 |
| Brian Childers stars in An Evening with Danny Kaye Photo: Johannes Markus |
From our friends at the American Century Theater...
The American Century Theater has announced that its upcoming season, the theater’s twentieth, will be its final season. The company’s Board of Directors and Artistic Director Jack Marshall have jointly decided that the theater will close its doors after a special 2014/2015 Twentieth Anniversary season to be announced soon.
The company was founded on a mission to rediscover classic works of American theater, particularly those first produced during what Time publisher Henry Luce called “the American Century.” In these twenty years, TACT has produced over 100 shows, sent two to New York, and created two shows that have evolved into continuously running productions (the current An Evening with Danny Kaye and the Clarence Darrow one-man show, A Passion for Justice).
The company’s leadership emphasized that the decision to close is not driven by finances, but rather by a sense that the theater has accomplished what it set out to do. Today, many companies have followed the American Century Theater’s lead in reaching beyond the handful of perennial “war horses” to plumb the rich treasures of 20th Century theater. And many plays that were forgotten before being given new life by TACT have received fresh attention, more productions and new respect, in theaters across the country.
Says Artistic Director, Jack Marshall, “We find ourselves fourteen years into the 21st Century, and in light of our artistic and cultural achievements we think that upon the completion of our final season we will have proved our point, made a difference, and accomplished our mission. Too many organizations fail at the hardest thing, which is knowing when to say goodbye. For the American Century Theater, we think that time has come.”
About TACT:
The American Century Theater is a 501(c)(3) professional nonprofit theater company dedicated to producing significant 20th-century American plays and musicals at risk of being forgotten. TACT is supported in part by Arlington County through the Arlington Commission for the Arts and Arlington Cultural Affairs, a division of Arlington Economic Development; the Virginia Commission for the Arts; the National Endowment for the Arts; and many generous donors.
