A lot has changed in the decades since Haj’s actor housing days — everything from the evolution of Minneapolis’ downtown to the Guthrie’s move from the Walker Art Center to its own gleaming $125 million complex along the Mississippi River. Meanwhile, Haj lived and worked in LA, New York, and Chapel Hill, where he won American Theatre magazine’s prestigious Zelda Fichlandler Award. 

Now that he’s nearly a decade into his tenure at the Guthrie, we thought we’d ask Haj to share all the reasons he became a boomerang resident and doesn’t plan on leaving the Star of the North anytime soon.   

On the Guthrie’s national reputation: 

The Guthrie wasn’t the first not-for-profit theater, but it was a big part of the early days of that movement. What made the Guthrie distinct was Tyrone Guthrie; he was the most famous [English-speaking] director in the world when he started the theater. And he brought stars with him — some very significant artists of the day, including George Grizzard, Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn.  

Tyrone Guthrie chose to be here after talking to a half dozen cities across the country. He wanted an alternative to New York — to work with a company of actors and be embedded within a community.

The arts community here embraced it, of course. And not just in the Twin Cities. Tyrone Guthrie and his colleagues went all over the state, raising money to build their first building. And they did it with 8000 discrete gifts across Minnesota, including, very sweetly, $5.37 from a Sunday School in Mankato. The Guthrie Theater was built by the citizens of Minnesota as a gift to themselves. It's the people's theater in this state. 

The Guthrie continues to hold a very important place in the national conversation, too. A lot of theater artists know it's an important place to work — that they’ll have a good chance of making some of their best work here. That’s both an honor and a responsibility. We take it very seriously.  

None of these things are objectively better. We're all doing slightly different things in ways that are very pleasing to folks who enjoy theater in the Twin Cities, which is an awful lot of people. 

We have a very sophisticated audience of theatergoers in this town, which is the envy of many arts communities around the country. They know good work from bad and will show up for strong work even if the actors in it have names you've never heard of. If we were making a production of ‘Hamlet’ at almost any other theater in the country, the only question anyone would have is who's playing Hamlet. They’d want to know which TV star you’re putting into the thing.  

 

On the best show he’s seen all year: 

I enjoy seeing the work of colleagues whenever I can. And I'm rarely disappointed. There's a lot of good work going on. The Moving Company’s adaptation of ‘The Misanthrope’ (‘Say All the Truth’) was one of the most thrilling things I’ve seen in the theater in a really long time.   

I also enjoy the work of [Theater] Latté Da, the Jungle, and the Walker's performance art series.  Philip Bither is a brilliant curator with uncommonly good taste.  

On being a spontaneous sports fan: 

If we wanted to go to a Dodgers game when we lived in LA, it took up our entire day. We’d spend an hour and 40 minutes getting down to the stadium, another hour parking, three hours watching the game, and then another three hours between getting out of the parking lot and going home.  

I've had days here where a friend called me at 5:30 and said, 'Hey, you want to go to the ballgame tonight? The first pitch is at 6:10.' And I'm in my seat by 6:10. And once that game is over, I'm walking into my front door 25 minutes later. It feels like time travel.  

Target Field is sort of a miracle, too. I'm not the biggest baseball fan, but it's one of the great urban stadiums. It's this tiny footprint, sitting right in the middle of downtown. You walk into that thing and feel like you're a million miles from anything. It's so exciting — like you're in a little baseball world. I love it. 

On his favorite trail: 

I live in the western part of Minneapolis. The Cedar Lake Regional Trail is very close to our house; I can ride a 25-mile loop, crossing only a couple of surface roads, because of the bike trail system that's there. I love that.   

I love walking around Cedar Lake, too. It's far less busy than the other big lakes in the area, and so beautiful. I try to walk this three-mile loop around it that as much as I can, because once it gets quite cold, I'm done being outside until it warms up again. What can I say? I’m a Miami boy.  

