Fall 2025 Classes

Making A Scene: Improv with Dane

Instructor: Dane Stauffer

For those with some improvisation or Acting experience who want to add to their skill set. This session will build on the basics we worked with in the spring session.

Using scene work, we will explore building character & resolving conflict with stage craft, and  the use of metaphor, history, philosophy and humor.

Improvisation is proliferating! Come find out why!

In a playful atmosphere, step out of your comfort zone and enjoy the brain- boosting, spirit -lifting, day-brightening fun of IMPROVISATION!

Through theatre games, ritual, insight and lots of laughter, we will build spontaneous stories together. 

 Open to all levels. 15 minimum- 20 Max

No prior experience (acting or otherwise) necessary.

Broadway Dance 2

Instructor: Rik Kutcher

5,6,7,8….Broadway Dance is back! Taught by Theatre 55’s Rik Kutcher! Rik was featured recently as the Dentist in Little Shop, and last year, was the Emcee in Cabaret. 

Rik has choreographed and taught dance classes in ballet, jazz, tap and musical theatre to dancers of all skill levels, promoting a safe and positive environment conducive to learning and improving overall performance skills.

This beginner-level class ensures the development of foundational skills, while also promoting confidence and physical comfort.

There is no age restriction on when you should start learning to dance. It’s never too late to enjoy the benefits of dance.

• Socializing: Dance classes can be a great way to meet new people
• Flexibility: Dance can help improve flexibility
• Strength: Dance can help improve balance and strength
• Mood: Dance can boost your mood and reduce stress
• Energy: Dancing regularly can help increase your energy level

 Open to all levels. 15 minimum- 20 Max

No prior experience (acting or otherwise) necessary.

The Play’s THE Thing

Instructor: Jeffery Goodson

Like Book Club on steroids!

A six week course for actors and audience members alike to examine and analyze a

selection of six different plays, a mix of both familiar and new.

Each week we’ll read a new play and discuss plot, characters, conflicts, language, and intent. Participants will have an opportunity to “act out” scenes and analyze the importance of each scene to the play as a whole, and focus on dialogue and discovery. 

The six shows we’ll be discussing:

• Sweeney Todd (Sondheim musical)
• Our Town (Thornton Wilder classic)
• West Side Story/Romeo and Juliet (Bernstein musical/Shakespeare)
• The Mousetrap (Agatha Christie murder mystery)
• Steel Magnolias (Robert Harling comedy)
• On Golden Pond (Ernest Thompson comedy/drama)

 Open to all levels. 10 minimum- 20 Max

No prior experience (acting or otherwise) necessary.

Dane Stauffer

Fresh off a successful run starring in the IVEY award winning musical “Glensheen,” at the History Theatre, Dane Stauffer is pleased to teach this improv workshop.

He studied at the Children’s Theatre School of Minneapolis as a kid, where improv was used extensively to develop full-length plays, and spent several happy teen years improvising Commedia del Arte at Renaissance festivals. A graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Dane had two years of theatre games with Omar Shapli, (one of the founding members of Compass theatre and Second City Chicago). He returned to the Twin Cities, quickly becoming a resident company member of Dudley Riggs’s Brave New Workshop, writing sketches and improvising nightly.

He was cast leader on the Inaugural improv cruise of “The Disney Magic” and studied in Los Angeles with Avery Schreiber, of Second City and “Burns and Schreiber” fame. (Not to mention the Doritos ad.) Dane has a long list of credits as an actor and playwright, which can be viewed at www.danestauffer.com

Rik Kutcher

Rik is an accomplished performing artist known for his versatility and expertise in musical theatre performance having performed on national, international and local stages. With classical training in drama, dance, and voice, Rik epitomizes the quintessential “triple-threat” performer. His robust stage presence and dedication to the craft have earned him recognition in a wide array of productions. 

Currently residing in Minneapolis, MN, Rik has performed in various productions at Chanhassen Dinner Theatre, including “West Side Story,” “Anything Goes,” and “Oklahoma!”. He has also been involved with Theatre 55, where he played roles such as Emcee in “Cabaret,” Tom Collins in “Rent,” and the Dentist in “Little Shop of Horrors.” Additionally, Rik has choreographed and taught dance classes in ballet, jazz, tap and musical theatre to dancers of all skill levels, promoting a safe and positive environment conducive to learning and improving overall performance skills.

Jeffery Goodson

The class is facilitated by local actor/writer Jeff Goodson. After completing his degree in Theatre at a small college in northwest Georgia, he performed in Atlanta for 9 years with companies like the Alliance Theater, Theatre in the Square, Onstage Atlanta and Peachtree City Theatre Festival before coming to Minneapolis in 1990. He has been a regular part of Theatre 55’s productions from the start including “Hair”, “Urinetown”, the Philip Marlowe Radio Plays, “Rent”, “Into the Woods”, “Rocky Horror Show” and “Cabaret”.

Other performances in the twin cities include productions at Park Square, Chanhassen Dinner Theater, Nimbus, Lyric Arts and Dudley Riggs’ Brave New Workshop. He has also authored several plays including the now published “Shakespeare Ate My Brain” and the soon to be presented, “Diamonds Are Forever: A Neil Diamond Experiment” at the Hive Collaborative. Jeff can be heard any time you like as a primary voice actor/writer for “Space Croutons” a sci-fi storytelling podcast now in its fifth season.

Jeff is committed to basing this class on the idea that: Theatre is a place of discovery, discussion, empathy and understanding and it all begins with the words on the page; what the playwright wants to communicate.