Hastings' NewBridge Theatre: All under one roof

After spending a couple of decades acting, directing, singing, and teaching in theaters around the country, Elizabeth Tanner is bringing her energy to back to her hometown, the site of her earliest performances.

"People in town remember that my sister and I used to put on plays in the back yard," she said.

She and husband Jonathan Goodman just opened NewBridge Theatre Company, a multidisciplinary arts space in downtown Hastings. Plans have been in the works for about a year, but the pace picked up in recent weeks after they signed the lease on a former pet supply store. They have been painting late into the evening and updating the website with information about classes (which begin July 30), company auditions (Aug. 4-5), and the first featured performance (Aug. 17-18).

"It's been intense," Tanner said.

The main performance space will host acting and dance classes for all ages, as well as art shows.

Writing and art classes will be held in an adjacent room that doubles as a green room/dressing room, and they plan to turn a back room into a ceramics studio.

"I want people to come in here with a feeling of something going on here that's different," Tanner said.

Acting classes range from "Create Your Own Superhero or Princess" to Michael Chekhov techniques to auditioning tips. Tanner anticipates eventually setting up directing internships for high school students.

"It's really a full-blown mentoring program like they used to do," she said.

Tanner, who helped to establish the theater program at Envision Academy of the Arts, a former arts magnet school in Burnsville, finds it important to honor everyone's contribution.

"You're going to see the kids making the sounds, or the violinist will be visible," she said. "Normally, we hide the artist. Why should we hide the artist?"

Also, "everyone bows, even the ushers," she said. "If you don't have one of the people, nothing happens."

Tanner and Goodman met while performing "Man of La Mancha" at Baton Rouge Little Theater in Louisiana, where Goodman spent seven years. "I just absolutely miss that family," he said, "but I get the pleasure of creating that new family here."

"I love it up here," said the Baton Rouge native. "To be here in Minnesota doing a theater company, with my best friend, I couldn't ask for anything more. It's scary, but I don't want to live a life of regret."

Jim Tanner, Elizabeth's father, who has taught ceramics and drawing at other arts centers, said he's "just excited to be able to convey my knowledge. I just want to more or less instill in them, 'You can do it.'"

Obler has a similar philosophy. He teaches at the Loft in Minneapolis and said beginning writers often try to assess their skills too early. "That's like strapping on a pair of skates and if you don't make the Olympic trials, then hanging it up," he said. "It takes a lot of practice."

He thinks the multi-disciplinary approach of the space "will make it a lot of fun."