Minnesota is quickly approaching the midpoint of winter (the Farmer’s Almanac places midwinter on Feb. 3), and Twin Cities theaters will introduce a flurry of new shows as audiences begin to thaw out.

The lineup includes some works new to Minnesota audiences, like “Milo Imagines the World” at the Children’s Theatre Company, which opens previews Feb. 4.  

Based on the book of the same name, the musical follows young Milo and his creative way of viewing the ordinary world.  

“It's a story about sort of the ways that we tend to make assumptions about people and assume that we know what's going on in their lives,” said director Mikael Burke.  

The show was co-commissioned by the Children’s Theater Company, The Rose Theater in Nebraska and the Chicago Children’s Theatre. Burke directed the world premiere last fall in Chicago and is remounting the show for its Minnesota premiere. He describes the show as speaking to audiences of all ages.  

“It's fun, it's funny, it's delightful, but it has an awful lot of heart.” 

Cramming with Cramer

Another new work for Twin Cities audiences is Theater Latté Da’s production of “School Pictures,” which opens on Feb. 5. The show was written by bi-coastal artist Milo Cramer (they’re based in New York City and San Diego), who also performs the solo piece.  

“The show is a series of musical portraits of individual students, high schoolers and music middle schoolers, who are studying for tests,” Cramer said.  

Instead of a traditional book musical with songs that have a particular narrative, “School Pictures” takes more of a song cycle approach where individual songs focus on a particular student and story.  The songs were all created by Cramer, who describes themselves as “not a very good singer.” 

“It actually adds to the pathos and the authenticity and sincerity of them that I'm sometimes struggling to hit the note,” Cramer said.  

The work is a blend of real-life experiences Cramer had as a school test tutor, as well as a healthy dose of fiction to protect individual kids' stories. It also brings up questions of inequality in American education. 

“The complexity of the relationships that Milo as a tutor with these students are kind of teased and unspooled and processed through song,” said director Morgan Green, who helped develop the show. 

“There's a lot of conflicting emotions, which creates some of the comedy, but there are some deep and important questions in these songs about like how to be a good teacher.”  

Other productions

More familiar contemporary plays are also part of the local lineup. Ten Thousand Things Theater is producing “This Girl Laughs, This Girl Cries, This Girl Does Nothing” — a fairytale-like show all about decisions. In St. Paul, the History Theatre is currently showing “The Root Beer Lady,” which premiered in 2023.  

There are also plenty of classics onstage in the coming weeks. Artistry in Bloomington is currently in the middle of its production of “Sweet Charity,” while Chanhassen Dinner Theatres opens “Grease” next week.

Midwinter dreaming

The Guthrie Theater’s annual foray into Shakespeare opens Feb. 7 with “A Midsummer Night's Dream.” The romantic comedy with a fantasy setting is helmed by artistic director Joseph Haj, who is leaning into the show's origins. 

“‘Midsummer Night's Dream’ was written for a wedding,” Haj said.  

“Going back and reading the play through that lens, knowing Shakespeare had made this as a kind of wedding gift for a couple getting married, it just opened the play wide open for me.”  

Haj explains that the play’s couples reflect different stages of love, from the timeless bond of fairy monarchs Oberon and Titania to the arranged union of human rulers Hippolyta and Theseus.

“It’s just been so much fun to frame the play, this production of this play around these ideas of love,” Haj said.  

Collected from Minnesota Public Radio News. View original source here.