Anyone who lives or visits St. Paul Minnesota can’t leave without experiencing the power of St. Pauls theatre district. The performing arts are an important part of St. Paul life and the city has many different theaters each with their own missions wishing to share their talents with the public. The only problem with deciding to see a St. Paul performance is choosing which theatre to go to. Here we will list of some of St. Pauls best and most unique theaters that are guarantee to expand your cultural horizons and provide at least one night of your life shining with the stars.
Ordway Theater
Ordway Theater boasts to be America’s leading non-profit performing arts center and St. Pauls most popular theatre. The theatre first opened its doors on January 1, 1985 and was created by Saint Paul resident Sally Ordway Irvine. The goal was to design a theater that could host shows from the classic opera and music to more daring arts such as Russian circus and Broadway spectacles. The Ordway is extremely proud of being the number one field trip destination of the St. Paul area and offering children student tickets from only $3 to $5. Not only does the Ordway perform but they also teach. The Ordway Theatre is known for its for its school programing which allows students k-12 to participate in art classes varying from dance to songs often taught performers who they will see on stage.
Fitzgerald Theater
Fitzgerald Theater is the oldest standing theater in St. Paul. It was once called the Sam S. Shubert Theater and celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2010. The theater is home to Minnesota Public Radio and with its 1000 seat theatre it makes for MPR’s largest broadcast studio. Saturdays from 5 pm – 7pm MPR hosts A Prairie Home Companion, now on Sirius XM Radio, where over 4 million people from around the world tune in to listen to live music, here jokes, and tell stories. You can buy tickets at the Fitzgerald website to sit in on live radio. The Theater features performances from bands to book talks with popular authors.
Park Square Theatre
If you are wanting to support for local theater, Park Square Theatre is the place to go. Park Square Theatre is home to two stages: Proscenium Auditorium of the Historic Hamm Building and The Andy Boss Thrusts Stage. For a more grand tradition theatre experience the Proscenium Auditorium hosts more popular and known productions. The Andy Boss Thrusts Stage was built for the specific production of more intimate and humble theatre with their 200 seat wrap around stage. Both theaters offer amazing performing arts of the stage and offer season passes to view all of their works for a low price. They also give back to the community by offering student matinee’s of theater classics such as Mid summers Nights Dream and The Diary of Anne Frank.
History Theatre
The History Theatre of St. Paul is a modest theatre that hosts a 587–seat thrust stage theatre for the mission of the education on Minnesota’s past. Every production will have something to do about Minnesota and life as an American. If you think that lowers their production options, you are wrong. Each season the History Theare successfully hosts different play productions and is even a three-time IVEY Award-winning theater. This theatre has been host to at least 100 world premiers of playwright arts from famous writers such as Jeffrey Hatcher and Eric Simonson. This theatre is the prefect blend of history and art and should be visited by every St. Paul citizen.
MU Performing Arts
Mu Performing Arts is a theatre dedicated to performing arts inspired by the Asian American life and experience. Performing classic Asian American works such as Flower Drum Song and Year of the Dragon. This theatre works hard to become mainstream in order to show public troubles on gender equality or social injustice but also work on their commitment to chose others how to accept cultural diversity through the power of the arts. Mu Performing Arts not only hosts plays but also has shows and classes on the Japanese drumming art of Taiko. The organization Mu Daiko, hopes to educate the community on asian culture through the music lessons of Taiko. Members of Mu Daiko have been performing over 100 education classes and concert performances annually since 1997. This special group has made Mu Performing Arts a major performer in St. Pauls theater melting pot.
Video of the Illusionists at Ordway Theatre
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