The Moppet Players records

The Moppet Players was the first full-time theatre for children in Minnesota, founded by Beth Linnerson in 1961 in Minneapolis. While graduating from the University of Minnesota and working as a waitress at Mama Rosa's Restaurant in the Seven Corners area, she was offered an empty performance space in a side room at the restaurant. Along with other local theatre professionals, she developed a series of children's shows performed on the tiny 10' X 10' stage.

After one season, Linnerson, along with Martha Boesing (later founder of At the Foot of the Mountain Theater) relocated the burgeoning theatre to an abandoned police station owned by Pillsbury Settlement House. Arrangements were made with the Pillsbury-Waite Settlement Houses, both social service organizations, to provide activities for neighborhood youth. The Moppets' mission expanded beyond theatre for entertainment to include the idea of teaching and working with the local community through the arts.

John Donahue joined the theatre group in the second season as scene designer and technical director. By the fall of 1964 a division had begun between Linnerson and Donahue's vision of working with and for children through theatre. Additionally, the building where The Moppet's performed was about to be razed. Linnerson moved The Moppets to The St. Paul Arts and Science Center. Donahue in turn partnered with the Minneapolis Institute of Art and eventually established the Children's Theatre Company (CTC).

The Children's Theatre Company (CTC) remains in operation, and has become one of the largest theatres for young people in the world. CTC continues to acknowledge The Moppet Players as the foundation of the organization's history.