On finding joy in four seasons:  

I never get tired of how the seasons change here. It’s delightful. We have this big window in the back of our house, and I just love it in all seasons. I love when the branches are bare and the snow's coming through. It's so gorgeous. I love it in the spring, when those trees begin to bud. I love it in the fall, when those leaves all turn color and fall.  

I think the only reason everybody in the world doesn't live here is because they think we have 10 months of winter. We have four seasons, though; three of them are gorgeous, and one is a little rough in the way it was for me in Chapel Hill. There, fall and spring are gorgeous, winter is mild, and summer can be brutal.  

Growing up in Miami was not without its joys, but it only has one season. Sometimes it's a little less hot, but it's hot all the time. Like you leave that hammer out in the front yard and it's rusted by morning. I mean, you're literally living in a swamp. 

As for the winter here, I often find myself feeling colder in New York City because it’s so wet, and the way the wind comes whipping down those avenues in New York City is no joke. It’s so cold. 

On his favorite restaurants: 

I remember there being a lot of beige food in Minneapolis 35 years ago. I’m sure there was an outstanding restaurant somewhere, but I didn’t have the money or the ability to get there. The food scene is fantastic now — just really exciting and inventive. 

Martina never disappoints. I'm always happy to be there. There's a bit of a bar scene, so it's always lively — always vibrant. Their cocktails are fantastic, and their spicy tuna tiradito is sublime. They do a lot of great things. 

Some friends turned us onto Oro by Nixta recently. Oh, my goodness.... I love everything that comes out of that kitchen. I think we've tried pretty much everything on their menu. It's a bunch of small plate stuff that we really enjoy. 

When my daughter is in town, we sometimes go to Hen House [Eatery] downtown for brunch. They have fantastic cinnamon rolls that are as big as your head. So that's a really good time as well. 

On the Guthrie’s neighbors: 

It’s a joy to be able to look out the window and see the Mississippi River at work. The Stone Arch Bridge is right here, too, so I try and get outside if I have a gap in my schedule. Walking across the bridge and back is so replenishing. 

It’s been amazing to see how much this area has developed over the past decade. We’ve got a dozen restaurants all in walking distance from the Guthrie, and the neighborhood itself has become so much more vibrant. Folks are walking, folks are on their bikes, folks are on scooters. 

Minneapolis is just a really great town. And I’ve lived in many. 

On where he likes to grab lunch: 

When I started here 10 years ago, there weren't a lot of options for lunch. I was often eating lunch in the building and just picking up something from our grab-and-go.  

Now options abound right in a quarter mile radius — places I can easily walk to. Kindee Thai and the Farmers Kitchen are right across the way from us, Zen Box [Izakaya] is around the corner, and we have two new Indian places on Washington — Spice & Tonic and Clay Oven. So that’s fun.  

On the coldest martinis: 

I don’t drink that much, or that often, but I like a good martini. The ones at the Monte Carlo are really classic. I like my martinis very, very cold, so I love that they sit it in a glass filled with ice as they pour half of your martini. And they have blue cheese olives, which is what makes it especially fantastic.  

So that's a that's a fun place to go. I also love the wine at Spoon & Stable, Demi and Porzana. 

On all the arts: 

I get the sense that many folks who are from here don't appreciate how rare what they have is. I don't do nearly enough of it, but the cultural assets of this region is rich.  

It's ridiculous how extraordinary the art scene is. It doesn’t have many comparisons outside of New York City. I love visiting Mia. I love visiting the Walker. I love visiting the Orchestra. Figuring out how to sustain and grow all of it over time is what I and every other arts leader focuses on every day. 

On the microcosm that is Minneapolis: 

Minneapolis has all the big city things without feeling like a big city. It’s more like a town to me. It’s really quite navigable, and easy to be spontaneous.  

I have a good friend who has a family home down in Red Wing. It's been lovely being able to visit on a couple occasions. We're not cabin people, though. There's something about the cities themselves that seem to offer a lot of what we want and need.

Check out our performing arts guide and find more travel inspo.