A timeline of the Guthrie Theater: It all began in 1959

In a notice in the New York Times, Irish theater director Tyrone Guthrie announces that he wants to have a resident theater outside of New York and invites cities across the country to make their best case.

Newspaper scion John Cowles Jr. leads a steering committee to bring the theater to the Twin Cities. T.B. Walker Foundation gives a commitment for land next to Walker Art Center and $400,000 for construction.

After Guthrie and fellow founders Oliver Rea and Peter Zeisler visit seven interested cities, they choose Minneapolis/St. Paul. The steering committee is formally constituted as the Tyrone Guthrie Theatre Foundation.

Construction begins on the theater, with a stage designed by Tanya Moiseiwitsch and Guthrie, on Vineland Place in Minneapolis.

A Mankato Sunday school class sends a donation of $6.37 for the building. The Ford Foundation provides a grant of $337,000 for preopening costs and operating assistance.

The volunteer group Stagehands holds its first ticket campaign meeting and rally led by actor Robert Preston. Stagehands would sell more than 14,000 subscriptions in the following months, setting a national record for a noncommercial theater.

Known as the Minnesota Theatre Company, it launches with "Hamlet," directed by Guthrie and starring George Grizzard. For its first season, the theater welcomes 22,000 season ticket holders and receives $300,000 in advance sales.

Tyrone Guthrie opens "The House of Atreus," which would later transfer to Broadway and also play Los Angeles as part of a national tour.

After a distinguished career with Canada's Stratford Festival Theatre, Michael Langham becomes the Guthrie's third artistic director.

The Guthrie produces Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" at the holidays for the first time.

Alvin Epstein is appointed the Guthrie's first American artistic director, and his tenure runs for 18 months.

The first American Sign Language-interpreted performance is staged.

Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn, stars from the original Guthrie acting company, return to the theater for the premiere of "Foxfire."

The Guthrie receives a Tony Award for its outstanding contribution to American theater.

"Guys and Dolls" becomes the first full production of an American musical at the Guthrie.

JoAnne Akalaitis directs an epic production of Jean Genet's "The Screens." The company includes Joseph Haj, a young actor fresh out of graduate school.

The Guthrie's five-year Campaign for Artistic Excellence results in the largest endowment among nonprofit theaters at the time.

The theater tours "Othello" around the country and premieres Arthur Miller's "Resurrection Blues."

After a nine-month review of three dozen candidates, the Guthrie chooses French architect Jean Nouvel to design its new building on a former industrial site by the Mississippi River.

The Minnesota Legislature approves $25 million in bonding for the new Guthrie. The project will cost $125 million in total — raised from private and corporate donors plus the state.

The original Guthrie playhouse on Vineland Place closes with a production of "Hamlet" directed by Dowling and starring Santino Fontana.

The new Guthrie opens to the public, welcoming more than 25,000 guests at an open house.

Dowling's production of "H.M.S. Pinafore" is broadcast nationally as part of PBS' Arts Fall Festival.

Joseph Haj, producing artistic director of PlayMakers Rep, is tapped as the Guthrie's eighth artistic director.

Haj stages "West Side Story," which plays to 100% capacity and helps to lead the Guthrie to its highest ticket seasonal revenue yet.

"Floyd's," a Guthrie commission by Lynn Nottage, makes its world premiere. It opens under a new title, "Clyde's," on Broadway in November 2021 and gets a Tony nod for best play.

After COVID-19 shuts down shows, 3,467 donors contribute to the One Guthrie emergency relief campaign and 2,499 patrons donate the value of their canceled tickets to the Guthrie.

Onstage performances resume after being kept dark for more than a year, with a national tour presentation of "What the Constitution Means to Me."

To mark its 60th anniversary, Haj gives a nod to the Guthrie's beginnings by staging "Hamlet."