Mixed Blood Theatre Company
The Mixed Blood Theatre Company is a professional multiracial theatre company in Minneapolis, Minnesota.[1] It was founded in 1976 by artistic director Jack Reuler. Its core stated values are promoting cultural pluralism, individual equality, and artistic excellence.
Its plays range from intimate chamber theatre to political satires. The theatre presents over 500 performances annually in the Alan Page Auditorium of its historic firehouse theatre, as well as in schools, churches, community centers, juvenile detention centers, and workplaces.
Mixed Blood Theatre was the first company to use the Joe Dowling Studio in the Guthrie Theater with its play Yellowman.[2] Mixed Blood is a member of Theatre Communications Group (TCG) and the National New Play Network (NNPN).
History
1976
- 22-year-old Jack Reuler founds Mixed Blood, producing six shows, opening simultaneously with LeRoi Jones’ (Amiri Baraka’s) Dutchman (directed by Lou Bellamy) and the class system comedy Status Quo Vadis
- World premieres: Brother Champ by Michael Kassin, Badd High by Jack Reuler and Carl Lumbly
1977
- World premieres: Mother April’s by Horace Bond; JoAnne! By Ed Bullins
1978
- Mixed Blood signs contract with Actors’ Equity Association
- World premieres: Tuesday by Jewel Walker; Last Champion by Sharon Walton; Candide, adapted by Warren C. Bowles
1979
- For Colored Girls…opens at Walker Art Center, directed by Tony Award-winner Trazana Beverly, for 200-performance run
- World premieres: Make Room for Dada by Mark Frost; Quixote’s Charge by Steve Pearson; African Jazz by Ken LaZebnik
1980
- Mixed Blood wins Twin Cities Drama Critics Circle Award for best production for its science fiction trilogy WARP
- Dr. King’s Dream is performed by Warren Bowles for first of 2000 times as in theater’s extensive touring program.
- World premiere: Wake by Lenwood Sloan and Charles Mills
1981
- Mixed Blood wins Twin Cities Drama Critics Circle Award for best production for its American premiere of Accidental Death of an Anarchist by Dario Fo
- Actor Pat O’Brien wins Twin Cities drama Critics Circle Award for his performance as title role in Strider
- American premieres: Accidental Death of An Anarchist by Dario Fo; Cruel Tears by Ken Mitchell, in co-production with Chanhassen Dinner Theatre
1982
- Warren Bowles adds Paul Robeson by Phillip Hayes Dean to touring repertoire
- World premieres: Black Magic by Jack Reuler, Charles Mills, Ken LaZebnik, and Bob DeFlores; Harlem Renaissance Revue by Ken LaZebnik; Lemons by Kent Broadhurst;Basement Tapes by Erik Brogger
1983
- Mixed Blood begins Midnight Series with Motown Opera, directed by Steve Yoakam
- Warren Bowles adds Jackie Robinson to touring repertoire
- World premieres: Holiday Inn by Jack Reuler (and Irving Berlin), performed with Wolverines Classic Jazz Orchestra; Midnight Motown Madness; Motown Opera; Mr. Motown
1984
- Jack Reuler named to Esquire’s first “Register of People Under 40 Who Are Changing America”
- World Premieres: I Cheng by Maria Cheng and Mike Kissin; Tango Fatale by Jon Averill;Lady Soul; Motown Mademoiselles
1985
- Mixed Blood awarded Twin Cities’ Mayors’ Public Arts Award
- World premieres: Rebel Without A Cause (adapted) by Jack Reuler; Ohio Tip-Off by James Yoshimura; Baby Boomers’ Black Big Bands Meet the Great Falsettos by Jack Reuler
1986
- Mixed Blood opens A…My Name Is Alice, which has multiple runs through November 1993
1987
- World premiere: How To Improve Your Golf Game by David Babcock
- American premiere: A Map Of The World by David Hare
1988
- Mixed Blood featured in Sports Illustrated
- World premieres: Liquid Skin by Doug Anderson; Calvinisms by Ken LaZebnik
1989
- According To Coyote by John Kaufmann added to Mixed Blood’s touring repertoire
- World premieres: Buenavista by Bernardo Solano; Ali! By Graydon Royce and Geoff Ewing
- EnterTRaining has first shows
1990
- Mixed Blood presented with Actors’ Equity Association’s first Rosetta LeNoire Award for “celebrating the universality of the human experience on the American stage”
- Daughters of Africa by Syl Jones becomes fifth show in touring repertoire
- Mixed Blood co-produces The Mystery of Irma Vep with The Attic Theater in Detroit
1991
- Mixed Blood co-produces A…My Name Is Alice and The Grapes of Wrath with the Ordway
- Jack Reuler named Macalester College’s “Distinguished Citizen”
- Mixed Blood tours Three-Part Harmony to Jacksonville, Phoenix, and Rochester, sponsored by the Mayo Clinic
- World premieres: Throwing Bones by Michael Erickson
1992
- Jack Reuler receives Minneapolis Award
- King of the Kosher Grocers produced in abandoned supermarket in North Minneapolis
- Eastern Parade becomes sixth show in touring repertoire
- World premieres: Black Belts by Jevetta Steele and Jack Reuler; King of the Kosher Grocers by Joe Minjares; Cincinnati Man by Syl Jones; Eastern Parade, compiled by Rick Shiomi
1993
- Jack Reuler receives Martin Luther King Humanitarian Award from Minneapolis Community College
- A…My Name Is Still Alice runs for nine months
- World premiere: GunPlay by Syl Jones
1994
- Minnecanos becomes eighth show in touring repertoire
- World premieres: Black Belts, Too by Jevetta Steele and Jack Reuler
- Minnecanos by Joe Minjares
1995
- Mixed Blood is awarded Minneapolis Civil Rights Commission’s award for outstanding achievement in human rights
- World premiere: The True History of Coca-Cola In Mexico by Aldo Velasco and Patrick Scott
1996
- Mixed Blood receives Minneapolis Foundation’s Diversity Award
- World premiere: Ayuda! by Michael Weller
1997
- Mixed Blood receives Dream Keeper Award from Minnesota Council on Black Minnesotans
- Mixed Blood co-produces Birth of the Boom with City Theatre (Pittsburgh)
- World premiere: Good News About Third World Shoes by Aldo Velasco and Patrick Scott
1998
- Co-production of Black No More with the Guthrie and Arena Stage (Washington, D.C.)
