Starting Gate Productions

Starting Gate Productions is a small professional theater company based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Starting Gate performs mainly contemporary classic plays, mostly by American authors, though they make occasional forays into classical texts. The company emphasizes its production values--which tend to be very high compared to other small theater companies in the Twin Cities--and its development of actors through workshops. [ [http://minnesota.publicradio.org/radio/programs/state_of_the_arts/features/webguide/theater.shtml "Web Guide to Minnesota Arts"] ; State of the Arts; Minnesota Public Radio website] Starting Gate produced a large number of shows in its first few season and gained early success with critics and audiences. [Papatola, Dominic; [http://www.renbox.com/content.asp?id=212 "Starting Gate Plunges Ahead with Ambitious 2nd Season"] ; St. Paul Pioneer Press; 4 May 2003] Recently, the producers in the company turned their attention to securing Equity actors for some of their productions. [Royce, Graydon; [http://www.renbox.com/content.asp?id=448 "An Upgrade at Starting Gate"] ; Minneapolis Star Tribune; 5 November 2005]

Starting Gate opened its debut season in 2002 at the Loading Dock Theater as one of the few theater companies based in downtown St. Paul. [Papatola, Dominic; [http://www.renbox.com/content.asp?id=211 "Out of the Gate"] ; St. Paul Pioneer Press; 22 September 2002] The company performed there until 2005, when it transferred to the newly-renovated Mounds Theatre in St. Paul's Dayton's Bluff Neighborhood. [ [http://www.moundstheatre.org/MoundsTheatre/pastshows.html "Past Shows"] ; Mounds Theatre website]

Company members

*Richard Jackson -Artistic Director & Founding Member
*Ben Tallen -Managing Director
*Randall J. Funk -Marketing Director
*David Coral -Board Member & Graphic Design

Awards

2004 Best Twin Cities Theaters -Minneapolis/St. Paul Magazine

hows

2002-2003: "A Lie of the Mind"; "Play It Again, Sam"; "Death of a Salesman"; "Jeffrey"
2003-2004: "This is Our Youth" ( [http://citypages.com/databank/24/1180/article11389.asp review 1] ; [http://citypages.com/databank/24/1180/article11390.asp review 2] ); "Period of Adjustment"; "Little Murders" ( [http://www.mact.net/review.aspx?reviewID=2 review] ); "Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean"; "The Grapes of Wrath"
2004-2005: "Akespeareshay"; "Equus" ( [http://www.mndaily.com/articles/2004/09/16/61228 review] ); "Inspecting Carol" ( [http://www.mndaily.com/articles/2004/12/02/62536 review] ); "Prelude to a Kiss" ( [http://www.talkinbroadway.com/regional/minn/minn111.html review] ); "Richard III"
2005-2006: "Man Saved By Condiments" ( [http://www.matthewaeverett.com/columns/detail.php?articleID=607 review] ); "Godspell"; "A Raisin in the Sun"; "Butterflies are Free"; "The Boys in the Band"( [http://www.talkinbroadway.com/regional/minn/minn155.html review] ) [Papatola, Dominic; "'Boys' is a Historical Piece That Misses Its Timing"; St. Paul Pioneer Press; May 2006]
2006-2007: "A View From the Bridge"; "P.S. Your Cat Is Dead"; "Amadeus"; "True West"; "King Lear" 2007-2008: "The Little Foxes"; "Anton In Show Business"; "The Sign In Sidney Brustein's Window"; "The Hollow"

External links

* [http://startinggate.org Starting Gate Productions website]
*Royce, Graydon; [http://www.renbox.com/content.asp?id=207 "2002 in Review: Onstage"] ; Minneapolis Star Tribune; 22 December 2002
*Royce, Graydon; [http://www.renbox.com/content.asp?id=289 "Tribe of Zach: Microtheater director seems to be everywhere"] ; Minneapolis Star Tribune; 9 May 2004

References