Fun and Funk

Ever since the Children’s Theatre Company expanded its building and added a second stage three years ago, it’s been able to do twice as many plays, all with the same stellar results. CTC has always made shows that everyone from toddlers to grandparents love, and this fall’s lineup is especially eclectic, with a slew of new plays by internationally acclaimed artists.

Starting September 5, Italian puppet master Fabrizio Montecchi and director Douglas Irvine bring the characters of Peter Pan to life in an eponymous world premiere production. This version of Peter Pan is a collaboration between CTC and Visible Fictions, a Scottish company specializing in theater for young people. The show is a visual fusion of live action and shadow puppetry, and is most appropriate for kids eight and older.

Peter Pan is followed by the world premiere of Five Fingers of Funk (October 21–November 16), written by Obie Award–winning Hip Hop Theater pioneer Will Power. Five Fingers features music by Power and Atlanta–native Justin Ellington. Billed as a “coming-of-age funk opera for anyone over thirteen,” Five Fingers is about a group of high school friends who compete in a music contest. Teenagers will love the groove and the subject matter.

Two shows for the little ones are also on the docket. For kids over the age of four, there’s Madeline and the Gypsies (September 16–October 26), a world premiere musical based on the beloved book by Ludwig Bemelmans. St. Paul’s Circus Juventas youth circus helped create the show, and Juventas dancers perform all kinds of circus acts in it.

Also recommended for the elementary school set is a musical version of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (November 11–January 3). The adaptation, by British poet and dramatist Adrian Mitchell, was written for the Royal Shakespeare Company, which performed it in 1998. Children’s Theatre Company, 2400 3rd Ave. S., Mpls., 612-874-0400