"Falsettos": Movement director Emily Michaels King and director Meredith McDonough drew huzzahs for their fizzy, fun collaboration last year on "Emma." The two team up again for a show with less foam and more poignancy. William Finn and James Lapine's musical, about family and relationships against a 1980s AIDS backdrop, kicks off Theater Latté Da's season with a cast headlined by Sasha Andreev, Sheena Janson Kelley and Max Wojtanowicz. (Sept. 20–Nov. 5, Ritz Theater, Mpls.)
"The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee": Director Tyler Michaels King gets to lean into his comic and improv toolkits as he stages Rachel Sheinkin's musical about young people trying to sort out their lives. Tod Petersen, Tom Reed and Wariboko Semenitari head up the acting ensemble. (Oct. 5-29, Artistry, Bloomington.)
"The Boy Wonder": In 1938, Harold Stassen became Minnesota's youngest governor at 31. Then he ran for president nine times, seeking to make the Republican party a champion of progressive causes. This Bernie Sanders-like figure also helped in the founding of the United Nations. Composer and lyricist Keith Hovis explores his life and legacy. The show is directed by Laura Leffler with Evan Tyler Wilson as Stassen. (Oct. 7-29, History Theatre, St. Paul.)
"Girl From the North Country": It's fitting that the musical is launching its Broadway tour in Minnesota. Irish playwright and director Conor McPherson built the play with music around 20 of Bob Dylan's biggest hits. The story is set in a guesthouse in Depression-era Duluth where souls in a kind of purgatory seek a way out. Simon Hale won a Tony for his orchestrations of Dylan's tunes, including "Forever Young" and "Like a Rolling Stone." (Oct. 8-14, Orpheum Theatre, Mpls.)
"Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress": The Children's Theatre Company stages the world premiere of Juliany Taveras' adaptation of Christine Baldacchino's and Isabelle Malenfant's book. The story orbits a boy who dreams of space adventures and likes to wear a tangerine dress. After some classmates exclude him because of his authenticity, he leans on his imagination for a win. Heidi Stillman directs. (Oct. 10-Nov. 19, CTC, Mpls.)
"Re-Memori (Of Hair Land & Sea)": Chris Berry, Penumbra Theatre's new arts programming director, makes his directorial debut with this regional premiere by Nambi E. Kelley. The solo show centers on a woman reconciling her identity between the ethereal present and the ravaged past. Sha Cage stars. (Oct. 12-Nov. 5, Penumbra, St. Paul.)
Afro-Atlantic Playwright Festival: Three restless elderly immigrants in a high-end European facility pore over their lives in "We Take Care of Our Own," Zainabu Jallo's drama that's part of Illusion Theater's first-ever Afro-Atlantic festival, which is the brainchild of playwright and director Carlyle Brown. The opening weekend also includes readings of "My Soul is Rested," two one acts by American Cassandra Medley about workers in an immigration detention center, and "Red Dragon" by Zimbabwe-born Londoner Tonderai Munyevu, which is about a celebrated actor who finds out about her ancestry centuries later in West Africa. (Oct. 13-28, Illusion Theater, Mpls.)
Patti LuPone: The Tony winner who has portrayed Evita, Mama Rose ("Gypsy) and Joanne in "Company," famously gave up her Equity union card a few years ago, saying that she wants to end her career on film. Well, lucky for us, she's having a hard time quitting the stage. (Nov. 19, Ordway Center, St. Paul.)
"Art": Yasmina Reza's 1994 play is seemingly about a white-on-white painting as three men tussle over the meaning of art. But the show, translated from French by Christopher Hampton, is really about friendship and the things we see and don't. Chicago-based director Lisa Portes returns for this bit of holiday counterprogramming. (Dec. 16-Jan. 28, Guthrie Theater, Mpls.)
"Dinner for One": Jungle Theater artistic director Christina Baldwin draws on a comic European New Year's Eve tradition as she brings this slapstick show about love, aging and family to life. She taps longtime collaborators Sun Mee Chomet and Jim Lichtscheidl, and music is by Emilia Mettenbrink (Dec. 8-31, Jungle Theater, Mpls.)
