Southern Theater

Saw a show Friday night before Halloween. Can't wait to come back and see more music, the venue is so cool.

I have only seen one show here, but I loved the theater seating and sightlines. It feels aged which I love and there is a lot of interesting sconces and architectural features that are cool. Would def recommend!

This is a great theater space in the twin cities to see local productions. Prices are accessible and they usually have pay what you can nights and student/senior pricing. I like that they have multiple stalled restrooms that are gender neutral. The concessions helps pay for the workers time there so make sure to get a little something if you're there.

I can thank my middle school drama teacher for leading me to believe I hated theater. She had plenty of help from all the turgid, insufferable "classic plays" that seem to be relentlessly trotted out whenever someone grumbles something about needing some "culture", and that I long came to associate with the theater entirely. And don't even get me started on musicals. The need to defend against the possibility of everyone around me bursting into song is a valid reason for concealed carry laws.It was my move to Minneapolis and my discovery of the Fringe Fest punctured this horrible, classicist bubble I was operating under. Much like most art/entertainment, to actually find something enjoyable you must avoid like the plague the dumbed down, mass market products and experiment with the independent productions put on by people with functional circulatory systems.Besides discovering theater could be quite enjoyable, I discovered Minneapolis has a wonderful collection of small theaters putting on the sorts of shows I enjoy. Southern Theater is the most recent one I visited (for an interesting adaptation of "Animal Farm"); I could and hopefully will review more of them.Southern Theater is one of the theaters (like the Lab Theater and the tragically departed Theater de la Jeune Leune) which has been very minimally converted from older building/warehouse (or certainly looks it). I find these theaters very striking with their exposed rock/brick walls. Again, very much the opposite of the dressed up theaters inevitably hosting wretched "classic" plays, it gives the feeling of life, art and expression crawling up out of the raw material of a city.I don't really know what else to say about this or probably any theater. They didn't serve booze, which is a minus in my department (but they are next door to Town Hall Brewery). Also, their board recently ousted a long serving and well respected artistic director. I don't know the details, but I am instinctively supportive of artists over "the board".Cherish and support your local theater!

Southern Theater feels kind of like a fancy high school or college auditorium. There is nothing really prestigious or fancy about it, but the local shows are fantastic. I usually go there for Balls Cabernet, Minneapolis's longest held Cabernet show held every Saturday at Midnight. Local artists sing, dance, act, juggle, read poetry... the only rule is you have to be sober to preform. Which means there are no rules, and you never know what you will see.Bottom Line: Go to Southern for balls. You will be hooked. It will grab you by... you know.

Went here for the TC Horror Film Festival, was pleasantly surprised by the theater itself. Try to ignore the entrance/box office - it feels more like a 80s warehouse/dingy office. Once you make it into the theater you'll find a lovely space where every seat feels close to the stage. The visual effect of the stage makes you feel like you are watching a play amongst the ruins of a theater (beautiful ruins, not decrepit ones). The lighting is pretty great for the size of the stage, and the acoustics are good enough to easily hear what the actors are saying on stage.When we went to buy tickets for the next evening's show the box office was super helpful, even mentioning that they'd put us on a list when they realized the tickets were all sold out. However - there was a service fee on top of the ticket price (even though we were buying them in person) - if that's the case, might as well just raise your ticket prices.

I am surprised I haven't reviewed the southern before!I have never seen a bad show here. I say show like this is the Fine Line or 1st Ave or something, but it isn't.You get our own seat and they have music (Stars of the Lid was wiiiicked) as was Nico Muhly and Son Lux together with dance and live "real time" drawings projected onto the wall behind.Now this ain't no Cloud Cult kinda shit, K?This is crazy technology with computers and stuff.Really cool. I am tired and can't describe it well enough, but it is in time to the music and it almost looks like a screensaver on heroin.This theater makes me like dance and performance art, which I usually cringe away from.Very talented group must behind the scenes to bring such talented folks to the stage. Kudos.

One of the best spaces for live performances in the Twin Cities--a beautiful old arch, great lighting, a big stage, stadium seating, and a BAR!!! With DRINKS!!!The seats are older, but still more comfortable than a lot of small and medium size theaters in town.It's great for movies, too. The theater lends itself to complete blackouts which makes for great film viewing, and it sets a good atmosphere for creepy performances on stage.

Come Hell and High Water is playing through 5/29/11. Do not miss this creative, imaginative performance. Epp, Keepers, and the entire supporting cast are amazing.

Too expensive, hostile employees, and aggressively unhelpful customer service (esp. for what we paid!). Way to lose three customers.