Considering that St. Paul’s History Theatre has spent almost half a century examining Minnesota’s stories and presenting them onstage, it’s somewhat surprising that the company has never explored the 139-year-old St. Paul Winter Carnival.

That annual frozen festival was created to spark tourism during the state’s darkest months and stir locals from hibernation. It’s evolved over the years to include parades, ice palaces, sculptures fashioned from ice and snow, a medallion hunt, and a cosplay mythology about the battle between warmth and cold.

Having so much history with which to work, perhaps it’s no surprise that History Theatre’s “Rollicking! A Winter Carnival Musical” can’t seem to figure out where to place its focus. So it goes every which way, cherrypicking from a multitude of carni

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