“The show must go on” might be an oft-repeated adage in showbiz, but when it comes to children’s theater, the curtain rising is not the top priority. “The safety of children is the number one thing,” Ryan French, who has served as managing director at Minneapolis’ Children’s Theatre Company (CTC) for the last year, tells Billboard.
To that end, even before the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s controversial Operation Metro Surge hit Minnesota in early 2026, the theater “had been preparing for what could be some form of immigration enforcement” in Minneapolis. “We had all our protocols in…