American Conservatory Theater

For ACT (Seattle), seeACT Theatre.

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.)

Formation	1965
Type	Theatre group
Location	San Francisco,California
Artistic director(s)	Pam MacKinnon
Website	www.act-sf.org

Geary Theater
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
San Francisco Designated LandmarkNo.82
(2017)
Location	415 Geary Street San Francisco, California
Coordinates	37°47′13″N122°24′37″W
Built	1910
Architect	Walter D. Bliss&William B. Faville
Architectural style	Classical Revival Late Victorian
NRHP referenceNo.	75000472
SFDLNo.	82
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	May 27, 1975
Designated SFDL	July 11, 1976

TheAmerican Conservatory Theater(ACT) is a nonprofit theater company inSan Francisco,California,United States, that offers both classical and contemporary theater productions. It also has an attachedacting school.

History

The American Conservatory Theater was founded in 1965 inPittsburgh, Pennsylvania,by theatre and opera directorWilliam Ballin conjunction with thePittsburgh PlayhouseandCarnegie Mellon University.Ball presented twenty-seven fully staged productions in rotating repertory, in two different theaters – the Geary Theater and theMarines Memorial Theatre– during the first 40-week season.

A.C.T.'s original twenty-seven member acting company featuredRené Auberjonois,Peter Donat,Richard Dysart,Michael Learned,Ruth Kobart,Paul Shenar,Charles Siebert,Ken Ruta, andKitty Winnamong others. Ball's mid-1970s productions ofShakespeare'sTaming of the Shrew,starringMarc Singer,and Rostand'sCyrano de Bergerac,starringPeter DonatandMarsha Mason,were televised byPBS.

In the mid-1980s, Ball, suffering from exhaustion and under accusations of financial mismanagement, was forced to relinquish his post asartistic director.He was succeeded by A.C.T. founding member and stage director Edward Hastings, who revived the company's fortunes until the Geary Theater was severely damaged by the1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.The company continued performing in a number of San Francisco venues.

Carey Perloffserved as A.C.T.'s artistic director from 1992 to 2018. In 2007, A.C.T. released a cast album of Perloff's production of theBertolt BrechtandKurt WeillmusicalHappy End,produced byLucasArtsstudios. It includes the full score and is the first English language recording of this musical.Pam MacKinnonwas appointed to succeed Perloff as artistic director, effective with the end of the 2017–2018 season.

Theaters

J. Gottlob and Melville Marx, proprietors of the former Columbia Theater

A.C.T.'s primary home in San Francisco is theToni Rembe Theater(formerly theGeary Theater,located at 415 Geary Street near the corner of Mason Street in theTheatre Districtof San Francisco. Built in 1910 and designed byWalter D. BlissandWilliam B. Favillein theClassical RevivalandLate Victorianstyles, it was previously known as theColumbia Theater.It was listed on theNational Register of Historic Placeson May 27, 1975, under the name "Geary Theater", and was designated an officialSan Francisco Designated Landmarkon July 11, 1976, under the name "Geary Theater".

In 2015, A.C.T. opened the Strand Theater at 1127 Market Street between 7th and 8th Streets, across from the U.N. Plaza in theCivic Centerneighborhood of San Francisco. The building has a 283-seat theater as well as a 120-seat event and performance space. A.C.T. uses the theater to present educational workshops, cabaret performances and specially commissioned new works, as well as productions connected to theirM.F.A.and Young Conservatory programs.

Close-up of The Toni Rembe Theatre (formerly Geary Theater) facade

The Strand Theater, at 1127 Market Street, was opened in 2015 as A.C.T.'s second space (2017)

Acting school

A.C.T.'s was WASC accredited to grant Master of Fine Arts degrees for actors, 1984–2022. However, due to lack of funding, A.C.T. discontinued that program in June 2022.

A.C.T. offers training through the Studio A.C.T., the Summer Training Congress, and Young Conservatory programs.

Young Conservatory

A.C.T.'s Young Conservatory is a theater training program for youth through the ages of 19. It was founded by Luanne and Ross Graham in 1971. Successive YC directors include Candace Birk, Sharon Newman, Linda Aldrich, and Susan Stauter. The program has been led since 1988 byCraig Slaight.The Young Conservatory is geared toward performing new works specifically for young actors, and has premiered plays and musicals by playwrights such asHorton FooteandPaul Zindel.The conservatory members are also offered roles in the main stage productions, most frequentlyA Christmas Carol,which is performed every winter.

Sound design

The first person to be given the titlesound designerin regional theater wasDan Duganat A.C.T. in the late 1960s.The termsound designwas introduced to the film world whenFrancis Ford Coppoladirected a production ofPrivate Livesat A.C.T. for which his father,Carmine Coppola,arranged the music andCharlie Richmondwas thesound designerwhile the final cut of the filmThe Godfatherwas being edited in 1972.

Alumni

Young conservatory actors

• Darren Criss
• Brie Larson
• Milo Ventimiglia
• Zendaya

Actors

• Elizabeth Banks
• Anna Belknap
• Annette Bening
• Sarayu Blue
• Benjamin Bratt
• Christopher Fitzgerald
• Danny Glover
• Harry Hamlin
• Teri Hatcher
• Amy Irving
• Don Johnson
• Lauren Lane
• Sacheen Littlefeather
• Elizabeth McGovern
• Omar Metwally
• Dileep Rao
• Jean Rasey
• Anika Noni Rose
• Winona Ryder
• Douglas Sills
• Morgan Spector
• Mfoniso Udofia
• Denzel Washington
• Gedde Watanabe
• Justin Whalin
• Sharr White
• Dane Witherspoon

Sound design

• Dan Dugan

See also

• List of San Francisco Designated Landmarks
• American Musical Theatre of San Jose

External links

• American Conservatory Theater official website
• American Conservatory Theaterat theInternet Broadway Database
• View a 1969 documentary film about A.C.T.,made byKQED (TV)