MINNEAPOLIS: Theater Latté Da has announced its 2015–16 lineup of musicals, which will include two world premieres as part of a new musical-theatre initiative.
The season, the theatre’s 18th, begins with the gruesome tale of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler (Sept. 23–Oct. 25). The show, about a barber who sets out on a course of revenge in London, will feature Sally Wingert as Mrs. Lovett and Tyler Michaels as Tobias Ragg.
Following that will be the theatre’s annual holiday tradition, All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914 written and directed Theater Latté Da’s cofounder and artistic director Peter Rothstein, with music arrangements by Erick Lichte and Timothy C. Takach (Dec. 16–20). On Christmas, 1914, a German WWI soldier steps out into the battlefield singing, and thus begins a temporary truce in celebration of the holiday. The show, based on a true story, has been seen around the world since premiering at Theater Latté Da in 2011.
Next will be the world premiere of Lullaby by Jonatha Brooke and Michael Elyanow (Jan. 13–Feb. 7, 2016). The show, about a young widowed mother who forms an unlikely friendship, is the first production from the theatre’s new NEXT 20/20 series, a five-year initiative aimed at developing 20 new musicals or plays-with-music into full productions. Lullaby received a workshop production this past spring as part of Theater Latté Da’s Next: New Musical in the Making series.
Following will be the classic musical Gypsy, by Arthur Laurents, Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim (Feb. 13–March 13, 2016). Reimagined in partnership with the Hennepin Theatre Trust, the show follows Momma Rose and Gypsy Rose Lee on their rocky road to hopeful fame and fortune. The production will feature Michelle Barber as Momma Rose, Cat Brindisi as Gypsy Rose Lee, and Tod Petersen as Herbie.
The final production of the season will be C. by Bradley Greenwald and Robert Elhai (March 30–April 24, 2016). It is a musical adaptation of Edmond Rostand’s classic play Cyrano de Bergerac, about the large-nosed Cyrano who is in love with the beautiful Roxanne. The production is the second world premiere of NEXT 20/20.
