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This was in today's Minneapolis Star Tribune newspaper:

Broadway of the Upper Midwest
May 11, 2005

The Twin Cities is highly regarded in national theater circles. Here are a few reasons why:

• Theatre de la Jeune Lune's regional Tony award is the third for a Twin Cities theater.

• The Twin Cities has one of the highest rates of theater attendance in the nation (based on number of tickets sold compared to the total population).

• Playwrights with national reputations developed in local theaters include August Wilson (Tony and Pulitzer winner), Lee Blessing (Pulitzer and Tony finalist) and Craig Wright (current writer for "Six Feet Under.")

• Twin Cities directors who have gone on to fame include Marion McClinton, who directed several of Wilson's plays in Chicago, New York and London; David Esbjornson, who has worked with Arthur Miller's and Edward Albee's most-recent plays, and Oskar Eustis, new artistic director at the Public Theater in New York.

• The many nationally known actors who cut their teeth on local stages include Josh Hartnett , Kimberly Elise, Rachel Leigh Cook, Peter Krause, Peter Michael Goetz, Len Cariou, Melissa Peterman, T.R. Knight, and Carl Lumbly.

• Also Tuesday, Christina Applegate was nominated for a Tony for her role in the revival of "Sweet Charity," which began its journey to Broadway in January with previews in Minneapolis.