An Exuberant Middle-School Odyssey

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Photo by Paul Ruffolo

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First Stage’s Big Nate: The Musical! is a charming adventure in the life of “sixth-grade Renaissance man” Nate Wright. The opening night “Mollusk Cast” featured fantastic young performers from the Academy as well as excellent adult performers in the roles of overblown teachers and parents. The premise is charmingly simple: Detention-prone Nate (Darius Gaskin) is in a garage band called Enslave the Mollusk and hopes to win a Valentine’s Day battle of the bands contest in order to impress his crush, Jenny (Ellie Kumer).

Characteristic of this award-winning company, production values are stunning. Kristin Ellert’s set is flamboyantly dreamlike. Covered in multi-colored lines, arrows and flashing lights, it effectively evokes both the school-age nightmares of menacing, gibberish-speaking teachers and the classrooms and auditoriums of Nate’s waking life. Nate is a budding cartoonist and two monitors set up center stage allow the audience a window into what he draws, while also providing flashes of artwork from Lincoln Peirce’s comic strip, on which the musical is based.

Under Jeff Schaetzke’s direction and Molly Rhode’s choreography, standout performances come from Gaskin, whose emotive and vocal skills are advanced beyond his years; Kaden Rhodes, as Nate’s brainiac friend, Teddy, who delivers amusing little factoids throughout the show; and Christopher Gilbert, who, as Mr. Staples, performs a truly stunning, Michael Jackson-esque dance solo during the battle of the bands sequence.

Big Nate is a great show for all ages. It’s writing is crisp and realistic, its themes of friendship and growing up universal, and its artistry impeccable. Through March 29 at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts’ Todd Wehr Theater, 929 N. Water St. For tickets, call 414-273-7206 or visit firststage.org.