"Frozen" at Children's Theatre Company

When the National Tour of the stage adaptation of the hit 2013 Disney movie Frozen came to Minneapolis in the fall of 2021, it was a true celebration of the return to theater after a global pandemic closed all theaters for nearly a year and a half. Now three and a half years later it feels like the pandemic truly is in the past, although today's world is not without its own unique and scary challenges. But now we have Children's Theatre Company's glorious regional premiere of this sisterhood love story to remind us that we can get through hard times if we work together and have an open heart (and door). The movie is beloved by many (expect to see lots of little Elsas, Annas, and Olafs in the crowd), and the thing CTC does best is make the experience the best it possibly can be for the little ones. They present this story with such care, thoughtfulness, passion, and love that it's also a joy for the grown-ups, and will melt even the most frozen of hearts. As the outdoor world continues its slow melt into spring, the world of Arendelle will continue to freeze and thaw and freeze again on the CTC stage through June 15.

"FLEX" at Penumbra Theatre Company

The new play FLEX, about a high school girls basketball team in the mid-90s, is receiving its area premiere at Penumbra Theatre Company. Like The Wolves (about a high school girls soccer team, which the Jungle produced twice a few years ago), it's about so much more than sports. It's about friendship, teamwork, betrayal and what it's like to be a teenage girl. It's a little lighter than what I remember The Wolves to be. While there is tragedy and difficult issues that the girls are dealing with, in the end it's a feel-good story about camaraderie and the triumph of a group when everyone works together. See it at Penumbra in St. Paul's historic Rondo neighborhood through May 19.