The Guthrie Celebrates Stephen Kanee, 4/14

The Guthrie Theater today announced that a public celebration of the life and work of former Guthrie artist Stephen Kanee, who passed away on January 18, will take place Sunday, April 14 at 11 a.m. on the Guthrie's Wurtele Thrust Stage.

Kanee was a student at the University of Minnesota when he was awarded a McKnight Fellowship in Directing in 1974; this brought him to the Guthrie, where he was mentored by Artistic Director Michael Langham. The next year, in 1975, Kanee directed a successful production of Harold Pinter's The Caretaker as well as A Christmas Carol, which launched the Guthrie's holiday tradition. Kanee went on to direct numerous Guthrie Productions including The Tavern and Great Expectations, both of which moved on to national tours, and Teibele and Her Demon, which was moved to Broadway. Kanee also directed ay many other theaters in the Twin Cities and across the country.

Fulfilling a lifelong ambition of teaching, Kanee accepted a faculty position at New Mexico State University in 1980. He returned to the Guthrie in 1985, then in 1986 joined the faculty of the University of Minnesota Department of Theatre Arts and Dance. As an Associate Professor and Head of the Directing Program, Kanee directed Old Times, Spring Awakening, Two Gentlemen of Verona and many other productions at the University's Rarig Center as well as the Minnesota Centennial Showboat. He retired from the University of Minnesota in 2005. Kanee's wife, MaryAnn Lippay Kanee, will be in attendance at the Memorial as well as the reception in the Guthrie's Target Lounge immediately after the celebration.

The GUTHRIE THEATER (Joe Dowling, Director) was founded by Sir Tyrone Guthrie in 1963 and is an American center for theater performance, production, education and professional training. The Tony Award-winning Guthrie Theater is dedicated to producing the great works of dramatic literature, developing the work of contemporary playwrights and cultivating the next generation of theater artists. With annual attendance of nearly 500,000 people, the Guthrie Theater presents a mix of classic plays and contemporary work on its three stages. Under the artistic leadership of Joe Dowling since 1995, the Guthrie continues to set a national standard for excellence in theatrical production and performance. In 2006, the Guthrie opened its new home on the banks of the Mississippi River in Minneapolis. Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Jean Nouvel, the Guthrie Theater houses three state-of-the-art stages, production facilities, classrooms and dramatic public lobbies. www.guthrietheater.org

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