Inside A.C.T.

Posted by Catherine Hendel, Marketing/PR Fellow Teacher Peter Stroka and A.C.T.'s special SMAT helped Bessie Carmichael students find joy in history, music and theater. "It's as beautiful as I remember," an enthusiastic fifth grader from Bessie Carmichael Elementary School commented as she walked into A.C.T.'s Geary Theater, excited to perform there for the second time. Thursday, October 3, marked a very special date on A.C.T.'s 2013–14 season calendar. The entire fifth grade of Bessie Carmichael—almost 70 students—performed Voice of the People , a mini musical created just for the occasion by San Francisco Unified School District Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) instructor Peter Sroka, on the Geary stage immediately before the Student Matinee ("SMAT") performance of 1776 , the popular Revolutionary War musical that opened A.C.T.'s mainstage season. Following the success of last spring's Stuck Elevator SMAT event , this is t...

1776 begins on September 11. Learn more about the production and order tickets. The beginning of our thrilling 2013–14 season is so close we can see it! Or, perhaps, it’s just Russell Metheny’s breathtaking set design for our season opener, Frank Galati’s revival of 1776 , we are seeing. We were curious how true Metheny’s recreation was to the historic Independence Hall in the Pennsylvania State House, where the Declaration of Independence was debated and ratified by the Second Continental Congress 237 years ago. This is what he had to say when we asked him: For Frank Galati the set was all about the muscularity of the show and the environment. He wanted it to be masculine so that when Abigail Adams and Martha Jefferson entered this world there would be a strong contrasting energy. And he also wanted it to be about that summer and the oppressive heat. I researched the Philadelphia Independence Hall, as well as the House and Senate halls in the capital of today...