Is Fievel coming to Broadway? 'An American Tail the Musical' to premiere in MN in 2023

After almost 40 years since it opened in movie theaters, An American Tail is headed to the stage.

Children's Theatre Company (CTC) has announced its 2022-23 season, which will conclude with the world premiere of An American Tail the Musical, slated to perform April 25 - June 18, 2023.

The movie centers on a young mouse named Fievel Mousekewitz and his family who emigrate from Russia to the United States by boat after their home is destroyed by cats. During the trip, a fierce storm throws Fievel from the ship, and he loses contact with his family. Luckily, he manages to sail to New York in a bottle. There, Irish mouse Bridget, an Italian mouse named Tony and a kindly cat named Tiger help Fievel search for his loved ones.

The Steven Spielberg-produced film was a critical and commercial success when it was released in 1986. At the time, it became the highest-grossing animated film of all=time. Its song "Somewhere Out There" was nominated for an Academy Award.

The musical adaptation will feature a book by Itamar Moses (The Band's Visit) and music and lyrics by Michael Mahler and Alan Schmuckler (Diary of a Wimpy Kid the Musical).

"A lot of people, and maybe especially people of my generation, remember An American Tail as one of the animated film classics of the 1980s," said Moses, "But looking at this material again through the lens of 2022 reveals the urgent timeliness—and indeed timelessness—of a story about America's fundamental origins as a place people, or in this case mice, came from all over the world seeking a better life, the imperfect place they found when they got here, but the potential for that place to be the beacon it's meant to be if only we can all work together."

The CTC season will also include Circus Abyssinia: Tulu (September 13 - October 23), Carmela Full of Wishes (October 18 - December 4), Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (November 8 - January 8, 2023), Locomotion (January 24 - March 5, 2023), and Corduroy (February 14 - April 2, 2023).