New artistic director Justin Lucero brings ambition and Broadway lights to Theater Latté Da

His family name comes from the men who lit the lamps in medieval Spain, and Justin Lucero hopes to live up to that lineage even as he buffs the luster of his new company.

Ten months into his artistic directorship of Theater Latté Da, where he replaced founding artistic director Peter Rothstein, Lucero has tapped a high-wattage creative team to stage the very first show that he programmed for the Minneapolis-based company — the macabre musical comedy “Scotland PA.”

The production kicks off a season that includes Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Cinderella,” the regional premiere of “Fun Home” and Stephen Sondheim’s “Passion.” The lineup announces the 43-year-old Lucero’s ambition for the growing $4 million company known for reimagining classics and expanding the musical repertory.

“It feels like we’re on a precipice of possibilities,” Lucero said. “The question is what comes next — do we take this momentum and turn it into something bigger than people might even imagine?”

Managing director Elisa Spencer-Kaplan, Latté Da’s administrative leader, shares Lucero’s enthusiasm.

“We’re always looking at ‘For sale’ signs around this [northeast Minneapolis] neighborhood and dreaming about how we might grow,” Spencer-Kaplan said. “We love this neighborhood but we’re at full capacity.”

With his pompadour hairstyle and stylish duds, Lucero cuts a suave Bruno Mars-like figure. And if he had continued to play the saxophone, his first love, who knows, maybe he’d be the cool cat blowing folks away in stadium concerts. Instead, he makes statements, sartorial and otherwise, in the theater.

“People take note of the fact that I’m not muted in what I wear or how I style myself,” said Lucero, laughing. “I stand out in a crowd even though I’m small.”

Very few have the kind of experiential and educational breadth that the El Paso, Texas, native brings to the position. Although he loved the saxophone, which he studied for decades, he majored in business at Texas Christian University to be practical about making a living. Later, he plunged back into the realm of his dreams, earning an MFA in directing from the University of Essex in London.

Fluent in German, he taught the language at a K-8 magnet school for many years. He also has taught English as a Second Language for adults. And his last two simultaneous jobs before coming to Minneapolis was running the El Paso Opera and the graduate directing program at Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mellon University.

“I always joke that someone with those skills often gravitates toward an opera or musical theater company,” Lucero said.

His inaugural season also will showcase his aesthetic predilections, which he describes as hyper-theatrical and colorful, with a penchant for fantasy.

“I love work that activates the imagination and reminds people that what they’re watching is happening in real time right in front of our eyes,” Lucero said. “We all create this magic together.”

Adapted from a cult film that riffs on Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” — there’s a superstition about saying the title of the play in a theater so people generally refer to it as “the Scottish play” — “Scotland” will be staged by Lonny Price, who was nominated for a Tony for directing “A Class Act” and who also helmed “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill” on Broadway. His “Lady Day” co-director, Matt Cowart, will also co-direct “Scotland.”

Choreographers Lorin Latarro, who created the dances for Broadway’s “Waitress” and “The Who’s Tommy,” and Travis Waldschmidt (“Matilda the Musical” and “Hello, Dolly!”) are slated to do movement for “Scotland.” Not to be outdone, Joshua Zecher-Ross, who conducted the band for Broadway’s “Be More Chill,” is music director of the show in what is a whole reconstitution of the team that helmed the 2019 premiere in New York.

“The team’s all pretty luminary but they weren’t satisfied with the premiere, so they came here to work some more on the show,” Lucero said, nodding to Latté Da’s Next Festival development workshop. “They were drawn to us to do their work and the next logical step is to put it on our stage.” “Scotland” runs Sept. 18-Oct. 20.

Lucero makes his directorial debut with “Cinderella,” a family show programmed at the holidays. It’s the first Rodgers and Hammerstein show at Latté Da during its 26-year history.

“Traditionally, we always do something Christmas-specific at the holidays,” Lucero said. “But every theater in the Twin Cities does something Christmas-specific and I know that from watching everything on offer.” (Nov. 20, 2024-Jan. 5, 2025.)

“School Pictures,” former tutor Milo Cramer’s solo show about preparing students for entrance exams for elite New York high schools, is an unlikely pick for the season. The show premiered at Philadelphia’s Wilma Theatre in 2022 and was later a critical success in New York.

But with Cramer playing all the roles and performing with just a ukulele and a toy piano, it’s a departure from traditional musical theater.

“Part of our job is to push the boundaries,” Lucero said. “It’s practically sung through and sung unlike anything I’ve seen before.” (Feb. 5-March 2, 2025.)

Composer Jeanine Tesori’s “Fun Home” is based on former Minneapolitan Alison Bechdel’s graphic novel about growing up in a funeral parlor. The show is getting its first Minnesota-originated production a decade after winning the best musical Tony.

“Fun Home” will be directed by Addie Gorlan-Han.

“It’s a contemporary classic,” Lucero said. “And I’m glad we finally got the rights.” (April 2-May 4, 2025.)

Latté Da’s season closes out with “Passion,” which, Lucero said, is more difficult for artists than most of the shows in Sondheim’s already challenging repertoire.

“It’s not something given to razzle-dazzle choreography and Sondheim wrote it without applause breaks,” Lucero said. “But it will be Latté Da’s 99th full production and I will direct it.” (June 4-July 13.)

Lucero held auditions for his season and has cast most of the major roles in all the shows. He saw some 500 actors. He is shocked by the cultural richness.

“I’m just flabbergasted at not just the amount of talent but the training and experience that exists in the pool of performers,” Lucero said.

It’s a sentiment that outsiders keep discovering.