HUGE Improv Theater

HUGE Improv Theater is a Minneapolis theater founded in 2005 dedicated to long form improvisational theater. The non-profit theater acquired its own building in 2010, where it runs scheduled nightly improv performances and hosts several annual improv festivals. HUGE announced plans to move into a new space by 2020 following a controversy over its landlord's support of David Duke's 2016 campaign for a U.S. Senate seat in Louisiana.

HUGE Improv Theater
HUGE's logo
Founded2005[1]
FocusLong form improvisational theater[1]
Location
  • 3037 Lyndale Ave S.
    Minneapolis, MN 55408[2]
Coordinates44.947091°N 93.287932°W / 44.947091; -93.287932[3]
Area served
Minneapolis – Saint Paul
Key people
Butch Roy
(Executive Director)[1]
Jill Bernard
(Education Director)
Rita Boersma
(Artistic Director)
Sean Dillon
(Managing Director)
Websitewww.hugetheater.com

History
HUGE's building in 2013

In 2005, HUGE was founded as a non-profit arts organization dedicated to long form improvisational theater,[1] the only of its kind in Minneapolis.[4] Butch Roy, Nels Lennes, Jill Bernard, and later Molly Chase, were responsible for the theater's creation.[4] While performing at such local venues as Intermedia Arts,[5] it was not until half a decade after the theater's founding, in December 2010, that the organization got its own building,[1] located on Lyndale Avenue and designed in part by local architecture firm Shelter, featuring a wall with the word 'HUGE' emblazoned on it separating the lobby from the theater space.[6]

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 David Duke's 2016 campaign for a U.S. Senate seat in Louisiana.[7] Upon this revelation, HUGE's board of directors denounced De Roma and began conversations about moving the theater to a new space.[7][8] In May 2019, HUGE announced a capital campaign to fund the eventual purchase of its own facility.[8]

As of 2019, HUGE was producing around 600 shows per year with an annual operating budget of $540,000.[8]

Shows and classes
A show on HUGE's stage

HUGE runs improv shows six nights per week.[1] The theater also hosts classes for beginning improv students and workshops for more advanced improvisational storytellers.[4] 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.[4] It was one of the Minnesota Fringe Festival's stages for the late-summer performing arts festival from 2011 through 2017.[9][2][10][11]

References
  1. Rowe, Ashleigh V. (Series producer) (November 7, 2011). #245: HUGE Improv Theater, Davina + the Vagabonds + The Minnesota Historical Society’s 1968 Exhibit. Minnesota Original (Television production). Twin Cities Public Television. Retrieved May 29, 2013.
  2. "HUGE Theater". Minnesota Fringe Festival. 2012. Archived from the original on July 5, 2012. Retrieved May 29, 2013.
  3. Google (May 29, 2013). "HUGE Improv Theater, Lyndale Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved May 29, 2013.
  4. Oxborough, Allegra (July 21, 2012). "Twin Cities Improv Festival kicks off at Huge Theater". City Pages. Archived from the original on May 29, 2013. Retrieved May 29, 2013.
  5. Roberts, Chrs (April 22, 2010). "Overheard conversation becomes improv theater". MPR News. Retrieved September 14, 2013.
  6. "Shelter Architecture + Design Lisa Antenucci, Allied Member ASID". Minneapolis–Saint Paul Magazine. Retrieved May 29, 2013.
  7. Boller, Jay (August 30, 2017). "Nazis, KKK 'can fuck straight off': Huge Improv Theater issues statement on controversial landlord". City Pages. Archived from the original on October 20, 2018. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
  8. Hewitt, Chris (May 20, 2019). "Landlord's politics were 'catalyst' for huge move by Lyn-Lake's Huge Theater". Star Tribune. Archived from the original on May 20, 2019. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
  9. "Fringe venues announced". St. Paul Pioneer Press. March 10, 2011. Retrieved May 29, 2013.
  10. Erickson, Ann; Robin C. Gillette (March 19, 2013). "Fringe 2013 - Venue Line-up" (PDF). Minnesota Fringe Festival. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 23, 2013. Retrieved May 29, 2013.
  11. "Minnesota Fringe will have 20 Minneapolis venues". St. Paul Pioneer Press. March 26, 2014. Retrieved June 27, 2014.
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