American Conservatory Theater

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) is a large non-profit theater company in San Francisco, California, that offers both classical and contemporary theater productions. A.C.T.was founded in 1965 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania by theatre and opera director William Ball. By invitation from San Francisco philanthropists and officials, Ball relocated the company to San Francisco and astonished the theatre world by presenting twenty-seven fully staged productions in rotating repertory, in two different theatres, during the first 40-week season. "San Francisco Chronicle" critic Paine Knickerbocker acclaimed Ball's opening performance of Molière's "Tartuffe" as "a screaming, bellowing unbelievable triumph."

A.C.T.'s original twenty-seven member acting company featured the talents of Rene Auberjonois, Peter Donat, Richard Dysart, Michael Learned, Ruth Kobart, Paul Shenar, Ken Ruta, Kitty Winn among many others. Ball's mid-1970s productions of Shakespeare's "Taming of the Shrew", starring Marc Singer, and Rostand's "Cyrano de Bergerac", starring Peter Donat and Marsha Mason were televised by PBS and are available on video.

In the mid-1980s Ball, suffering from exhaustion and under accusations of financial mismanagement, was forced to relinquish his post as artistic director. He was succeeded by A.C.T.founding member and stage director Edward Hastings, who revived the company's fortunes until the Geary Theatre was severely damaged by the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake. The company continued performing in a variety of San Francisco venues while laying the groundwork for its restoration.

Since 1992, Carey Perloff has served as the Artistic Director of A.C.T., and under her leadership the company has regained its prosperity and prominence. It is now financially secure and has achieved continued acclaim for its work.

In 2007, A.C.T. released a cast album of Perloff's production of the Bertold Brecht and Kurt Weil musical "Happy End", produced and mixed by Lucas Arts studios. It includes the full score and is the first English language recording of this musical.

A.C.T.'s founder's vision was for it to be both a theater company and acting school. It currently offers a wide range of classes and is accredited to grant Master of Fine Arts degrees for actors. Among its many notable alumni are Denzel Washington, Annette Bening, Winona Ryder, Benjamin Bratt, Carlos Bernard, Amy Irving, Wynn Harmon, Elizabeth Banks, Anna Belknap, Marsha Mason, Danny Glover, Milo Ventimiglia, Isiah Whitlock, Jr., Tom O'Brien, Anna Deavere Smith, Omar Metwally and Anika Noni Rose.

A.C.T.'s Young Conservatory is a theater training program for youth through the ages of 19. It was founded and is currently led by the acclaimed Craig Slaight, whom many young actors who have been in the program credit with igniting a life time passion for all things dramatic.

A.C.T.'s home in San Francisco is the eponymous American Conservatory Theater, previously known as the Geary Theater until being renamed in September 2006.

The first person to be given the title sound designer in regional theatre was Dan Dugan at A.C.T. in the late 1960s. The term Sound Design was introduced to the film world when Francis Ford Coppola directed (and for which his father, Carmine Coppola, arranged the music and Charlie Richmond was the Sound Designer) a production of "Private Lives" at A.C.T., while the final cut of the film "The Godfather" was being edited in 1972.

ee also

*TheatreWorks (Silicon Valley), Palo Alto, California
*Marin Theatre Company, Mill Valley, California
*San Jose Repertory Theatre
*Berkeley Repertory Theatre

References

External links

* [http://www.act-sfbay.org/ American Conservatory Theater official website]
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