Spotlight May-June 2019

President’s Letter
Carole Ries
AACT President
AN EXCITING TIME FOR AACT
I hope to see all of you in Gettysburg for AACTFest 2019!
You’ll see lots of challenging and entertaining theatre. Five of the
twelve companies have already been selected to advance from Region
I: Lexington, Massachusetts, Region IV: Wetumpka, Alabama and
Pelzer, South Carolina, Region VIII: Chino, California, and Region
X: Stuttgart, Germany. Check the AACT website at aact.org/
moving-2019 or Spotlight magazine to see who else will be performing.
Along the way, in communities across the U.S., many, many theatres
performed at state and regional levels in their bid to be a part of this
wonderful celebration of theatre. The AACT Endowment underwrites
a portion of the national companies’ travel expenses.
Expect to find it challenging to choose among a variety of
workshops in the areas of Administration, Education/Outreach,
Artistic, Marketing/Development, and Technical/Design. A few
workshops already have my attention: Building a Volunteer Army;
Broadway Sr.: Transforming Senior Theatre with the MTI Broadway Jr.
Series; Put Your Hometown on Stage; and The Zen of Improvisational
Acting. Find a full listing of workshops being offered in Gettysburg
at aact.org/workshops. And don’t miss AACTChats, a forum of brief
discussions focusing on new ideas addressing the needs of theatres.
Sharing ideas on a national level is a great way for us to help each
other and learn best practices.
possible in part by a grant from the Jack K. Ayre and Frank Ayre
Lee Theatre Foundation. Youth groups are coming from Richland,
Washington (Region IX); LaGrange, Georgia (Region IV); Elkhart,
Indiana (Region III); Farley, Iowa (Region V); Ansbach, Germany
(Region X); and Willis, Texas (Region VI). We are so proud to be
expanding AACT’s focus on our youth, thereby including future
leaders, theatre makers, and audiences in our long-standing national
celebration of theatre.
Currently, one of the most exciting and challenging undertakings
is AACT’s Strategic Planning led by AACT Board Member Sara
Phoenix and guided by consultant Diana Mataraza. With the
assistance of Drexel University, we are creating an Inventory of
Theatre in Communities across the nation. Drexel will help us with
data collection and management. The AACT Board of Directors
spent several hours at our winter board meeting in Salt Lake City
brainstorming with Ms. Mataraza, for A National Inventory of Theatre
in Communities across America. The inventory is planned to launch
by early summer.The AACT board has made a huge commitment
to the creation of a long-range plan that we hope will revitalize both
our organization and your theatre companies, no matter how you are
structured or self-described. More about this initiative in near future.
Look for the second national AACT YouthFest, an idea first
realized at AACTFest 2017. Six youth theatre companies will perform
at Getttysburg’s Majestic Theater. AACT YouthFest 2019 is made
For the start of your
theatre experience!
www.hi Stage.com
May/June 2019
AACT Spotlight
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