The Ritz Theater, circa 1953. Starting as a moviehouse, turning into a playhouse and now the home of Theater Latté Da, the building has gone through many iterations and owners since opening in 1926. (Ritz Theater)
As proclaimed during Doors Open at the Ritz Theater, 345 13th Ave. NE, Sunday May 10, 2026, will be known as The Ritz Theater Day in the City of Minneapolis.
Elisa Spencer-Kaplan, managing director of Theater Latté Da (TLD), was on hand, along with other members of the theater and community, to commemorate the proclamation and celebrate 100 years since the building first opened its doors.
“I really give a lot of credit to everyone who has made this space what it is,” Spencer-Kaplan said, “because we absolutely wouldn’t be here if people had not taken this space and given it a renaissance and a new life.”
TLD are the current owners of the building that has changed hands numerous times, shuttered its doors for nearly two decades, and has survived a bombing in the lobby and significant debt.
The past century wasn’t easy for the now Northeast mainstay.
The Roaring (and Polish) Twenties
It only took $45,000 to build the original Ritz Theater in 1926. That’s around $818,500 today, double what it would take to build a single-family home.
“(Ritz Theater) Started as a movie house, so it invited the entire community,” Glen Northington, chair of the board of directors for TLD, said. “And primarily, I would say probably the Polish community and the and the Asian community, in its different iterations and different lives.”
The first use of the building was to show films, and for a while before WWII, it would show Polish-
language films, as well as the
current news from Poland.
After the war, the theater would primarily show what was known as “first suburban” new movies, but it took some fight for the cinema to receive those rights.
In those times, movies would premiere downtown in larger cities first. After a few months, the movies would move to first suburban theaters, then further out, until they reached rural theaters usually six months to a year later.
In 1959, Sol Fisher, owner of both the Ritz and the Varsity in Dinkytown, fought to get both his theater the ability to show movies right after the downtown movie theaters and prevailed, netting more money for the film house.
The cinema slowly lost more attendees and resorted back to showing Polish language films in the 1960s before showing its last movie as a cinema-only building the early ‘70s.
The Ritz Theater in 1981 primarily showed Asian movies. The lobby was bombed in August of that year and would close for nearly two decades in 1982. (Minnesota Historical Society)
New showings come with new threats
In 1971, Cricket Theater started leasing the space to perform shows. The company had been performing all around metropolitan area and looked to make the Ritz Theater its primary home.
“The stage was installed by Cricket theater in the 1970s,” Spencer-Kaplan told a tour of people attending Doors Open. The company leased the space for 7 years, before a dispute with ownership in 1978 won them a year of free rent. They would occupy the theater for the remainder of the decade.
The space was sold to Sy Soo in November of 1980. Soo began showing Asian movies, which in turn drew many Asian patrons and students from the University of Minnesota.
In the early 1980s, reports of increased crimes and harassment towards Asian Americans in the United States rose. These troubles found their way to the Ritz Theater on August 17, 1981.
At 1:30 a.m., just 30 minutes after the end of the last movie for the night, a pipe bomb was thrown through the box office window. Scrawled on the sidewalk in front of the building were the words “white power,” as well as a swastika.
According to the Ritz Theater’s website, the bomb created a two-foot-wide and one-inch-deep hole in the concrete floor, as well as destroying most of the lobby. An estimated $15,000 in damages in total was reported.
The theater opened back up to patrons just days later but wouldn’t last much longer.
The Ritz Theater in 1998. The marquee had been updated to alert passersby to the fundraising campaign started by Ballet of the Dolls. The front says “Restore it and they will come.” The dance company would eventually get enough money to buy and restore the former cinema in 2000, and performed its first show on the stage in 2006. (City of Minneapolis)
Decades of darkness
In 1982, the theater turned off its marquee and shuttered the doors. It would remain virtually untouched until 2000.
“I mean, this building closed for about 20 years and was not cared for and kind of became a ruin,” Spencer-Kaplan said.
In 1993, the Minneapolis Community Development Agency (MCDA) purchased the theater. They never had any intention of redoing the building, the organization only bought the former cinema and playhouse for the parking lot across the street.
“We never set out to purchase the Ritz Theater,” Kaymarie Colaizy, MCDA project coordinator, told the Northeaster in 1994. “When you cut up property that’s owned by one owner, you have to pay severance damages.”
The theater remained shuttered, angering neighbors and community members. Colaizy acknowledged the need for the space to be renovated, stating that the neighborhood was “very, very frustrated with having the theater sit vacant.”
The MCDA reached out to local arts organizations, attempting to find stewards for the space. Child’s Play Theater, a local acting troupe, reached out and offered to find a group of artists and organizations to take over the space.
