I discovered opera through “Gilligan’s Island.” In one particularly clever episode, a Broadway producer played by Phil Silvers washed ashore, and the castaways created a musical adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” with tunes from “Carmen” and “The Tales of Hoffman.” I still smile when I hear an instrumental version of the “Habanera” from “Carmen” on the radio and start to sing, “I ask to be, or not to be. …”

There’s a similarly witty combination of highbrow literature and lowbrow comedy going on at the Ritz Theater in Northeast Minneapolis right now. Theater Latte Da is presenting the local premiere of “Scotland, PA,” which takes Shakespeare’s tragedy of the power-hungry Macbeth and transports it to a fast-food joint in mid-1970s, small-town Pennsylvania.

Based upon Billy Morrissette’s 2001 film, the stage musical premiered in 2019 in New York before composer Adam Gwon and librettist Michael Mitnick asked to workshop a new version at Theater Latte Da’s “Next” festival of freshly minted musicals. The completed product has now hit the boards, and it’s a very entertaining take on this tale of greed and murder.

Packing 21 original pop tunes into two hours, “Scotland, PA” boasts impressive performances from each of the 11 cast members, all selling Gwon’s songs with infectious energy and enthusiasm and creating characters about as believable as this somewhat cartoonish take on the “Macbeth” story will allow.

In this adaptation, Mac and Pat are a couple working at Duncan’s, where business is slow, the manager is embezzling, and the owner is out to cut the workers’ pay. But Mac is an imaginative guy, given to brainstorming concepts that are now staples of the fast food world. Inspired by prophecies delivered by a trio of weed-huffing wanderers, the couple seeks to seize control of the business. But then they have to create alibis to cover their crimes, get rid of potential witnesses, and deal with all of the attendant guilt and paranoia.

Tara Borman, Will Dusek, Katherine Fried and Deidre Cochran in Theater Latte Da’s season-opening production of “Scotland, Pa.,” Adam Gwon and Michael Mitnick’s musical comedy adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth,” in which two ambitious employees at a burger restaurant plot a rise in the profession that comes to involve prophecies and murder. The show runs through Oct. 27, 2024 at the Minneapolis theater. (Dan Norman / Theater Latte Da)

The inevitable darkness is brightened considerably by Gwon’s combination of hard rock, gospel, old-fashioned show tunes, and histrionic pop ballads. You’re unlikely to walk out of the Ritz humming any of them — although “Clairvoyant” does the best imitation of an earworm and pokes fun at it with placards encouraging a sing-along and lighters held aloft — but they all drive the story forward, which is more than you can say for a lot of modern musicals. And the upstage five-piece band does a fine job with the stylistic twists.

Under the co-direction of Lonny Price and Matt Cowart — and featuring the silly but well-executed choreography of Lorin Latarro and Travis Waldschmidt — “Scotland, PA” might be the most enjoyable critique of capitalism you’ll experience all year. It helps to have a Pat (our Lady Macbeth) who can belt out a tune with the pop pipes of Katherine Fried. And Will Dusek continues his local theater rookie-of-the-year campaign with a conflicted, powerfully voiced Mac.

Lending extra spice is Emily Gunyou Halaas’ portrayal of no-nonsense detective Peg McDuff, keeping the energy and laughs coming while we all know that things are going south for our ambitious protagonists. And that’s a big part of this production’s success: We know how the story goes, but the fun is in the cleverness of the adaptation.

Rob Hubbard can be reached at wordhub@yahoo.com.

Theater Latte Da’s ‘Scotland, PA’

When: Through Oct. 27
Where: Ritz Theater, 345 13th Ave. N.E., Minneapolis
Tickets: $86-$5, available at 612-339-3003 or latteda.org
Capsule: “Macbeth” as a musical comedy? Yep, and it’s pretty darn clever.

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