American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) is a prestigious theater company in San Francisco, USA that offers both contemporary and classical theater productions and a wide range of classes. Offering both master's degrees and workshops for actors, it was founded in Pittsburgh in 1965 by theater professional William Ball. In response to an open invitation from city officials, Ball relocated the company to San Francisco in 1967. Nickname: The City by the Bay; Fog City Location of the City and County of San Francisco, California Coordinates: Country United States of America State California City-County San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom Area    - City 122 km²  (47 sq mi)  - Land 121. ... Nickname: Steel City, Iron City, City of Champions, City of Bridges, City of Colleges Location in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Coordinates: Country United States State Pennsylvania County Allegheny County Founded 1758 Mayor Luke Ravenstahl (D) Area    - City 151. ... This article is about an American stage director; for other people named William Ball, see William Ball (disambiguation). ...

Well known in theater circles around the world, A.C.T. continues to thrive as a theater company and drama school. Among its many notable alumni are Denzel Washington, Annette Bening, Winona Ryder, Benjamin Bratt, Nicolas Cage, Carlos Bernard, Amy Irving, Rene Auberjonois, Peter Donat, Richard Dysart, Michael Learned, Wynn Harmon, Marsha Mason,Kitty Winn and Danny Glover. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... Artist Amber Shay Baker with Annette Bening Annette Bening (born May 29, 1958) is an American Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe-winning actress. ... Winona Ryder (born Winona Laura Horowitz on October 29, 1971) is an Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe Award winning American actress. ... Benjamin Bratt (born December 16, 1963) is an American actor. ... Nicolas Cage (born Nicolas Kim Coppola January 7, 1964) is an award-winning American actor. ... Carlos Bernard Carlos Bernard Papierski (born October 12, 1962 in Chicago), is an American actor, best known for his role as Tony Almeida in 24. ... Amy Irving (born September 10, 1953 in Palo Alto, California) is an Academy Award nominated American actress. ... René Murat Auberjonois (born June 1, 1940 in New York, New York) is an American actor best known for his early 1980s role as Clayton Endicott III on the television show Benson and his role as Odo on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. ... Peter Donat (born 20 January 1928 in Nova Scotia, Canada) is an actor best known for his roles in American television. ... Richard Dysart (b. ... Michael Learned (born on April 9, 1938 in Washington, D.C., but lived on a farm with her 5 sisters for the first 10 years of her life) is an American actress, best known for her role as Olivia Walton on The Waltons, which she played from 1972 to 1979. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... Marsha Mason with Richard Dreyfuss in The Goodbye Girl Marsha Mason (born April 3, 1942, St. ... Kitty Winn (born February 21, 1944 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA) is an American actress. ... Danny Glover at World Social Forum 2003. ...

ACT's home in San Francisco is the Geary Theater. Since 1992 the Artistic Director of American Conservatory Theater has been Carey Perloff.

ACT's Young Conservatory is a highly regarded theater training program for youth through the ages of 19.

ACT's production of Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew, starring Marc Singer, is available on video. Marc Singer was born on January 29, 1948, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. ...

The first person entitled sound designer in regional theatre was given to Dan Dugan at A.C.T. in the late 1960s. The term Sound Design was introduced to the film world when Francis Ford Coppola directed (and for which his father, Carmine Coppola, arranged the music and Charlie Richmond was the Sound Designer) a production of Private Lives at A.C.T., while the final cut of the film The Godfather was being edited in 1972. This is an article about the film crew member known as a sound designer. ... Dan Dugan is generally acknowledged to be the first theatre sound designer credited by a Regional Repertory Theatre in North America. ... Sound design is a technical/conceptually creative field. ... Francis Ford Coppola (born April 7, 1939) is a five time Academy Award winning American film director, producer, and screenwriter. ... Carmine Coppola Carmine Coppola (born June 11, 1910 in New York City, died April 26, 1991 in Northridge, CA) was a composer, editor, musical director, and songwriter. ... Charlie Richmond is an entrepreneur and inventor born 1950-01-05. ... This is an article about the film crew member known as a sound designer. ... Private Lives is a play written by Noel Coward in 1930. ... The Godfather is a 1972 crime film directed and co-written by Francis Ford Coppola based on the the novel of the same name authored by the screenplays co-writer Mario Puzo. ...

During Ball's tenure, A.C.T. spelled the last word of their name and the Geary and Marines' Memorial venues' names "Theatre".

External links

• A.C.T.'s Homepage
• View a segment on ACT by KQED's Spark program
• Teaching the ACT's production of The Taming of the Shrew