Stages Theatre Company Presents “The Nightingale”

Stages Theatre Company presents “The Nightingale,” a new version of an old fairy tale.

Maybe you’ve never heard the tale by Hans Christian Andersen. But since its publication in 1843, it has been adapted to opera, ballet, television drama, and in the case of Stages Theatre, with the help of Escalate Dance in Osseo, a musical stage production.

“It’s our sixth year doing this,”  said Owner of Escalate Dance Ann Marie Omeish. “Its the highlight of my year,” she said of the dance studio’s yearly collaboration at Stages.

The story is about a village where the mayor holds a “Festival of Progress.”  Citizens build a mechanical nightingale that comes into competition with the real nightingale. The mayor falls in love with the dazzling mechanical nightingale that he values more than the real thing. When he becomes deathly ill, the beautiful song of the real nightingale is the only thing that can cure him.

“It’s really relevant because it shares a message of the balance of technology and living in the moment, so its not outdated,” said Allie Kiewatt, who plays the beautiful nightingale.

Artistic director Sandy Boren Barrett said, “Nature good – Technology bad, we didn’t want to say that because there are benefits to both.”

This is a beautiful show and extremely well choreographed.

“You are just going to come away feeling like just amazing, like you’ve seen this really great play and you’ve heard a really great message which is about humanity and community,” said Kennedy Lucas, who plays the dressmaker, Bella.

“The Nightingale” is wrapping up its run, but there’s still time to catch it through this Sunday.

Tickets are available at Stages Theatre, at the door, or by calling 952-979-1111. Tickets are $16 for adults; $14 for seniors ages 60+; and $14 for children, ages 2 to 17.