|
Auburn Area Community Theatre History
In 2003, about 40 theatre enthusiasts, some from different incarnations of previous local groups including Lee County Community Theatre, Small-Time Outreach Productions (S.T.O.P), and AppelBell Productions, met and agreed to form a new community theatre group. Taking the name Auburn Area Community Theatre, our first production was Curious Savage, directed by Sts' Czerkawski, in February 2004.
AACT production highlights:
Following a production of The Waverly Gallery, an achingly realistic play about a woman’s downslide into Alzheimer's disease and her family’s struggle to cope with her deterioration, AACT invited local speakers to a forum and audience discussion on understanding Alzheimer’s Disease.
Enthusiastic stagehands added a new special effect for every performance of Blithe Spirit. The flying teapot and the ghostly holograms in the mirrors were audience favorites.
In 2006, AACT invited playwright John Culbertson to the first Alabama production of his work, Messiah on the Frigidaire. WSFA interviewed John for a television segment about this Alabama debut, and John discussed the writing process for and inspiration behind his comic, character-driven play with the audience after one evening’s show.
In the 2009 production of The Miracle Worker, the roles of Helen Keller and her teacher, Annie Sullivan, were played by very talented sisters, giving a whole new dimension to the characters’ combative relationship. In fact, the cast and crew of The Miracle Worker included 2 sets of sisters, a father and daughter, and a mother and son.
While Enchanted April was performed on a strictly minimalist set, lighting design created a strong contrast between wet, chilly England, and warm Mediterranean Italy. A central spotlight and petals falling magically from above during the closing monologue left the audience with a truly enchanted feeling, and many with a tear in the eye.
Steel Magnolias broke all box office records, and has been our biggest financial success.
The Foreigner, Lend Me a Tenor, The Haunting of Hill House, The Odd Couple, and The Crazy Quilt Club have also been presented.
AACT has welcomed the the talents and artistic visions of eight different directors throughout 19 shows from 2004 to spring 2010.
AACT's Children's Program
The Young Actors of Auburn Area Community Theatre presented their first production in 2004, The Great Cross-Country Race, a retelling of Aesop’s “The Tortoise and the Hare.” This show began a trend of the annual Children’s Productions utilizing scripts drawn from well-known children’s stories and literature.
A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream, the Young Actors’ offering in 2005, was a shortened version of the Shakespearian classic, edited by AACT’s Jessica Higgenbotham and Allison Brown.
The Secret Garden was produced by the Young Actors in 2006. In the 2007 Young Actors’production of Beauty and the Beast, the setting was changed to the 1940’s to take advantage of the youthful cast’s love of swing dancing.
Tricia Oliver, director of Laura Ingall’s Wilder: Voice of the Prairie, the Young Actors’ production in 2008, arranged the first school performance of an AACT play. Offering a reduced-price, morning production of a children’s play fulfilled a long-standing dream of the AACT Board, and further extended AACT educational outreach into the community.
Another long-held desire of AACT, that of producing a musical, came to fruition in 2009 when Kim Hirt directed the Young Actor’s production of “Fiddler on the Roof, Jr.” There were 24 children and youth in the cast, and about 35 costumes constructed that visually captured the feel of 1890’s Jewish peasant life. The visual impact of the production was further enhanced through the set design that incorporated the paintings of Marc Chagall, who grew up in a Russian shetl much like Anatevka. The imagery of a fiddler on the roof came from one of Chagall’s village painting.
We have seen our AACT kids grow up in the past 6 years. Some have gone on to study theatre, a few have earned scholarships, and many still have theatre as a part of their lives.
AACT Board of Directors:
President - Andrea Holmes
Board Members - Jenny Filush, Lori McCormack, Tom Daniel, Laura Daniel , Barbara Stauffer-Brewi, Cindy Davino
Artistic Director - Stas Czerkawski
Executive Producer - Steve Bice
Childrens Theatre Director- Kim Hirt
|
