Northrop

Beautiful venue! The acoustics are stunning and the ushers were attentive. We attended a Christmas concert here and I would recommend it for the holiday season.

Attended cirque du soleil show in December 2023 here! Purchasing tickets was very easy and tickets could be printed or showed digitally at the doors. Parking was very difficult and backed up the closer you got to the theater. They even started the show about 10 minutes late because there were so many people late. Staff was friendly and eager to help you find you seats. I didn't purchase food or drink but did see that they had a small concession stand for purchase. Sets, lights, sounds were all epic and I'm assuming could be easily customizable for any performance

We saw a Cirque du Soleil performance here. Ticketing online was easy and we opted for the first row first balcony seats. They were great for a performance like this. We were able to see the stage clearly but also got a nice view as these acrobatics performed their high flying routines. Staff was friendly and helpful with seating. We parked in the East River Road ramp and it was a short 5 block walk to the front door of the building. There was a bistro and bar for refreshments before the performance. Patrons were able to bring covered drinks into the theatre.

The old Northrop was a massive, imposing edifice with a wildly oversized balcony and a musty, institutional air. It had good bones but any semblance of grandeur and elegance had been worn away by years of use and neglect. Add several badly misguided attempts at remodeling and it added up to an unwieldly monstrosity.My fond memories are of events, not of the building itself. Through the years I attended performances by The Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra (it still infuriates me that the name was changed to the Minnesota Orchestra), Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Jimmy Cliff, Steve Martin, John Sebastian, The American Ballet Theater, The Joffrey Ballet, Alvin Ailey Dance Theater, Pilolobus Dance Company, Santana, Twyla Tharp Dance Company, and many others.Now, $90M in renovations later, the U of MN has a structure that matches its history. Northrop has been completely transformed into a classic opera house with superb acoustics, great sight-lines, state-of-the-art lighting and staging and a majestic atmosphere. This is now a world class facility that one might imagine is in right in step with Cass Gilbert's original grand plan for The Mall.I took my daughter to the gala re-opening performance of Giselle by the ABT and we both had nothing but superlatives for the performance and the space. Kudos to the U for the investment and to the architects for the imagination and creativity to remake this theater into a performing arts center of which we may all be proud.

This venue really pleases my eyes. I've prob taken just as many photos of the interior architecture (chandeliers, pillars, etc) as the actual headlining performers. Beautiful stuff! I think it was remodeled in the last year or so?I've been here both for a concert (Go96.3's Snow Show) and a lovely dance program (Hubbard Street Dance Chicago). There are a few floors and stages. The Best Buy stage is more intimate and hosts special features like pre-shows and Q&A's. The main stage is large with tiered seating and balconies. I like that the ushers are super attentive and friendly here. They've not only directed me to my seat but led me there. Not sure if they do that all the time or if I just looked like a lost pathetic seal pup.The times I've been here, there have been a few Surdyk stations open - which include a bar (select liquor, wine, and beer) and snacks. There is also a built-in cafe where you can get other eats like sandwiches and soup, when available. It's kinda pricey but that's to be expected. And you cannot bring the food and drink into the theatre, which makes sense as I imagine myself slipping on salami.Important note: check the parking situation online before you go. Sometimes some nearby ramps are reserved or require pre-paying.

Wow. Grand reopening. Amazing Art Deco and what a theater. They r having the American ballet theater do Giselle here. And that is incredible too!The new theater is just beautiful. The two cafés have a great selection of snacks. The theater itself is completely refurbished. We were in row g which is good for dance events. Just beware that row f is in the front and it handicap accessible which means your view might be obscured in the exact center. Might be best a little farther back. For dance events the first row of the first balcony seems like it would be wonderful. Bring your opera glasses. For events like this u want to buy the advanced purchase parking. Gets u into the garage right in front. Nice place.

I've been to a few shows in the remodeled Northrop now. For actually watching a performance, the venue is amazing. The setting is great, and there's plenty of room for productions, be they dance, rock or orchestral. Tickets tend to be a bit more expensive, but it seems like an expensive venue to run. The selection of treats and alcohol is astounding, but the biggest letdown is that you're not able to bring food or drink into the concert hall. Instead, there are planned intermissions or set changes between acts, and everyone crowds concessions. You get your food or drink just as the curtain call goes out, then you have to chow fast and chug your drink before you head back in. I understand the need to keep the hall looking nice, but I think it cuts into satisfaction and sales.

OMG, I wish I had read reviews about their incompetent and mismanaged box office before attempting to buy tickets. I'm a culture vulture and regularly attend events in the Twin Cities, and in other states and countries. A box office should never make mistakes but this one does... again and again, and they blame the customer. If a customer makes a mistake they can never get their money back. But the Northrop box office makes mistakes and they gaslight the customer and never try to fix the problem or even acknowledge it. Never Northrop. Never again.

Last night, for the first time in over 30 years of attending events at Northrup, I walked out 3/4 of the way through a performance (Hubbard Street Dance.) The reason? The near constant whooops, whistles, outbursts, and even cat calls of scattered audience members. To be clear, there were not the appreciative applauses after a stunning pas de deux or a deftly executed solo, etc. Instead, what attendees had to endure was a constant barrage of bizarre and out of context whoops, yelps, screams, whistles... A simple change of lighting while the dancer stood motionless: WOOWHOOOOO! A dancer lifting one knee: WOOOOOO! A male dancer in a position with wide spread legs elicited, a common, sexualized "cat call," etc. These frequent and out of context "expressions of appreciation" were jarring to say the least. Instead of being able to immerse oneself deeply into the performance one was constantly jolted into the "reality" more akin to a house party dance session. I did not pay $150 to listen to that.And, we weren't the only ones who had this experience. Afterwards, my husband relayed that after yet another extremely "out of context" outburst, the woman next to him turned to her companion and inquired, "What are they whooping about?" I have never seen anything like this during any dance performance anywhere in the world. I can't help but think that this behavior was perhaps linked to Kirsten Brogdon coming out on stage prior to curtain and encouraging people to 'express themselves during the performance.' Perhaps a gentle note on etiquette added to her, 'we respectfully ask you to take no photos or videos' is in order.

Be very cautious purchasing tickets from this venue online. Their ticketing system is antiquated and has many errors. After the system kept telling me I had errors, I had to continue to enter in info then it would bring me back to homepage. After finally being able to locate seats, I purchased tickets (On Tuesday for Thursday show) same week. The confirmation came through only for me to realize the system changed the day to same day. I called the box office prior to show to get help but they shut down the phone system. As the webpage advised, I emailed them. I contacted the box office next day only to be told by the manager "the show is over, we can't change the tickets per vendor". I asked for the vendor number and was told he didn't have it. I located the vender number and they stated that Northrup buys tickets in bulk and resells them. They can't help. I went to the box office and was told that I would be out $400.00+ even though it was their error. If I would have called before the show, they could have helped - but they shut down the phones before the show. The manager was rude and kept saying its policy. After calling the head of the theater, they "made an exception" and issued me tickets for the correct date. I was treated as if I was stealing from them. I will never go back to this theater again.