"Disney's Frozen" will be part of the 2024-25 season at the Children's Theatre Company, helmed by Tiffany Nichole Greene, a resident director of "Hamilton."
The company's production of the Broadway smash anchors the spring musical slot on the theater's calendar. It embodies the collaborative leadership transition between outgoing artistic director Peter Brosius, who leaves CTC this summer after 27 years, and Rick Dildine, who comes to the Twin Cities from the Alabama Shakespeare Festival.
Brosius picked the shows, many of which have been in the pipeline for years, but consulted with Dildine for this baton-pass season that includes new works as well as national and international collaborations. Dildine went to the same graduate school as Greene.
The lineup launches with "Moya," by South Africa's Zip Zap Circus. The performers tell their own stories of perseverance, resilience and survival with daring acrobatic feats (Sept.12-Oct. 20).
Michi Barall's "Drawing Lessons," set for a premiere at CTC, was co-commissioned with New York's Ma-Yi Theater Company. It centers on a 12-year-old girl who is isolated at school but learns to communicate with a newspaper cartoonist. The show was developed as part of a major five-theater collaborative and will be staged by Jack Tamburri (Oct. 8-Nov. 10).
"Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas" returns at the holidays. It will be directed by Dean Holt, who has been in all the productions of the show for the past 30 years and recently played Old Max. Brosius said that Holt has offered insights as an actor and knows the show well (Nov. 5-Jan. 5, 2025).
CTC will present Manual Cinema's "Leonardo! A Wonderful Show About a Terrible Monster." The puppet musical takes off from Mo Willems' book and uses "illustrated paper puppets, book pages, two-dimensional props, furry monster puppets, and songs" to tell its story. Director Sarah Fornace co-adapts the work with Drew Dir (Jan 7-March 9, 2025).
The Minneapolis theater also teams up with the Rose Theater (Omaha, Neb.) and Chicago Children's Theatre for the world premiere of "Milo Imagines the World," a musical based on Matt de la Peña's and Christian Robinson's children's book about an inventive kid on a long subway ride. With lyrics and music by Christian Albright and Christian Magby, the show's story is written by Terry Guest. Mikael Burke directs (Feb. 4-March 9, 2025).
The season concludes with "Frozen," the story of two sister princesses, one with the magical power to cast things in ice. CTC alum Caroline Innerbichler headlined the Broadway tour. No word yet on casting.
"We're thrilled that 'Frozen' will ... expand the definition of true love for new, young audiences," songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez said in a statement. "Frozen" won a Grammy in 2015 (April 15-June 15, 2025).
The slate speaks to the company's vision and values, Brosius said. And although it's "bittersweet" that he will not be the one welcoming audiences to the theater this fall, he's proud of the central role that CTC continues to play in building engaged citizens by exposure to new works from across the world.
"For my part, the operative word is gratitude," Dildine said. "I step into a remarkable institution with an amazing staff and legacy in a remarkable community."
Season tickets, $75-$244, are on sale. Individual tickets go on sale later at childrenstheatre.org or 612-874-0400.
