 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "American Conservatory Theater" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(February 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
 | |
| Formation | 1965 |
|---|---|
| Type | Theatre group |
| Location |
|
Artistic director | Pam MacKinnon |
| Website | www |
Geary Theater | |
 (2025) | |
  | |
| Location | 415 Geary Street San Francisco, California |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 37°47′13″N122°24′37″W / 37.787017°N 122.410286°W /37.787017; -122.410286 |
| Built | 1910 |
| Architect | Walter D. Bliss &William B. Faville |
| Architectural style | Classical Revival Late Victorian |
| NRHP reference No. | 75000472[1] |
| SFDL No. | 82 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | May 27, 1975 |
| Designated SFDL | July 11, 1976[2][3] |
TheAmerican Conservatory Theater (ACT) is a nonprofit theater company inSan Francisco, California, United States, that offers both classical and contemporary theater productions. At one time it had an attachedacting school.
The American Conservatory Theater was founded in 1965 inPittsburgh, Pennsylvania, by theatre and opera directorWilliam Ball in conjunction with thePittsburgh Playhouse andCarnegie 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 Winn among others. Ball's mid-1970s productions ofShakespeare'sTaming of the Shrew, starringMarc Singer, and Rostand'sCyrano de Bergerac, starringPeter Donat andMarsha 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 Perloff served 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 Brecht andKurt WeillmusicalHappy End, produced byLucasArts studios. It includes the full score and is the first English-language recording of this musical.Pam MacKinnon was appointed to succeed Perloff as artistic director, effective with the end of the 2017–2018 season.[4]
A.C.T.'s primary home in San Francisco is theToni Rembe Theater (formerly theGeary Theater,[5] located at 415 Geary Street near the corner of Mason Street in theTheatre District of San Francisco. Built in 1910 and designed byWalter D. Bliss andWilliam B. Faville in theClassical Revival andLate Victorian styles, it was previously known as theColumbia Theater. It was listed on theNational Register of Historic Places on May 27, 1975, under the name "Geary Theater", and was designated an officialSan Francisco Designated Landmark on July 11, 1976, under the name "Geary Theater".[3] The name was changed to the Toni Rembe Theater in 2022 after a $35 million donation was made by an anonymous donor.[5] Toni Rembe is member of the board and past chair of the board of the A.C.T.[6]
In 2015, A.C.T. opened theStrand Theater at 1127 Market Street between 7th and 8th Streets, across from the U.N. Plaza in theCivic Center neighborhood of San Francisco. It originally opened in 1917 as a venue for silent films. It was later used as anadult movie theater and was shut down in 2003. It was purchased by the A.C.T. in 2012 and renovated bySkidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP.[7] 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 their Conservatory programs.[8]
.JPG)
A.C.T.'s Conservatory has been a core part of the organization since its earliest years and remains a major center for theater training in the San Francisco Bay Area. Current offerings include Studio A.C.T., which provides year-round part-time classes for adults; the Young Conservatory, a nationally recognized theater training program for youth; and the San Francisco Semester and Summer Training Congress, intensive full-time actor training programs for adults. The Conservatory also offers professional and workplace training opportunities through A.C.T. @work.
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. Over more than five decades, the Young Conservatory has been led by directors including Candace Birk, Sharon Newman, Linda Aldrich, Susan Stauter, and Craig Slaight. Jill MacLean has been the director of the Young Conservatory since 2017.[9]
Darren Criss, a Young Conservatory alumnus, thanked Craig Slaight "for shepherding me and so many people here" in his acceptance speech for best performance by a leading actor at the 2025 Tony Awards.[10]
A.C.T. offers two full-time intensive actor training programs: the San Francisco Semester and the Summer Training Congress. The first Summer Training Congress took place in the summer of 1969. The San Francisco Semester was launched in 2013.[11]
From 1984 to 2022, A.C.T. was WASC accredited to grant Master of Fine Arts degrees for actors. The MFA program concluded in 2022 after A.C.T. determined that it was not financially feasible to continue to offer a freestanding graduate acting training program not affiliated with a university.[12]
The first person to be given the titlesound designer in regional theater wasDan Dugan at A.C.T. in the late 1960s.[13] The termsound design was introduced to the film world whenFrancis Ford Coppola directed a production ofPrivate Lives at A.C.T. for which his father,Carmine Coppola, arranged the music andCharlie Richmond was thesound designer while the final cut of the filmThe Godfather was being edited in 1972.[citation needed]
 | This sectionmay containexcessive orirrelevant examples. Please helpimprove it by removingless pertinent examples andelaborating on existing ones.(April 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Education inSan Francisco | ||
|---|---|---|
| Comp. high schools |  | |
| Alt/magnet high schools | ||
| Charter high schools | ||
| Elementary schools | ||
| Superintendents | ||
Independent schools | ||
| Secular private schools | ||
| Religious private schools |
| |
| Closed | ||
Tertiary education | ||
| Undergraduate | ||
| Creative and culinary arts | ||
| Graduate | ||
Other | ||
| Public libraries | ||
| Supplementary schools | ||
| State schools |
| |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |