look fun.
On Friday, the loveable lead Muppet took the stage at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center’s Dekelboum Concert Hall to sing, answer questions and, once or twice, throw his hands up and shriek when his emotions got the best of him. As part of the College of Arts and Humanities’ Dean’s Lecture Series, Kermit—along with his puppeteer, Matt Vogel, who spoke about his own journey with the Muppets—chatted (below) with Dean Stephanie Shonekan about the Muppets’ ethos of inclusivity and individuality, what he learned from Jim Henson ’60 and his fraught relationship with Miss Piggy.
“What we’ve done really hasn’t changed much,” said Kermit. “Fozzie is still trying to find the perfect punchline, Gonzo still goes round and round about how many chickens he can stuff into a wheelbarrow and run the New York City marathon at the same time, Miss Piggy will always expect a big number, even if we’re not doing a show, and I’ll always be seeing the best in my friends and standing by them.”
The sold-out event honored the long history between UMD and the Muppets’ creator. Henson and his wife and collaborator Jane Henson ’55 graduated from the university, and Jim invented Kermit while a home economics major, building the frog out of one of his mother’s coats and a ping-pong ball cut in half.
The all-ages crowd was brought to its feet as School of Music faculty members and students performed “The Muppet Show” theme and “Mahna Mahna.” Kermit teamed up with student tap dancers for a take on “Happy Feet” and partnered with banjo player Lucas Ross (below) for his ode to self-acceptance, “Bein’ Green.” At the end of the night, the audience sang along with Kermit on his signature song, “Rainbow Connection,” accompanied by Arts for All Director Craig Kier on piano.
[Five Things You Didn’t Know About Jim Henson’s Time as a Terp]
Here are five froggy takeaways from Vogel and Kermit’s conversation with Shonekan and a Q&A with audience members.
Kermit takes after his human creator. “As I understand it, Kermit is a lot like Jim,” said Vogel: calm, soft-spoken, hardworking and optimistic. There are even aural similarities between Henson and Kermit. “If you heard Jim Henson speaking as Jim Henson, he sounded just like Kermit,” said Vogel, who’s been voicing the character since 2017. (Vogel also plays Big Bird, Count von Count, Lew Zealand and Gonzo’s chicken sweetie, Camilla.)
There’s no bad blood between Kermit and Miss Piggy. Call Page Six! Kermit made a statement on his notoriously tempestuous relationship with his pink porcine co-star in response to an audience member’s question. “Miss Piggy’s doing great,” Kermit said. “We’re really good friends. We talk and text all the time.” Admittedly, it’s not all sunshine and lily pads. “She texted me before the show wondering where I was,” Kermit said. “I didn’t want to tell her because I knew she’d come find the place and take over.
Kermit performs with School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies dance majors and the School of Music Graduate Jazz Quartet.
- Kermit might have invented a new flavor for the Maryland Dairy. Vanilla, cookies and cream, even the Dairy’s own Kermit’s Kiss aren’t to his ice cream tastes. When an audience member asked his favorite flavor, Kermit had no trouble answering. “Dragonfly ripple,” he said with a well, duh shrug. “Isn’t it everybody’s?”
- UMD’s beloved turtles are just fine by Kermit. In fact, he once had a turtle roommate named Phil, he said, though it didn’t work out. “He didn’t like my banjo-playing, and he just kept snapping at me.” Later, UMD President Darryll J. Pines asked Kermit to say “I’m Kermit the Frog, and I have Maryland pride.” Kermit happily obliged, then asked, “Is it contagious?”
- Kermit lives by the words Jim Henson wrote in a letter to his kids at the end of his life. “He said, ‘Please watch out for each other, and love and forgive everybody. It’s a good life. Enjoy it,’” said Kermit. “I try to remind myself of that every day.”
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Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center College of Arts and Humanities