Pippi Longstocking

According to many fairy tales, Disney films, and children’s adventure stories, the secret to a fantastic childhood is the eradication of meddling parental units, especially mothers. Stronger than Popeye, wilder than Peter Pan, way more fun than Orphan Annie (although both boast badly styled red hair), Pippi Longstocking is completely unfettered—her mother died when she was a baby and dad was lost at sea. That gives her full license to live with animals, dress as weirdly as she pleases, and wow the neighbor kids with unsupervised adventures. Swede Astrid Lindgren published her first Pippi stories in the 1940s, making her nine-year-old heroine one of the first and most personable female superheroes. This production, a fast-paced and frenetic musical comedy with dark undertones, has become a favorite at the Children’s Theater Company. 2400 3rd Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-874-0400; www.childrenstheatre.org