History:
The Plymouth Playhouse, formerly the Radisson Playhouse, was the brainchild of entrepreneur Curt Carlson and Old Log Theatre’s Don Stolz. Located in the Radisson Plymouth Hotel, now the Best Western Plymouth, it was conceived as a meeting facility during the day for corporate events, and a live theatre at night. Possibly the most comfortable theatre in the Twin Cities, the Radisson Playhouse opened in a blizzard in January of 1974 with Woody Allen’s comedy, “Play It Again, Sam” starring local celebrity, Nancy Nelson. Since then, the name changed to the Plymouth Playhouse when the Radisson Plymouth was sold.
In 1988, the theatre was leased by Troupe America Inc., a Twin Cities based theatrical production company. The Playhouse has been home to some of the Twin Cities biggest hit musical comedies including the Kudos award winning musical, “Diamond Studs”, and a five year run of “Pump Boys and Dinettes” which resulted in three national tours when its Broadway producers took notice of the Plymouth production. The Playhouse also fostered such hits as the area premier of “Nunsense”, the birth of the large and lovely act, “The Lovely Liebowitz Sisters” which went on to success in Atlantic City and on tour with Phyllis Diller, “A Closer Walk With Patsy Cline”, and “How To Talk Minnesotan, The Musical” based on the popular book by Howard Mohr. In 2005 Troupe America commissioned a series of Musicals based on the book Growing Up Lutheran by Janet Martin and Suzann Nelson and “Church Basement Ladies” was born. Hundreds of productions of Chuch Basement Ladies are now seen across the country from national tours to regional runs.
As the Plymouth Playhouse enters it’s 40’s, it remains dedicated to fostering new Off-Broadway style American musical comedies with many new ideas and titles to come.
