American Conservatory Theater Blog

BY A.C.T. STAFF An actor’s voice is one of the most important tools in their toolbox. Below, voice teacher and instructor in A.C.T.’s San Francisco Semester Jessica Berman shares five tips f...

http://blog.act-sf.org/2021/05/five-tips-for-your-vocal-routine.html

 BY A.C.T. STAFF 1. They both know how to work a head-to-toe look. A.C.T.'s A Christmas Carol Its dark brown curls were long and free; free as its genial face, its sparkling eye, its ope...

http://blog.act-sf.org/2021/04/seven-signs-that-dolly-levi-and-ghost.html

BY A.C.T. CONSERVATORY STAFF At the A.C.T. Conservatory, we seek to develop the artist in every actor and prepare them to succeed in all aspects of the profession, including acting in film and ...

http://blog.act-sf.org/2021/04/from-stage-to-screentips-to-remember.html

BY PETER J. KUO A.C.T.’s Director of the Conservatory, Peter J. Kuo, offers these five tips to actors who are thinking about engaging in any form of rigorous or intensive training. Whether it...

http://blog.act-sf.org/2021/03/five-ways-to-get-most-out-of-your-actor.html

BY ARMINDA THOMAS  Announcing her death in 1994, the New York Times headline read, “Alice Childress, 77, a Novelist,” though the full obituary allowed that she also wrote some plays. While ...

http://blog.act-sf.org/2021/02/to-inspire-lift-and-liberatethe.html

BY LIVIAN YEH  On December 10 and 11, 2020, students from San Francisco’s Downtown High School performed an hour-long exhibition of original works, created with their teachers Charmaine Shufo...

http://blog.act-sf.org/2021/01/for-heart-of-friscodowntown-high-school.html

BY A.C.T. PUBLICATIONS STAFF The spirit of duende, the Spanish term for passion and inspiration, is central to the works of Federico García Lorca. For A.C.T.'s production of Lorca's Blood W...

http://blog.act-sf.org/2020/10/evocation-inspiration-and-ignitionacts.html

BY MICHAEL PALLER *This article originally appeared on Inside A.C.T. in 2016.  By 2004, A Christmas Carol was 28 years old, and the sets were showing their age. A significant investment woul...

http://blog.act-sf.org/2020/10/the-evolution-of-holiday-classic.html

 BY MICHAEL PALLER *This article originally appeared on Inside A.C.T. in 2016.  In the mid-1970s, regional theaters around the country discovered that audiences wanted a Christmas story at Ch...

http://blog.act-sf.org/2020/09/the-evolution-of-holiday-classic.html

BY CLAIRE L. WONG AND ALEJANDRA MARIA RIVAS Emma Van Lare grew up in Spring, Texas, 22 miles from Houston. Her parents immigrated from the Republic of Ghana in West Africa. “I’m first-gene...

http://blog.act-sf.org/2020/05/the-prepared-mind-interview-with-emma.html

BY ALLIE MOSS Click here to read Part One of this profile.  Originally, In Love and Warcraft was conceived as an in-person production to take place with A.C.T.’s MFA students in May 2020....

http://blog.act-sf.org/2020/09/uncovering-new-dimension-director-peter_17.html

BY ALLIE MOSS Madhuri Shekar’s In Love and Warcraft is a play for our times. While there’s no mention of a pandemic, it expertly draws out questions of intimacy and relationship-building in...

http://blog.act-sf.org/2020/09/uncovering-new-dimension-director-peter.html

 BY A.C.T. PUBLICATIONS TEAM  Peter J. Kuo is a director, producer, writer, and educator focused on raising the visibility of marginalized communities. As social justice programs coordinator a...

http://blog.act-sf.org/2020/08/envisioning-future-interview-with-peter.html

BY LIVIAN YEH Hailing from Jeffersonville, Indiana, Kimberly Hollkamp-Dinon attended A.C.T.’s Summer Training Congress after graduating from college. “I immediately fell in love with the le...

http://blog.act-sf.org/2020/06/learning-to-trust-yourself-interview.html

 BY A.C.T. PUBLICATIONS STAFF Have you ever heard of the New York Black Yankees? What about the Homestead Grays, Baltimore Black Barons, or Cincinnati Tigers? From the 1880s until the 1950s, t...

http://blog.act-sf.org/2020/08/the-negro-leagues-toni-stone-in.html

BY LIVIAN YEH After graduating from Reed College with a degree in English, Lily Harris entertained career paths in teaching, academia, and horseback riding, but ultimately landed on acting. Lea...

http://blog.act-sf.org/2020/06/seeking-magic-interview-with-lily-harris.html

BY ANNIE SEARS  Meet Mark Peters, a master of repurposing thrifted fabric, auditioning for the Amazing Race (he’s submitted four video auditions and attended six open calls), and maintainin...

http://blog.act-sf.org/2020/08/behind-scenes-at-act-interview-with.html

BY CLAIRE L. WONG AND ALEJANDRA MARIA RIVAS LeRoy S. Graham III was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. Growing up, he first got into the arts through dance and musical theater in school. H...

http://blog.act-sf.org/2020/07/leading-with-open-heart-interview-with.html

BY ANNIE SEARS Being an actor means a lot of preparation: researching the play’s context and analyzing character motivations, attending costume fittings and spending hours in blocking rehears...

http://blog.act-sf.org/2020/07/snail-slime-and-other-secrets-great.html

BY CLAIRE L. WONG AND ALEJANDRA MARIA RIVAS Before moving to San Francisco for A.C.T.’s MFA Program, Jeff Wittekiend had lived in Texas his whole life. He grew up outside of Austin in Burnet...

http://blog.act-sf.org/2020/07/preparation-and-play-interview-with.html

BY BERYL BAKER Since San Francisco’s shelter-in-place order went into effect on March 19, A.C.T. Digital Content Producer Beryl Baker has been keeping busy. In addition to turning live produ...

http://blog.act-sf.org/2020/07/producing-live-content-in-age-of.html

BY CLAIRE L. WONG AND ALEJANDRA MARIA RIVAS Dinah Berkeley (she/they) grew up in Evanston, Illinois, a suburb outside of Chicago. After graduating from Ohio University, Berkeley studied in a pr...

http://blog.act-sf.org/2020/07/the-full-her-interview-with-dinah.html

BY BERYL BAKER AND LIVIAN YEH San Francisco Pride is turning 50 this year amid a global pandemic and worldwide protests against police brutality and systemic racism. In response to questions a...

http://blog.act-sf.org/2020/06/it-wasnt-partyit-was-riot.html

BY SIMON HODGSON Congratulations to A.C.T. Executive Director Jennifer Bielstein for her appointment to San Francisco’s COVID-19 Economic Recovery Task Force. “We are looking for ways to k...

http://blog.act-sf.org/2020/06/jennifer-bielstein-joins-mayor-breeds.html

Last week we shared a message  with our community in response to the trauma our country and individuals are experiencing with the continued horrific and unnecessary deaths of Black people. ...

http://blog.act-sf.org/2020/06/our-commitment-and-resources-to-anti.html