Someone must have said Macbeth. Minnetonka’s theatre department suffered greatly right before their Spring 2020 premiere of Fiddler on the Roof, and productions were suspended for six months. However, the director, production team and cast were determined to find a safe outlet for the artists’ creativity. For the September 2020 performance of Broadway, Here I Come!, the department held a picnic-style live production at the City of Minnetonka Amphitheater. 

“To see them rehearsing together, although physically distanced, [was] heart-warming and really exciting,” said Director Trent Boyum. “Giving our young theater artists a chance to be creative is vital, and they [were] thrilled to be performing [again].”

During the winter months, Minnetonka Theatre streamed recordings of Subject to Change and Blithe Spirit. Live interviews with the cast and crew were included in opening night.

Once outdoor performances were feasible again, the crew turned Minnetonka High School’s back parking lot into a “mini outdoor Renaissance theater,” as Boyum called it.

“There definitely were not as many seats outside on the ‘Purple Parking Lot Stage’, as we called it,” said actor Ella Schindel, ‘22. “There were maybe ten or fifteen pods of six that people could buy for the show. I believe we were sold out every night for [our spring musical] Something Rotten.” 

Performance attendees were just as enthused about returning to the theatre as Minnetonka Theatre members themselves were. 

“People were eager to come to a show [when there] had been a year of nothing,” said Schindel. “We have a pretty [great] cult following for our theater department, and I think we are really lucky to have that.”

This fall, the theatre department is eager to open their 2021-2022 season with Chicago in the Large Auditorium. 

“[Chicago] has been my favorite show for [around] six years,” said Schindel. “I love this show and everything about it. Chicago is actually going to be my first supporting lead in a Musical with Minnetonka; I will be playing Matron Mama Morton.”

“Throughout this whole year and a half, the theatre department has learned to go with the flow and adapt to change and work through problems,” Schindel said, all of which all key parts of succeeding in the performing arts. 

For their upcoming performances of Chicago, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Circle Mirror Transformation, Clue, and Mamma Mia, costume designers and makeup artists will once again be working face-to-face with actors. Set builders and crew members will bring the production to life. Minnetonka Theatre is continuing on an upward trend in creativity and success, and both performers and audience members are excited for this year’s lineup.

Opening night of Chicago is November 6th.