Opening day at the new Guthrie 6/25/06

It was a sunny, windy day in Minneapolis today...


















... a good day to check out the opening celebration for the new Guthrie theater.












Of course, everyone has their priorities, and this was priority one. That's a corn dog in Hiroe's hand.












Now on to the new Guthrie. There are many, many details to the place. I think it would take several visits to just to notice even some of them. See the silhouette on the exterior?






































They tried to make today's celebration as festive as possible. These dancing entertainers were happy and yet strangely intimidating.































This one was the most suspicious, as there were two sets of legs showing. Fishy, fishy.












It clearly takes just one to operate the costume.


















Anyway, they had several other entertainers there including this energetic band.












And this puppeteer, along with a few other musicians and performers scattered throughout the building.












More exterior details.


















Once inside the building, there were all sorts of interesting "port holes" looking out toward the river and the city.






































This was probably our favorite relaxation spot. One can order a cocktail from the bar directly behind this chair. However, we didn't actually get to try it as this couple didn't seem to want to move.












This is one lounge located in the long "finger" extending from the building.












There are many color themes scattered throughout the building. This is a view from one of the stages. Red.































I didn't get a shot inside the main theater. It's very reminiscent of the old Guthrie, albeit smaller (200 seats less). The seats surround the stage and even the colors seem similar.
Next we headed up to the 9th floor. Yes, yellow. The tall man and girl standing just to the right of center in the photo are standing a on glass floor looking down to the sidewalk below. Probably 100 feet down. It was hard to get yourself to step on it.

























There is a studio on this floor where they were practicing motion exercises to music. The sound was great and the creativity entertaining. Excuse the woman's head in the photo. I couldn't get a clear shot...












Lastly we went out to the end of the "extrusion" from the building that is cantilevered over the river road. There was stadium type seating and great views of the Mississippi. Decidedly a great place to watch the fireworks that are going on - in - oooh about a half hour from now.