Midwest Trust Center presents North: the Musical | Macaroni KID Overland Park - Olathe

Join the Midwest Trust Center for the heart-felt story of optimism, playfulness and wonder.

Performances are January 25-27 in Yardley Hall. School shows January 25-26 at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Public performances January 27 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.

“North” is a moving story that explores the multi-faceted reality of Black life during the antebellum

period, and which aims to bring out the full range of experiences of freedom seekers. While

acknowledging the realities of slavery, the narrative and original musical compositions by St. Armant

explore themes of optimism, bravery, playfulness, wonder, suspense and mystery. The musical is

intended for intergenerational audiences, ages 10 and up.

Inspired by true accounts of escape through the Underground Railroad, the story begins in Vacherie,

Louisiana, in the middle of the 19th century where Lawrence, a precocious teenage boy, and his

cautious mother, Minnie, are making the best of their lives, enslaved on Mr. Newsome’s plantation – the

only reality they’ve ever known.

When Minnie makes a shocking discovery that Lawrence’s life is in jeopardy, they make the brave and

difficult decision to run away that night. While navigating the complicated relationship between mother

and son, and Lawrence’s emerging promise of manhood, the pair must also find their way through the

intricate network of the Underground Railroad. Together, they discover more about the world and

themselves than they ever would have had they stayed on the plantation. Will their new understandings

and their bond be enough to carry them all the way to freedom? Relationships, grit, betrayal, ingenuity,

finding joy and ultimately, humanity, drive the story.

Presented in collaboration with the Kansas Studies Institute.

Purchase tickets to North at or call 913-469-4445 Mon.-Fri. 10 a.m.-5 p.m.