Little House on the Prairie; the Musical

Just when you thought that cross-over hits had reached their apex, word comes that we're going to be treated to a Little House on the Prairie muscial theater production.

The show opened in Minneapolis.

Have no fear, Melissa Gilbert is here - and she'll be playing her former character's mother. She'll be the mother to the character she played on the television show that featured Michael Landon.

While the familiar setting of Walnut Grove has been replaced by the real-life Ingalls home in South Dakota, and the harridan Mrs. Oleson is not around to make mischief, fans of the television show will find much familiar here. Ms. Zambello has cast Melissa Gilbert — television’s Laura — as Caroline Ingalls, the Ma, and transplanted the sassy young villain Nellie Oleson to the hometown of the Ingalls.

Ms. Gilbert — who at 44 has a voice that still sounds just like Half Pint’s (Laura’s childhood nickname) — said it was surreal to be playing her former character’s mother but added that her delight in returning to “Little House” trumped other feelings.