Maria and Jeff Spears chaired a SUPERGALA! and launch event for American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.)’s 50th subscription season on April 14, 2016. The event featured performances from Tony and Grammy Award nominee Jeremy Jordan and students from A.C.T.’s Master of Fine Arts Program and Young Conservatory. The superhero-inspired gala attracted some 200 supporters and raised $500,000 for A.C.T.’s actor training and arts education programs.
Scenes from A.C.T.’s SUPERGALA! at the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco:
Artistic Director Carey Perloff announced four of seven productions that will comprise the lineup of A.C.T.’s 50th subscription season, which opens in September:
- King Charles III, the 2015 Olivier Award–winning Best New Play, a coproduction with Seattle Repertory Theatre and Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, DC
- A Thousand Splendid Suns, world-premiere theatrical adaptation of Khaled Hosseini’s (The Kite Runner) best-selling novel, featuring a live score by acclaimed musician David Coulter
- John, the acclaimed new play by Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright Annie Baker
- Battlefield, Peter Brook and Marie- Hélène Estienne’s intimate new interpretation and staging of Brook’s groundbreaking production The Mahabharata
In addition, A.C.T. will welcome back the Bay Area’s favorite holiday tradition, A Christmas Carol, after its record-breaking run last season. This version of A Christmas Carol, adapted by Paul Walsh and Carey Perloff, stays true to the heart of Dickens’s timeless story of redemption and brings a playful sensibility to his rich language. A Christmas Carol —now in its 39th year—is a cornerstone of the A.C.T. repertory and has become a holiday tradition for families around the Bay Area.
Photos by Drew Altizer Photography