My Antonia Reveals Itself in World Premiere as a Beautiful New Musical at Theater Latté Da

The World Premiere of the new musical My Ántonia at Theater Latté Da is one of the best new musicals I’ve seen in some time. Intimate, inviting, full of memorable songs, and featuring a knockout cast, this feels like a show that should have long legs. It opens with the audience feeling like part of the show, with cast members standing among us as they set the scene of the Nebraska prairie of the late 1800s. We hear the birds and the crickets, the sounds of nature coming alive as the cast sings the prologue.

The novel, which is told in the first person and is semi-autobiographical, translates surprisingly well to the stage. In order to maintain that first-person perspective, we have the main character, Jim, run into Willa in a bar in New York City. They reminisce about the old days, and in particular Ántonia. We then flash back to Jim, recently orphaned, on a train from the East to live with his grandparents in Nebraska. On the train is the Shimerda family, immigrants from Bohemia who will be his neighbors. Young Jim befriends their daughter Ántonia, who is a couple of years older than him. They spend their days together, and he teaches her to speak English. They have a beautiful song that deals with their introduction and the beginning of Jim teaching her the language, called “Name, What Name.” It is the first inkling that the music in this musical might be something special.

We see the characters at different stages of their lives, with Jim and Ántonia being played at different ages by three different pairs of actors. What worked extremely well was the framing device of the forty-something Jim and Willa, who pop in and out of the narrative throughout the show. It allows us the emotional connection that comes as the characters move forward from memory into the present. Who among us cannot relate to thinking back on the past, to that person who slipped away out of our lives, the one we see now that could have been the one we were destined for? We feel certain of it now, but there was usually a reason things went another way. Still, when it comes to memory, nothing is quite as emotionally potent as unrequited or unexpressed love.

This is one of those shows where the cast is so good that if you try to limit how many performers you’ll mention, you won’t even get to Sally Wingert and Bradley Greenwald, who in supporting roles do what they are so skilled at doing, punching those small moments, those little asides, just perfectly. With two of The Stages of MN favorites, Tom Reed and the limitlessly talented Em Adam Rosenberg, as the older Jim and Willa, in a genuinely funny scene beginning the tale, you realize that you’re going to have to breeze through the performers or you’ll be up all night. For the record, Reed and Rosenberg are outstanding; both bring the emotions home in the final moments of the show that, yep, had ol’ Rob in tears again. Damn you, Rosenberg. Every time, really? Honestly, is that necessary?

Right out of the gate we have Lillian Hoshman and Maddox Tabalba, who play the youngest Ántonia and Jimmy. Hoshman is probably older than the 14 she appears to be, but I’m fairly certain that Tabalba is in the ballpark of young Jimmy’s age, which I’d guess to be 12 to 14. These two are stunningly good. As the young adult Ántonia and Jim, we have Sara Masterson and Will Dusek, who again are just terrific. Add to that Anna Hashizume, and it’s a who’s who of my “must-see” list.

The music and lyrics are by The Kilbanes, whom I’d never heard of, but who clearly should be writing musicals. I was especially impressed by their willingness to venture outside of the period for inspiration. The prairie songs sound different from the town songs, and one song, “Saturday Night Me,” had a subtle ’50s rock ’n’ roll feel to it. It’s about the young people letting loose at the dance hall, and the style is like a shorthand to the audience to convey teenagers coming into their own. I hope this show goes on, I think it has the potential to go beyond regional theater. I, for one, would love to have a cast recording of it. There were several songs that I instantly wanted to be able to hear again.

My Ántonia runs through July 12th at Theater Latté Da in North Minneapolis. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.latteda.org/my-antonia It’s not often that you get a new musical that works this well, don’t miss your chance to see it!

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