It was reported that they did not get much of a response and stopped their efforts later in 1994.
The Dolls take over
In 1998, Ballet of the Dolls, a dance company, started a campaign to raise funds to purchase and renovate the Ritz Theater.
In 2000, the Minneapolis City Council approved sale of the space to the troupe for $1, so long as they put in the more than $2 million it would take to completely renovate the space.
The Ritz Foundation was a nonprofit setup to own the building while Ballet of the Dolls would be the main tenant and manager.
“If people had not come in, if Ballet of the Dolls and all of the folks who said this can be a place for art again,” Spencer-Kaplan said. “I think we wouldn’t be here.”
The estimated cost of fully renovating the space fell between 2 and 2.5 million dollars. Craig Harris, executive director of Ballet of the Dolls, told Finance & Commerce in 2005 that the company had raised about $1.8 million through their campaigns and was going to contribute another $300,000 of its own money.
“We’re looking to raise another $400,000 to complete the campaign,” Harris said. “We have financing in place to complete the renovation and get the venue open.” The dance company performed its first show in May 2006.
It’s unclear if that last $400,000 ever came through. A few news sources reported in 2014 that changes to grant funding in Minnesota, the opening of the Cowles Theater in downtown and recent economic distress created roadblocks that Ballet of the Dolls couldn’t overcome.
The company started to accumulate debt and never fully finished the restoration project. It was estimated that the building and dance company owed over $700,000 by 2014 to various banks, organizations and neighborhood associations.
All shows in July and August 2014 were cancelled. An October 18, 2014, Star Tribune article questioned if Ballet of the Dolls would return for a 2015 season. It never would.
The Ritz Foundation moved forward without the dance company’s performances on the stage.
Michael Rainville, currently the Third Ward council member, but at the time was chair for both Ballet of the Dolls and the Ritz Foundation, worked with the remaining four board members to lease out the theater.
“Today the Ritz is 68 percent booked on weekends through next fall, which is the highest level since 2007,” Rainville told the Star Tribune in 2014. “And we are current on our bills. Things are looking up.”
Elisa Spencer Kaplan and Justin Lucero after cutting the ribbon to “reopen” the theater for the “next 100 years.” The theater space was opened fully to Doors Open attendees on Sunday, May 10. (Davis Steen)
Enter Theater Latté Da
TLD was one of those companies leasing space in the Ritz Theater. The music theater business had been producing shows since 1998 but never had a space to call home.
In 2014, TLD was leasing the space for its administrative offices. In 2015, they started leasing the stage to put on shows. On August 29, 2016, it officially purchased the theater.
“We will continue to deepen our relationship with Northeast Minneapolis,” Peter Rothstein, the artistic director of TLD at the time of purchase, wrote on its website. “The Ritz is a fantastic building and we’re thrilled to be part of its next chapter.”
Now, nearly a decade since purchasing the building, TLD and the Ritz Theater welcomed the community into its building to get a look at what the space has become since 2016.
The proclamation, signed by Third Ward Council Member Michael Rainville and Mayor Jacob Frey, was presented on May 10, 2026, which will be known as The Ritz Theater Day in the City of Minneapolis. Left to right, Rainville, Executive Director Justin Lucero and Managing Director Elisa Spencer Kaplan on the Ritz Theater stage with the copy of the proclamation. (Davis Steen)
The next “100 years”
A group of Doors Open attendees waited in the lobby as Elisa Spencer-Kaplan, Michael Rainville and Justin Lucero, the artistic director of TLD, entered to give a speech and proclamation.
“This building has had many lives,” Lucero said. “The Ritz holds a special place in the history of this neighborhood and in this city. It has evolved alongside Minneapolis itself through different eras, different purposes, different communities and different generations of people gathering together under one roof.”
Rainville gave a proclamation on behalf of Mayor Jacob Frey. They officially proclaimed that May 10th, 2026, will be known as The Ritz Theater Day in the City of Minneapolis.
The trio then took two large scissors and cut ribbons tsymbolically “reopen” the theater for the next 100 years and beyond. They welcomed tours through the space and into areas normally reserved for actors, stagehands and those working in the theater.
Not only was the building celebrating the century mark, but the theater company was celebrating its 100th production since 1998 and it had reached its goal of 25 new musical works in development over the last 5 years.
“And so those trio of milestones are something that we’ve been celebrating all year,” Lucero said. “But today is specifically about the building, and we wouldn’t be able to do any of those things if it weren’t for the building itself.”
TLD announced its newest season last week. As stated on May 10, they hope this is the beginning of the next 100 years for the company and space on 13th Avenue NE.
The Ritz theater in 2017, after all renovations had been completed by Theater Latté Da. (Ritz Theater)