The Old Log, Minnesota’s oldest theater, is shutting down

The final curtain is falling on the Old Log Theatre, Minnesota’s oldest and longest continuously operating playhouse.

Owners Greg and Marissa Frankenfield announced Tuesday that after 84 years of storied performances in Minneapolis’ western suburbs, the Greenwood-based commercial theater is closing.

The decision was made “with a heavy heart,” the Frankenfields said in a statement. “We are filled with gratitude and humility for the support we have received over the years.”

Old Log is saying its farewell with a concert series that includes Martin Zellar’s tribute to Neil Diamond (Feb. 23), Shaun Johnson’s Big Band Experience (March 1) and a Buddy Holly tribute (March 2).

The playhouse has been a popular spot for weddings and corporate events. It has nuptials booked through June that will be honored, according to Maureen Kvam, head of marketing and sales.

She said the closure was because the Frankenfields are moving on to the next act in their lives. “The owners are retiring,” Kvam said.

Asked if they considered turning it over to others to run, Kvam said that she had no information on that.

“The whole community is surprised and devastated,” said actor and director Eric Morris, who worked at Old Log for nine years and played Jerry Lee Lewis in “Million Dollar Quartet,” one of the company’s most successful shows.

The Old Log brought back “Quartet” with a different cast and crew in an eight-month run that ended Sunday.

“They just closed a great show and two days later, bye-bye,” Morris said. “That’s tough.”

Kimberly Chambers Otto, who played one of the female leads in “Guys and Dolls,” said that it’s a real loss for theater talent because the Old Log was opened to all actors.

“It was very special that way,” said Chambers Otto said. “And I feel fortunate to have had the chance to perform [Miss Adelaide] — my biggest role there.”

For decades, the Old Log was synonymous with one man — Don Stolz, who built it into a nationally known entity. An actor and director, Stolz joined what was initially a summer stock theater in 1941, a year after it was started by Bob Aiden and his friends in a log stable owned by the Kuechle family, according to Tim Stolz, Don’s son.

Don Stolz purchased the playhouse in 1946, buffing its reputation with the area premieres of such shows as “Arsenic and Old Lace” and “The Glass Menagerie.”

The list of notable actors who’ve performed at the Old Log includes Loni Anderson, Steve Zahn and Nick Nolte.

Nolte told the Star Tribune in 2016 that he learned important lessons in his three years at the theater. “I would think the plays were too light or too fluff,” Nolte recalled. “Don said to me, ‘Nick, you’ll never be able to play these characters if you judge the literature.’”

The Frankenfields bought the Old Log from the Stolz family in 2013. Greg Frankenfield is the co-founder and former CEO of Magenic Technologies Inc., a software development company.

“It saddens me if it isn’t operated as a theater, but if I had all the money in the world, I would not want to own it,” said Tim Stolz, founder of Bloomington-based Sidekick Theatre. “It’s a complicated piece of property, off the beaten track.”

In addition to the theater, which has a 600-seat auditorium, the complex includes an attached restaurant, Cast & Cru, that will also close. The Frankenfields did not disclose any future plans.

The theater and restaurant sit on 11 acres on Solbergs Point between Saint Albans Bay and Excelsior Bay on tony Lake Minnetonka.

“I would hate to see it just turned into condos or something,” Morris said. “The arts are losing a lot these days.”

The news comes as the Twin Cities performing arts ecosystem reels from the recent announcement that Minneapolis’ Cowles Center also is ending performances in March.