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
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