BY LUCIA MAURO
Chicago is not the only city in the throes of mammoth theatre renovations and new performing arts complexes. Minneapolis will soon have its own restored downtown theatre district, while the Guthrie Theatre expands along the banks of the Mississippi River. Performink has monitored recent arts headlines from the Minneapolis Star Tribune to find that four ventures parallel certain developments in Chicago, or at least have ties to the Windy City.
Guthrie Joins a Wave of Riverfront Revival
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A touch of frostbite from our northern counterparts? PerformInk encountered great difficulty with the Guthrie in trying to arrange an interview for a profile on Joe Dowling, it’s artistic director since 1995 (above photo). His publicist made the interview arrangements, but Dowling made himself unavaiable—citing the opening of The Invention of Love and hefty negotiations on the new complex as consuming his time. The Guthrie administration also failed to note that it was in the midst of a possible strike threatened by employees in the theatre’s costume, wardrobe and costume rental shops. Photo Credit: Michael Daniel |
Let’s begin with the Guthrie expansion. Its plans for a $100 million, three-stage complex on the river shares a similar vision with the still-new Chicago Shakespeare Theatre (CST) at Navy Pier. The Guthrie’s artistic director, Joe Dowling, even directed an excessive pop-culture staging of A Midsummer Night’s Dream last season on CST’s mainstage.
But, unlike the Guthrie, CST never really had its own home. And while some critics doubted the feasibility of a Shakespearean theatre in the midst of Sea Dog cruises and a ferris wheel, CST is thriving through innovative programming that incorporates plenty of family activities. CST desperately needed a state-of-the-art home, and the city got behind the venture with hopes of boosting tourism. The Guthrie, however, founded in 1963 by famed Irish director Sir Tyrone Guthrie with an emphasis on the classics, is considered a landmark space—despite its rather constrictive thrust arrangement.
The Minneapolis press has chronicled the challenges—from securing the new location to fundraising—faced by Dowling and managing director David Hawkanson.
In terms of the site of the new theatre, an article earlier this year cited the Guthrie’s involvement in Minneapolis’ riverfront revival. Wrote Linda Mack: "If the Guthrie raises the $50 million to $70 million it needs and hires an architect who delivers a spectacular building, the unsightly spot could become a Minneapolis signature."
She cites loft, hotel and museum development—and the possibility that the theatre could collaborate with the other attractions, especially in the realm of outreach. The area where the new Guthrie plans to break ground also has been discussed as the site of a future stadium or housing development.
The Guthrie essentially believes it has outgrown its original 85,000-square-foot facility. Plus its various operations are scattered over five separate Twin Cities locations. The new 210,000-square foot complex will include three stages: an 1,100-seat thrust stage for epic classical plays; a 500-seat proscenium for contemporary plays; and a 150-seat flexible theatre for new works. Improved parking facilities and consolidated educational space are high on the list.
Actor training is another important focus. With the river site’s proximity to the University of Minnesota and the Guthrie’s new BFA program with the university, the theatre hopes to expand its summer residency program into a national training center for actors, directors and designers.
The Guthrie predicts its presence on the riverfront will contribute to increased retail traffic and tourism and enhanced property values. It envisions an annual $85.1 million impact on the community.
Looming Strike
On Tuesday, October 19, the Star Tribune reported that no agreement had been reached in union talks between the Guthrie and its employees in the theatre’s costume, wardrobe and costume rental shops. It continued: "Contract talks between Guthrie Theatre officials and an international representative for its newly unionized costume shop were inconclusive Wednesday.
"In July 1999, the theatre’s tailors, stitchers, drapers, dressers and other costume artisans voted to affiliate with the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees Local 13. They never have had a contract.
"The day-long session with a federal mediator, the latest in 10 months of negotiations between representatives of the theatre and the union, centered on pay and work-week guarantees. The theatre says its offer sets a non-profit industry standard. The union says the offer is unfair, because the mostly female costume shop workers are being paid less than the mostly male workers in the Guthrie’s scene and props shop. The two sides will meet again soon.
"The possibility of a strike, raised last week by union officials, appeared to be muted as negotiations continued."
Programming in Question
In August, John Habich penned an extensive piece on the Guthrie’s lack of new or original programming. He wrote: "Insiders back Dowling’s contention, in lobbying for his new stageplex, that other playhouses 'have surpassed the Guthrie in their ability to produce a wide range of work.’ But they predict that the Guthrie’s cachet won’t grow because of a big new building—beyond a publicity flurry when it opens—unless the work it produces is original, visionary or daring."
