By Dangerous Productions

Things are hopping in Frogtown, Saint Paul. Dangerous Productions has teamed up with a consortium of other local arts organizations and individuals to turn the once-troubled Saint Paul neighborhood into a unique and thriving cultural destination.

How? By any means possible.

For the past two years, Dangerous Productions’ HAPPY MINNESOTA project has run amuck along University Avenue, the southern border of Frogtown, in an effort to drive audiences into the area.  From cabarets to re-purposed vacant spaces to guerilla ice cream socials, DP’s “all terrain artists” have driven laughter, people, and money into the community.

And now, along with a host of other high caliber groups, they’re going to create a performance space and neighborhood in a 98-year-old silent movie house, the Victoria Theater

“I just can’t believe it” says Denise Mwasyeba, a 22-year Frogtown resident who is involved in the campaign to reclaim the vacant theater and transform it into a vital community asset. “I think of what the neighborhood looked like 20 years ago, when we were fighting to close crack houses, deteriorating housing stock, quality of life issues and crime- but we knew Frogtown had potential, so we kept fighting”.” she said.

A relative newcomer to that fight, Dangerous Productions identified with the scrappy, amazingly diverse neighborhood, and began working in concert with the community to help secure the building, and are now focusing their efforts on creating a network of artists, arts groups, and help produce arts events in Frogtown.

“The Victoria Theater is an opportunity to create a place like no one has ever seen in Saint Paull” says DP’s artistic head, Tyler Olsen, “Frogtown-  its personality, its people, its spirit- they’re worth celebrating and sharing, and we’re so glad to be on the team that’s making it happen.”

What’s coming up for the Victoria? Installations in the windows, community Poetry Gumbo events, and then June 14, things really take off.  Coinciding with the opening of the new Green Line Light Rail, the Victoria Theater will open its doors to the public for a day of performances by local artists, opportunities to ask questions, interactive art, and sharing a vision for the future of Frogtown.

Want to get involved? Send an email to [email protected] Photo by Kurt Gegenhuber