Tony Winner Alan Cumming Will Headline A.C.T.'s 2015 Gala

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) and Gala Co-Chairs Prisca Geeslin and Ken Fulk have announced the 2015 season gala, COME GET STRANDED, on Saturday, April 25, 2015. Proceeds from the gala, which will feature a special performance by Tony Award winner Alan Cumming (Cabaret on Broadway; CBS's The Good Wife), support A.C.T.'s actor training and Education & Community Programs. Individual tickets range in price from $1,250 to $2,750. Patron-level tables range from $10,000 to $25,000. For more information and to purchase tables or tickets, please visit act-sf.org/gala or contact A.C.T. Director of Special Events Luz Perez at 415.439.2470 or lperez@act-sf.org.

The black-tie evening begins at 5 p.m. with a cocktail reception at A.C.T.'s brand-new Strand Theater. At 6 p.m. guests will make their way across the street, where they will be treated to a lavish dinner under a tent on UN Plaza, and a special performance by Tony Award winner Alan Cumming. At 9 p.m., guests will return to The Strand Theater for an after-party featuring cocktails and dancing with members from the casts of Let There Be Love, A Little Night Music, and Love and Information, with music by DJ Flaxo.

"The completion and opening of The Strand Theater is not only a landmark event for A.C.T., but truly for the entire city," says Fulk. "I could not be more thrilled as an A.C.T. trustee and as a San Franciscan to celebrate this momentous occasion at the gala on April 25. I hope everyone will join me and my dear friend, the extraordinarily talented Alan Cumming, for what is sure to be an unforgettable evening."

Geeslin adds: "The art of this city would be much less vibrant without the work of A.C.T. Attending the A.C.T. Gala is your opportunity to support an organization that has a long tradition of contributing to the community of San Francisco, inside and outside the theater."

Gala sponsors for the evening include Ascent Private Capital Management of U.S. Bank; Pacific Gas & Electric Company; Plant Construction Company, LP; and Wells Fargo Bank.

American Conservatory Theater is a Tony Award-winning theater and educational institution dedicated to nurturing the art of live theater through dynamic productions, intensive actor training in its Conservatory, and an ongoing engagement with its community. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Carey Perloff and Executive Director Ellen Richard, A.C.T. embraces its responsibility to conserve, renew, and reinvent our relationship to the rich theatrical traditions and literatures that are our collective legacy, while exploring new artistic forms and communities. A commitment to the highest standards informs every aspect of A.C.T.'s creative work. The company opened its first San Francisco season in 1967. Since then, A.C.T. has performed more than 350 productions to a combined audience of more than seven million people and reaches more than 250,000 people through its productions and programs every year.

The A.C.T. Conservatory serves 3,000 students each year through its acclaimed actor training programs and represents an integral part of A.C.T.'s mission. Ranked as one of the top programs in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, the A.C.T. Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) Program functions as the cornerstone of the A.C.T. Conservatory, which also includes the Young Conservatory, the Summer Training Congress, Studio A.C.T., San Francisco Semester, and the brand-new American Musical Theater Conservatory. Elizabeth Banks, Benjamin Bratt, Annette Bening, Darren Criss, Danny Glover, Elizabeth McGovern, Anika Noni Rose, and Denzel Washington are among A.C.T.'s distinguished former students. With its commitment to artistic excellence and to the relationship between training, performance, and audience, the A.C.T. Conservatory has moved to the forefront of America's actor training programs, while serving as the creative engine of the company at large. For more information, please visit act-sf.org/conservatory.

Each year A.C.T.'s multifaceted Education & Community Programs provide more than 10,000 students from the San Francisco Bay Area, many from low-income households, with access to live theatrical experiences through low- to no-cost Student Matinee (SMAT) performances of mainstage and M.F.A. Program productions, Will on Wheels touring productions of Shakespeare classics, stimulating in-depth study guides developed for the classroom, and customized workshops led by master teaching artists. The ACTsmart Partnership Program offers free student matinee tickets and theater-based pre- and postshow workshops at no cost to more than 40 public schools (including all San Francisco public high schools) and community-based organizations (CBOs) in the Bay Area serving low-income students who otherwise would have little exposure to the arts. A.C.T. has established year-long intensive residencies in three San Francisco continuation schools serving high percentages of socioeconomically disadvantaged youth (SDY) who have not experienced success in traditional comprehensive public schools; the schools are Downtown High School (76.4% SDY), Ida B. Wells High School (71.1% SDY), and Hilltop Special Services Center (for pregnant and parenting teens). A.C.T. also has residencies at Bessie Carmichael Elementary School (85.2% SDY), the Tenderloin Boys & Girls Club, and Access SFUSD: The Arc (serving developmentally disabled transition-age youth and adults). More than 50 percent of all students attending schools participating in the ACTsmart Partnership Program receive free or reduced-cost lunches. In 2014, A.C.T. launched Stage Coach, a new community-based, participatory theater program that is aimed at engaging San Franciscans in telling un- and undertold stories by supporting multigenerational audiences in the creation of theater. Programming includes stand-alone theatrical experiences at street fairs and festivals throughout the city, as well as ongoing residencies with partners in three San Francisco neighborhoods: Central Market/Tenderloin, Bayview-Hunters Point, and Mission/Excelsior. These partnerships allow us to re-center the stories and experiences of marginalized communities and provide multiple entry points into creative participation and expression at all ages. For more information, visit act-sf.org/education.

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