Kevin Kling and Victor Zupanc fight the summertime blues at CTC

Photo by Dan Norman

Kevin Kling is a Twin-Cities treasure. His quick humor, off-kilter perspective, and deep storytelling gifts make any of performances can't miss.

For many years, he's offered up a summer show. Often at the Minnesota Fringe Festival, or (in more recent years) at Open Eye Figure Theatre. This year, its moved over to the Children's Theatre Company. While it may be geared for a slightly younger set, "The Best Summer Ever" is full of seasonal delights about every kid's favorite time of the year.

Music has often been a key component of the shows. This time out, Kling conspires with Victor Zupanc. CTC's longtime musical director makes an engaging companion for Kling, offering up just the right backdrop for, say, an adventure involving a car wash, a stolen car, and an ice cream truck, or just leading the crowd in a traditional Norwegian folk song.

Kling takes on the role of Maurice Anderson, a young Minnesotan with a big imagination. He's got an older brother who is a constant terror and an older sister who he doesn't quite understand. The summer doesn't get off to the best of starts, as Maurice and his family have to travel north for his great-uncle's funeral. There, he fibs to his grandfather about his farming skills and ends up with some of the last seeds from the old country (and a spare chicken to boot).

From there, it's a wild ride through the seemingly endless days and nights of the summer. Maurice likes to live inside his head, and does things like create nature shows out of his head. Against this backdrop, there's his lonely grandpa, who keeps visiting to have tests done at the hospital, and his not-so-successful garden.

This tapestry allows for some wild tales, like his brother's trip to Norwegian Camp. That ends, naturally, with an attempted invasion of the other camps around the lake, which gets scuttled when the band camp kids turn out to be much tougher than they look.

Along with the hijinks, there is a lot of heart, which is par for the course in one of Kling's shows. You'd have to be particularly hard-hearted to not feel pangs (or even shed a few tears) at the show's expansive conclusion. A lot of that is down to Kling's storytelling and Zupanc's music, but Liz Howls' animations really help to make the finale hit home.

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