Greg Heffley is going to go through his first year of middle school all over again.
'Wimpy Kid' anchors a revival-heavy Children's Theatre season
The show anchors a season heavy on revivals, including "The Wizard of Oz," "Seedfolks" and "Dr. Seuss's The Cat in the Hat."
March 4, 2020 at 9:22PM
The stage adaptation of Jeff Kinney's "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" is returning to the Children's Theatre Company, where it had its electric premiere in 2016. But it's a bittersweet return for a production backed by Broadway producer Kevin McCollum ("Avenue Q," "In the Heights," "Six"). Director Rachel Rockwell, who staged the premiere, died in 2018.
No director has been named for the revised "Wimpy," which closes out the 2020-21 season at the nation's largest theater for youth (April 27-June 20, 2021).
CTC launches its season with "The Pout-Pout Fish," an undersea puppet adventure imported from New York. The surf-rock musical, by the youthful songwriting team of Christopher Anselmo and Jared Corak, explores a character's fears and discomfort (Sept. 15-Oct. 18).
CTC's roster of shows is heavy on revivals. CTC is bringing back "Seedfolks," Paul Fleischman's one-person show about Cleveland neighbors coalescing around a community garden. That show premiered at CTC in 2014 before traveling across the country and globe, including to South Africa. Artistic director Peter Brosius directs (Sept. 29-Nov. 15).
Brosius also stages "The Wizard of Oz," the splashy holiday production that features choreography by Broadway veteran Linda Talcott Lee (Nov. 3-Jan. 3, 2021), as well as the premiere of "Babble Lab," performer Autumn Ness' blubbery exploration of language and sounds. That work, aimed at preschoolers, runs Jan. 26-March 7, 2021.
"Pippi Longstocking: The Family Musical," a CTC favorite, gets new music by Danish folk star Sebastian, who worked alongside Swedish playwright Staffan Götestam to adapt Astrid Lindgren's novel. No director has been named for the show about a rebellious redhead (Feb. 16-April 4, 2021).
Brosius helms the show that completes CTC's roster, "Dr. Seuss's The Cat in the Hat." Actor Dean Holt reprises the title character that he last played in 2014 (March 30-June 6, 2021).
Season tickets, $133-$238, are on sale. Single tickets go on sale in July; 612-874-0400 or childrenstheatre.org.
Critics’ picks for entertainment in the week ahead.