- Playwright-In-Residence Syl Jones wins Roger Stevens Award
- Founding member of National New Plays Network
- World premieres: Black No More by Syl Jones; Maria!MariaMariaMaria! by Lisa Loomer
1999
- American Theater Critics Association names Black No More finalist for best new American play
- Mixed Blood’s first annual production presented in Spanish and English by a bi-lingual cast (La Verdadera Historia de Coca-Cola en Mexico)
- Black Eagle becomes the ninth show in touring repertoire
- World premieres: Vices by Everett Bradley, Michael Heitzman, Susan Draus, and Ilene Reed; Black Eagle by Warren C. Bowles
2000
- Dedication of the Alan Page Auditorium
- Mixed Blood’s Silver Anniversary Season: Re-Born to be Wild
- World Premieres: Haroun and the Sea of Stories, adapted by Zaraawar Mistry from the novel by Salman Rushdie; Cut Flowers by Gavin Lawrence
2001
- Co-production of Spinning Into Butter with Park Square Theatre played in three venues (Mixed Blood, Park Square, Ordway)
- World Premiere: A Jew on Ethiopia Street by Allan Havis
- Company produces one of its biggest bilingual hits, Wait Until Dark by Frederick Knott
2002
- Mixed Blood premieres Two Queens One Castle by Jevetta Steele; runaway hit in Minneapolis that was also chosen for the National Alliance for Musical Theatre showcase festival in New York
- Mixed Blood stages the first production of The Boys Next Door to feature actors with disabilities (co-produced with Interact Theatre)
2003
- Co-production of Pulitzer Prize-winning play Topdog/Underdog with the Studio Theatre in Washington, D.C.
- Expansion of mission to include another culture and language with Sweet Nothing in My Ear, produced in both spoken English and ASL
2004
- World premiere of Bill of (W)Rights, ten one-act plays performed throughout Mixed Blood’s firehouse facility
- World premiere of Jane Martin’s fierce political drama Flags starring Chris Mulkey and Karen Landry
2005
- Regional premiere of the Tony Award-winning Take Me Out
- World premiere of Victor Zupanc's bilingual Found
- Company awarded VSA arts of Minnesota Access Award
2006
- World premiere of 15-playwright new age vaudeville extravaganza Point of Revue
- World premiere of Ken LaZebnik's Vestibular Sense and Aditi Kapil's the Deaf Duckling
- New show, Immigrant Dreams, added to touring roster
- Jack Reuler recognized for Lifetime Achievement at Ameriprise Financial Ivey Awards
2007
- Mixed Blood receives MetLife Foundation Award for Arts Access
- Ken LaZebnik receives American Theatre Critics Association's 2006 M. Elizabeth Osborn New Play Award for best emerging playwright for Vestibular Sense
- World premiere of 5-playwright piece, Messy Utopia, a play by, for, about, and featuring people of mixed race
- Mixed Blood announces 32nd season, celebrating contributions of women artists on stage, off stage, and behind the scenes
2008
- World premier of Aditi Kapil's Love Person
- Love Person nominated for Pulitzer Prize, Blackburn Award and Steinberg Award
2009
- Mixed Blood receives Ordway's Sally Award for Vision
- Jack Reuler is given Actor's Equity's Spirit Award
- Pj Doyle joins staff as Managing Director
- P'ure Confidence moves to an off-Broadway run, garnering three Audelco Awards
- Aditi Kapil wins Primus Award from National Theatre Conference of Love Person
- World premiere of Red Ink, Hijab Tube and Theory of Mind
References
External links