Summer is when kids are out of school, relatives visit and families are looking for good theater. At least that's what Children's Theatre Company is banking on with its announcement to present summer plays starting in 2013 with a reprise of "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie."

Like many theater companies, Children's Theatre has traditionally gone dark after the last spring show, but patrons kept asking for shows during vacation. On a few occasions, the company has brought back a season sellout to run a couple of more weeks in the summer. That was the case in 2008 with their hit adaptation of Laura Joffe Numeroff's picture book "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie." It remains the most requested show, so it seemed a good bet to inaugurate

"If You Give a Mouse a Cookie"
the summer initiative.

"It's a piece of such amazing physical comedy," said artistic director Peter Brosius. "It's a winner. It creates the largest mess on any stage in the Twin Cities and we are just so thrilled to recreate it."

Actor Reed Sigmund will reprise his role as the boy and Dean Holt will again play the mouse.

"This is a pilot," said Brosius. "But our hope is that summer programming is something we can start regularly offering the community."

Maja Beckstrom can be reached at 651-228-5295.