HUGE Improv Theater is a

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

artist-led non-profit theater company founded in 2005 by improvisers Jill Bernard, Butch Roy, Nels Lennes, Joe Bozic and Mike Fotis, dedicated to long-form

improvisational theater Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted: created spontaneously by the performers. In its purest form, the dialogue, a ...

. HUGE’s presence has accelerated the growth of improvised theater and comedy in the Twin Cities, training thousands of new improvisers since its founding, expanding audience access from 56 to 500+ performances annually, and teaching 600+ students each year. In June 2023, HUGE closed its original location at 3037 Lyndale Avenue, and has purchased its own building at 2728 Lyndale Ave, Minneapolis, re-opening in the Autumn of 2023.

History

HUGE began in 2005 as a collective of artists producing new improvised works at various venues throughout the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul. Responding to growth in audience demand and widespread interest in improv classes, HUGE was incorporated as a 501(c)3 nonprofit in 2009 and opened the doors of its first long-term home (a 100-seat theater/education venue at 3037 Lyndale Avenue, Minneapolis) in 2010, managed by Roy, Lennes and Bernard, who also served as the first Board of Directors, later joined by Molly Chase. HUGE is the only theater in the Twin Cities dedicated exclusively to long-form improvisation. In August 2017, a story in '' City Pages'' reported that HUGE's landlord, Julius Jaeger De Roma, had donated $500 to former Ku Klux Klan leader

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's 2016

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for a U.S. Senate seat in Louisiana. Upon this revelation, HUGE's board of directors denounced De Roma and began conversations about moving the theater to a new space. In May 2019, HUGE announced a capital campaign to fund the eventual purchase of its own facility. As of 2019, HUGE was producing around 600 shows per year with an annual operating budget of $540,000.

Shows and classes

HUGE runs improv shows six nights per week. The theater also hosts classes for beginning improv students and workshops for more advanced improvisers. HUGE is the site of the annual Twin Cities Improv Festival, a creation of the theater's staff designed to increase the presence of improvised theater in the

Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in sta ...

. It also hosts independent improv festivals such as the Black & Funny Improv Festival and Queer & Funny Improv Festival.

References

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External links

HUGE show schedule

Video by MplsTV on HUGE's opening
Buildings and structures in Minneapolis Improvisational theatre Tourist attractions in Minneapolis Non-profit organizations based in Minnesota Arts organizations based in Minneapolis Theatre in Minneapolis Arts organizations established in 2005 2005 establishments in Minnesota