OPENING

'La Cage Aux Folles'

"La Cage Aux Folles" is perhaps best known for its 1996 American film remake, "The Birdcage," starring Robin Williams and Nathan Lane as a gay couple — one the manager of a gay nightclub, the other a flamboyant drag performer who's his star attraction — and what happens when their son brings his new fiancée and her conservative parents over for dinner. (Spoiler: All hell breaks loose, to comic effect.) The original 1978 French-Italian film was adapted from a 1973 play of the same name, which was revived in 1983 as a Tony Award-winning musical. Bloomington Civic Theatre's staging is based on the Broadway version. Renowned Twin Cities dancer and choreographer Joe Chvala directs, alongside longtime Guthrie and Chanhassen Dinner Theatres music director Anita Ruth. (7:30 p.m. Fri. & Sat., 2 p.m. Sun. Ends Feb. 15. $27-$34. Bloomington Theatre and Art Center, 1800 W. Old Shakopee Rd., Bloomington. 952-683-8575 or www.btacmn.org.) Jahna Peloquin


SATURDAY-MONDAY

'Pilgrims Musa and Sheri in the New World'

Mixed Blood Theatre launches its "55454 Series" of shows that relate to its diverse West Bank neighborhood with Yussef El Guindi's "Pilgrims Musa and Sheri in the New World." The comedic one-act, which won the Steinberg Award from the American Theatre Critics Association, is about a Muslim immigrant and American who have an arranged marriage but end up falling in love. The cast of this weekend-only production includes Algerian-born Mohamad Yabdri as Musa, Ethiopian-born Antu Yacob, Ansa Akyea of Ghana by way of Switzerland, and Minnesota native Greta Grosch. Mark Valdez directs. (7:30 p.m. Sat., 2 p.m. Sun. 7:30 p.m. Mon. Mixed Blood Theatre, 1501 S. 4th St., Mpls. $20 guaranteed admission, free rush line. 612-338-6131 or www.mixedblood.com.) Graydon Royce