The Applause Community Theatre (ACT) has been operating since 1977 first under the name of The Community Theatre of Burnsville Inc., and then as of October 18, 2000 as the Applause Community Theatre.

Applause Community Theatre is a Burnsville based non profit community theatre serving the Twin Cities Metropolitan area. We are dedicated to developing high quality theatre through live performance, while providing educational, training and recreational opportunities to all who wish to participate.

Since its founding in 1977, Applause Community Theatre has been producing two to three shows a year. The typical season includes a major musical and a three-act comedy. The third show has been either a One-Act for entry into the Minnesota Association of Community Theatres (MACT) Festival or a summer musical in cooperation with local Community Education Partners.

ACT is a member of the Minnesota Association of Community Theatres, the American Association of Community Theatres, the Burnsville Chamber of Commerce, the Lake Alimagnet Center for the Arts, Minnesota Citizens for the Arts and the Dakota Fine Arts Consortium.

Stagehands Productions (our children’s theatre) has performing opportunities for children ages 6-17 in the South Metro area.  Our performance based program encourages students to develop artistic, social and personal skills through the exploration of their own creativity and expression.  Our course cultivates stage presence, performance technique and an appreciateion of the performing arts.  This creative environment nurtures children’s natural gifts and develops the strengths critical to theatrical performances, such as character development, vocalization, focusing on diction and projection, memorization and choreography.