It's easy to miss the old town historic section of Hastings, as most of fly through on the highway…read morewhich is lined with businesses many think is the downtown. If you turn a sharp right and a sharp right again while heading south on highway 61 there is a drop down and the vintage 19th century buildings with many active shops and surprises. Most of the old section ends at the train depot. This area could be improved and made into an attraction someday as it is just sitting there. There is a Riverwalk with an entertainment schedule and plenty of room to picnic or just play in the park along the river. Walking through town there is now only antique store a few restaurants and a coffee shop, vintage clothes and a bridal shop, and the usual insurance office further down. I found the old movie theater which appears to be in use as a community stage. There is a small popcorn shop hidden away. *Interesting the cities finest (yes police) past by me twice. Do they know right away if a stranger is in town? Just saying.

My contractor does all the sets for the various musicals. They are all so professional with great…read morecasts, directors, stage crew, and everyone involved. I've seen 4 shows. Disney, Broadway, Sussical, and Spamalot. The sound and orchestra are great. The building is nicely laid out. Plenty of bathroom stalls and intermission goes fairly smoothly. They have a handicapped ramp and seating also. All seats are good because the stage and seats aren't far apart. They also have a black box theater that I haven't been to yet. Huge parking lot. Woodbury is growing, so this is a great spot for entertainment.

I mean going here and have never been to nothing like this as a kid was AWESome I Simply loved itread more

I almost didn't make it in time! In fact, I was actually parked on the street and I thought a…read moredifferent building was the theater until I finally found the signs. It's in a really dark area by the Minneapolis impound lot but follow the signs on Chestnut! Once I found the place, all was good though. They even have someone outside giving you directions on their additional parking lot. There is a generous parking lot in front of the building plus there is street parking as well. The production I saw was fabulous, the actors were superb, and it was two hours of pure theater bliss. Everyone working or volunteering there was super friendly. They seem to have a good choice of concessions which is really nice to see at a small theater like this. Most theaters of this size you are lucky if you can grab a Diet Coke and a bag of M&Ms. The only thing I was a little nervous about were the seats. The seats are lawn chairs. They are not the cheap types of lawn chairs but nevertheless lawn chairs. The lawn chairs that slant backwards in, making me very unsure if I was going to be able to hoist myself out at the end. I don't think I was the only one feeling this way because there were a group of us who waited for the other patrons to exit prior to us trying to get ourselves out of our chairs. I do have to say a few people were unable to. They did have a few workers going around asking people if they needed help getting out of the chairs however so kudos to them for that. I really look forward to supporting this theater in the future.

I invited four friends to join me in seeing the performance of Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and…read morePunishment at Open Window Theatre last evening. We loved it and were so impressed with the play. Jeremy Bode's performance of Raskolnikov was spectacular! Mr. Bode was able to draw you into the mind of Raskolnikov, along with his pride, loneliness, and anguish. Great job, Mr. Bode! We were all affected by your performance. The theater has just the right size and seating to immerse the audience into the play. You can easily see the actors' facial expressions and the humanity of the characters they are portraying. This is my second year as a season ticket holder and CORE member. I can't wait to see the remaining plays for this season! Jose L.

I came here with my partner to watch "The Butler Did It". It's a great theatre in downtown St…read more Paul. The show itself was excellent, although I didn't understand all the references. The actors were very talented and I could tell the writer had a love for this inverse detective genre. It is a bit sad how quiet downtown St Paul is now, but I appreciated that the theatre was trying to partner with local businesses with som coupons to encourage you to patronize not just them. The show also seemed to have great attendance! Parking was not too bad. There are many lots in the area. I would not use ParkHero if you're going on a weekday -- it's not too busy and it's cheaper to pay at any of the downtown lots rather than reserving through the app.

I was super-impressed by both the theatre and the fantastic performance of the Chorus Line! The…read moreacting, staging, and performing were extremely high quality and it reminds me how strong the theatre is in the Twin Cities. Although there were four understudies taking on roles the night of this particular performance, I think they all did a fantastic job. The singing was professional, as well as the dancing. What a difficult thing to pull off successfully. Congratulations. We had fantastic seats, but it appeared that the sightlines would be good from most seats because of the good banking of the rows. I hope you have a fantastic run with this production!

I saw The Killers here in June 2025 and it was my first visit to the Palace. Entry was fast and…read moreeasy. The view and sound from behind the soundboard was great, standing room only. The restrooms were clean when I visited at the start of the evening. I'd come back for shows considering it's so small. The only complaint, exit was slow and crowded even though there were plenty of exit options but they were kept close, leaving one bottle-neck exit out the main doors.

The Palace will always be one of my favorite venues to catch a show. Brings me back to my younger…read moredays of standing room only shows (although they do have balcony seating available). The theater is located in downtown Saint Paul with lots of neighboring restaurants and bars if you want to pre or post show party. There is no designated parking area but there is paid street parking (free on Sundays and after 10pm) as well as plenty of paid parking lots and ramps nearby. There is a slightly raised platform with a railing that I always try to snag a spot at as it offers a great view (especially for us short people). Most of my pics are taken from that exact spot. The floor can get pretty cramped but most of the crowds I've encountered have been very friendly. The theater itself is old but beautiful. The upstairs area shows exposed beams and bricks which I think adds to the charm!

A Saint Paul staple! Absolutely magical. My family and I have an annual tradition of seeing the…read moreCircus Juventas show yearly. We love supporting local talent and feel that our money goes to a great cause as every participant in the show is a student (sometimes they do have guests to help fill certain roles or parts). Overall, your money goes to helping students build confidence, community and collaboration at circus. By attending shows or purchasing merchandise, the money gets put back into the circus school. Each year, the theme of the show is different and students weave in and out of the program. Once they are a senior, students move on. My family has been attending for so long that I recognize many of the former talent now being volunteers or riggers on set. I am always amazed at the talent and even more, how it's local and in our own community. Skills range from silks, tumbling, roller skating, trampoline jumps, aerial, acrobatics, juggling and more. Each show typically runs about 3 hours with a 20-minute intermission. There are small vendors onsite that serve the standard hot dogs, chips, sodas, candy bars and even Cold Stone creamery has had a both the past couple years serving up ice cream. It's truly an honor to be under the high top. As they say at the end - may all your days be circus days! Thank you to all the students, coaches and volunteers! Bravo!!

We attended Circus Juventas' Blizzard show this week. I wasn't sure what to expect having only seen…read moreone Cirque du Soleil show. What I didn't expect this to be was a show put on by kids! WOW! Blizzard was a culmination of several Christmas stories using the setting of Santa's Workshop. Christmas play meets Cirque du Soleil. These kids are no joke! The acting, strength, and fearlessness of these kids is amazing! If you weren't sure it's worth going don't, go! Bring your family and support these talented kids. Looking forward to seeing more of these shows in the future.