Garrett Fitzgerald was born in St. Paul MN in 1983, to Dennis and Klea Fitzgerald, former Twin Cities residents and public school teachers. Most of Garrett’s youth was spent in Mankato, MN, but from ages two to four Garrett lived in Okinawa, Japan, while his parents taught at the American Military High School.
While in high school, Garrett became active in the theater and worked with local activist groups such as United for Equality–Mankato, and with his high school’s Gay-Straight Alliance. He also worked at a local
grocery store to raise money for college. In 2001, Garrett graduated at the top of his high school class as a member of the National Honor Society.
Garrett went off to college at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, but after his first year transferred to the University of Minnesota where, with the college credit gained from his high school Advanced Placement class work, Garrett was able to achieve a BA in Theater in three years. Throughout these three years, Garrett supported himself as a janitorial worker and also worked to support the U of M’s clerical workers during an AFSCME workers strike. During the strike, Garrett was part of a group of students that organized a sit-in in the office of University President Robert Bruininks. This student sit-in played a key role in resolving the strike and lending strength to the union.
After graduating in 2004, Garrett went to the east coast for the DNC and RNC in Boston and New York, respectively. After the protests, Garrett spent six months in upstate New York helping his mentor build an artists retreat. He returned to Minneapolis for six months where he worked at Spokes Pizza (a worker collective bicycle delivery pizza parlor) and then returned to New York for a year of theater training in the Margolis Method. He funded his training by working as a handyman and with local contractors. In May of 2006, he returned to MN and began working at North Country Coop (NCC) and volunteering at the Belfry Center for Social and Cultural Activities, a former community center in south Minneapolis. While working at NCC, Garrett struggled to unionize the staff in an effort to revive the co-op’s former commitment to democracy in the workplace. Due to resistance from the Board of Directors and continuing negative profit trends, NCC closed its doors in late 2007 without fully realizing its democratic potential.
It was around this time that Garrett performed in his first major theatrical work since returning from New York. The piece, Idigragua, written by and featuring Fort Wilson Riot, won 2007 Best Rock Opera in Minneapolis-St. Paul magazine. With the closure of North Country Coop and the completion of Idigragua, Garrett sought new work as a substitute preschool teacher and where he, between court dates, continues to teach today.