Habich notes that under Dowling, the classics-oriented Guthrie has done three world premieres, all at its Lab second stage. Love’s Fire moved off-Broadway.
But the current season is not particularly groundbreaking. It opened with Hedda Gabler. Its next offering, a new adaptation of Jean Anouilh’s French fairy tale, Leocadia (called To Fool the Eye), received a not-so-stellar review in the Star Tribune, although Dowling’s production of The Invention of Love was generally well received. The main stage continues with A Christmas Carol (featuring a newly recorded narration by "Frasier’s" Kelsey Grammer), Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Once in a Lifetime.
The Guthrie Lab offers Federico Garcia Lorca’s Blood Wedding. A recent discussion-preview was criticized by the press for the facilitator’s lack of preparation for a large influx of Spanish-speaking audience members. Suzan-Lori Parks’ In the Blood, about a destitute single mother, concludes the Lab series.
Part of Dowlings’ plans for the expansion include a new script-commissioning initiative. In a separate Star Tribune piece by Rohan Preston, Dowling acknowledges: "The balancing act that we face is to find sustenance from those classic writers and the fresh energy that comes from new writing. If we don’t sustain that energy from new writing, then we can easily become a museum theatre. And that’s truly deadly."
Council Ready to Proceed with 3 Theatre Renovations
In related news, the Minneapolis City Council is expected to approve $22 million in bonds for renovations at three downtown theatres. Rochelle Olson wrote on Sept. 28, "Hennepin Avenue will move closer to what supporters believe will be a vibrant Midwestern version of New York’s Broadway theatre district."
Similar to the ongoing Broadway-style development of Chicago’s North Loop, Minneapolis points to renovations of the closed Mann Theatre, built in 1916 and now located near a planned hotel-entertainment complex. Completion for both projects is set for 2002. The city funds also would be used toward sprucing up the State and Orpheum theatres. The Historic Theatre Group, a private for-profit organization, is managing the Mann’s facelift for the city.
Tom Hoch, head of the Historic Theatre Group, said the Mann (whose name will be changed back to its original Pantages) will be used for ""edgier, more provocative shows." Its emphasis will be long-running off-Broadway productions. In a concern echoed by the Chicago theatre community, the article notes, "But detractors worry about a glut of theatres in the city and whether seats will be filled in less prosperous times."
The article sets forth the deal as follows: Of the $22 million in bonds, slightly more than $12 million would go toward restoration of the Mann and surrounding Stimson Building. The structure will undergo cosmetic repairs, from the ceiling to new seats, and must be brought up to accessibility codes. The city plans to develop the Stimson and sell it to the Historic Theatre Group for about $3.5 million to be used for restaurants and offices. The increased tax revenue from the Stimson development will be captured to pay off the bonds.
It is then reported that about $7.5 million from the bonds would re-fund existing Orpheum bonds. Another $2.25 million will be used for repairs at State and Orpheum, possibly for new ceilings and carpeting, and $375,000 would be set aside for annual repairs. The revenue bonds will be paid off over 25 years through ticket fees of $1 to $3 at the three theatres.
Businessman Fan funds Directors Series at Acadia
Chicago’s late, lamented Voltaire has a counterpart in Minneapolis. Perhaps a fan with deep pockets here will help resurrect this once-cherished venue for low-cost, experimental theatre. A Minneapolis businessman named Harvey McLain—owner of the Turtle Bread Company—subscribes to some of the city’s largest theatres. But he also appreciates the risky shows in the nascent 75-seat Acadia Cabaret.
Quotes Graydon Royce in his article: "His [McLain’s] fascination with those raw productions got him thinking. What if some of these young directors had a fighting chance to put up a show they loved, didn’t have to worry about producing and administrative duties, and had say, $10,000 or so to work with?"
McLain suggested a directors series, to begin next March, to Acadia’s artistic director Zach Curtis. The story continues, "If it takes off, the idea could create a new niche in Twin Cities theatre—a consistently funded series located in a small house dedicated to artists who fly just below the radar of mid-sized companies."
The arrangement will provide $10,000 for directors to buy performance rights, pay actors, build sets and costumes and market shows. On an encouraging note, "McLain stresses that he’s just the money man and doesn’t want to get in the way of the artistic process at the Acadia."