Lyric Arts Company of Anoka, Inc.

At Lyric Arts, we are passionate about two things—creating great theater and bringing people together. 

Over the years, Lyric Arts has been so fortunate to have friends and supporters—just like you—who believe in our vision of bringing professional performing arts to the northern metro in a warm, welcoming, and accessible hometown setting.

It’s true that Lyric Arts has grown a lot since its founding in 1995, but one thing that has never changed is the fact that those who walk through our doors describe the atmosphere as a feeling of “being home.” Year in and year out, we hear how much Lyric Arts means and how much people love being a part of our family of audience members, artists, students, and volunteers.

To be candid, after surviving the pandemic shutdown, we feel incredibly fortunate to still be here producing theater for you and our community. But, even while celebrating the return of live performances, theaters in the Twin Cities and across the country are struggling—and Lyric Arts is no different. 

Unfortunately, supply costs are increasing and ticket sales are not bouncing back to pre-pandemic levels as quickly as we would have hoped. We have an incredible season ahead and continue to be optimistic about what is to come. You can further ensure that bright future — and continued high-quality theater—with a financial contribution this year. 

You help keep Lyric Arts an Artistic Home!

This Give to the Max Day 2022,  your gift can have tremendous impact on ensuring Lyric Arts can stay an artistic home for dozens of artists, students, and audience members each year! Your gift helps...

• Keeps ticket prices affordable. From performance rights to artist stipends to supplies like lumber and fabric, producing theater is expensive. Your contributions make it possible for Lyric Arts to maintain and build on our current level of quality without increasing ticket prices. 
• Pays artists for their time and talent. This season, we are paying actors more than double what we were able to offer before the pandemic, but we still have a long way to go to ensure actors are able to make what they can make at other, similar-sized theaters in the area—or at least make sure they can cover the cost of gas for traveling to Lyric Arts for rehearsal and performances. 
• Maintains and updates the Main Street Stage. We are lucky to finally own our building. However, essentials like heat, water, and electricity, combined with necessary repairs, cost us over $100,000 each year. Your donation is an investment in Lyric Arts' permanent home in Downtown Anoka.

Our mission

Lyric Arts’ mission is to enrich lives by creating meaningful performing arts experiences that ignite the imagination, inspire the spirit, and engage the community.

We are a growing, non-union professional theater, deeply rooted in the communities we serve, producing inclusive work that entertains, educates, stimulates, and is reflective of the diversity of our audiences and artists.

Our values

Lyric Arts is passionately and joyfully committed to excellence, integrity, authenticity, collaboration, diversity, inclusion, and creating community.

About Lyric Arts

Located in the heart of historic downtown Anoka, Lyric Arts is the only full-time, year-round theater in the northern suburbs of Minneapolis, providing access to the performing arts for tens of thousands of audience members each year—in addition to providing work for hundreds of theater artists and technicians. Lyric Arts presents nine to ten productions per season, including a unique mix of comedies, dramas, classics, musicals, and plays for young audiences. 

The company also presents a concert series, theater arts workshops, weekday matinees for school children, and educational outreach programs. We are able to fulfill our mission thanks to the support of the Minnesota State Arts Board and many generous donors and volunteers.

Founded in 1995 by Lin Schmidt and Phil Bologna, Lyric Arts began its life in the Pocket Theatre, a small converted cabinet shop just blocks from Main Street. After a $2.5 million purchase and renovation the Anoka Cinema—which had become a derelict building—Lyric Arts made the move to Main Street in 2001,