A.C.T. Goes Global

-
By A.C.T. Publications Staff

A.C.T.'s London theater tour members enjoy a visit to Windsor Castle.

As the applause settled at the final curtain of The Band’s Visit in June 2018, the Broadway audience members started to file out. But for the members of A.C.T.’s New York City tour, the real show was only just beginning. Heading to the front row, A.C.T.’s touring theater lovers spoke with actors from The Band’s Visit, the cast which had swept the board at the Tony Awards the night before. “It was very exciting,” says tour member Milton Mosk, “Those are things you don’t ordinarily get to experience.”

As well as seeing incredible productions, A.C.T.’s theater tours to New York, London, and Ashland, Oregon are packed with unique aspects like this talkback. During the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) tour this past July, guests spoke with Tatiana Wechsler, the lead actor in Oklahoma, as well as OSF Producer Mica Cole. “To have that intense experience,” says longtime A.C.T. subscriber Mary Claugus, “deepens your appreciation as a theatergoer.”

A.C.T. artistic and administrative staff are on hand to take care of participants’ needs and to enhance their experience. Conservatory Director Melissa Smith accompanied a recent OSF tour, and Claugus found her to be “a fantastic addition, not only in interviewing some of the company, but just her comments on theater and the productions. She's really knowledgeable.”

Participants also enjoy getting to know one another. “Camaraderie developed right from the bus ride up to Oregon,” says Kathy Shubin. “Even the bus driver was part of it! It was an all-round enjoyable week of entertainment and great theater.”

On the London tour, which returned home to San Francisco this October, guests were treated to exclusive discussions with Christopher Hampton (Oscar-winning writer of Dangerous Liaisons), theater critic Mark Shenton (The Stage), and Sir Ian McKellen. The shows were of the same caliber, including Martin McDonagh’s new play, A Very Very Very Dark Matter, starring Jim Broadbent; Company, with Patti LuPone; and King Lear, with McKellen in the title role. “My wife Gisele and I have been watching Ian McKellen for years,” says tour member Ken Miller. “He was so generous in speaking with us. He was extraordinarily gracious and could not have been nicer.”

Rubbing shoulders with actors and theater-makers from great productions is just one part of the experience. Guests stay at first-class hotels. They appreciate memorable meals—Ocean Prime on New York’s 52nd Street and The Ivy in London’s West End are two recent highlights. And they enjoy cultural visits on the side, whether that’s to an award-winning chocolatier, an intriguing city neighborhood, or the day-trip our London tour group just completed to Highclere Castle, with a private tour of the home of Downton Abbey.

Next year’s tours are being planned now. Don’t miss out! Click here to learn more about A.C.T.’s upcoming theater tours to New York, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Ireland, and London.

Popular posts from this blog

“To Be or Not to Be”: The Iconic Speech’s Origins, Interpretations, and Impact

-
Image
By A.C.T. Publications Staff The opening line of Hamlet ’s “To be or not to be” soliloquy is theater’s most iconic, most referenced quote. What’s less known is the famous speech’s history, with Hamlet ’s earliest publications offering varying versions of its language. Also questioned is its meaning—is Hamlet contemplating suicide or is he weighing the consequences of murder? Though definitive answers are unlikely to arise, the questions “To be or not to be” asks have kept audiences, scholars, and actors engaged for centuries. Hamlet ’ s "To be or not to be" speech as it appears in the three original editions of the play. Photo by Georgelazenby. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons. The first edition, or First Quarto (Q1), of Hamlet was published in 1603. Because the text is much shorter than later editions and its language is less poetic, it is nicknamed the “Bad Quarto” by scholars. “To be or not to be” in Q1 reads as: To be, or not to be—ay, there’s the point. To die,
Read more

The American Sound: The Evolution of Jazz

-
Image
By Cecilia Padilla There is nothing so uniquely American as jazz music. In its simplest form, jazz embodies the essence of the American people: bold and inventive. The improvisation of the jazz ensemble can even be seen as a metaphor for the American democratic ideal: musicians playing solos have the liberty to express themselves as long as they adhere to the overall structure of the tune—individual freedom but with responsibility to the group. The evolution of jazz music also carries with it the social development of our nation from slavery to the swinging songs of World War II. Musically, jazz contributed immensely to the way contemporary musicians approach instrumentation, composition, and vocal arrangements. It is difficult to find a popular tune today that does not derive from such jazz icons as Joe Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Thelonious Monk. Jazz is the great equalizer; for more than a hundred years, it has been the common ground between blacks and whites, me
Read more

Purely Pinteresque: The Elements of Pinter's Language

-
Image
By Taylor Steinbeck Most artists take years to establish their voice and style. This wasn’t the case for playwright Harold Pinter. His first West End play, The Birthday Party, showcases the elements of Pinter’s aesthetic that would later be evident throughout his 29 plays and 23 screenplays: the rhythm of colloquial language punctuated by pauses and silences, mysterious characters who rarely say what they mean, and the unsettling, yet witty juxtaposition of comedy and terror. Suspenseful and comical, familiar and foreign, disturbing and alluring, The Birthday Party is quintessential Pinter. Graphite drawing of Harold Pinter. By A.C.T. Senior Graphic Designer Brad Amorosino. Pinter is a playwright who uses the back-and-forth of everyday conversation to create conflict and shape power dynamics between characters. “My characters tend to use words not to express what they think or feel,” said Pinter in a 1995 speech, “but to disguise what they think or feel, to mask their actual
Read more