AACTFest ?09 ? Tacoma Brings Unprecedented Gathering Of Theatre To The Northwest

As the Biennial National Festival of the American Association of Community Theatre (AACT) draws near, local organizers proudly announce that the festival will feature an exceptional gathering of national theatrical equipment and service providers to share their products with festival attendees from around the United States who will be gathering at Tacoma's Broadway Center for AACTFest '09, June 24 - 27.

"Two years ago in Charlotte (NC) there were less than a dozen or so companies exhibiting." reported AACTFest '09 Co-Chair Judy Cullen, "We are pleased that AACTFest - Tacoma will have nearly double that including some national companies who will be exhibiting products making their West Coast debut." Tacoma organizers invited over one hundred companies to come to Tacoma to exhibit their "best and brightest" at the Tacoma event. Some equipment manufacturers were also invited to participate in a three day AACT Technical Theatre Conference which is being presented for the very first time at AACTFest '09 and will be held June 22 - 24 on the campus of the University of Puget Sound in the Norton Clapp Theatre.

Exhibiting companies will fill the Pantages Theater Lobby on June 24th and 25th with over 500 square feet of product displays, information, and demonstrations. On Display will be everything from theatrical plays and musicals available for production, ticketing software and systems, suppliers of theatrical lighting and technical supplies. Among the participating companies from across the nation:

ArtAge Senior Resource Center of Portland, OR
Apollo Design Technology, Inc. of Fort Wayne, IN
Dramatic Publishing of Woodstock, IL
Color Kinetics of Burlington, MA
Easy-Ware Corporation of Chicago, IL
Extremetix of Houston, TX
GAM Products, Inc. of Los Angeles, CA
Manhattan Tour and Travel of New York, NY
Music Theatre International of New York, NY
Pacific Northwest Theatre Associates of Seattle, WA
Rosco Products of Stamford, CN
Select Entertainment Productions of Tinton Falls, NJ
SECOA, Inc of Champlin, MN
Strand/Seleco Lighting, International of Cypress, CA
Theatrical Right Worldwide of New York, NY
Varilite, West Sussex, UK
Wherewelive Productions of Ashland, OR

"We are grateful to our partner, Pacific Northwest Theatre Associates, and our Len Schlosberg at Select Entertainment who played key roles in bringing this powerful gathering of theatre resources to the Northwest," said Cullen.

The Exhibition will take place in tandem with AACTFest Performances at the Pantages Theater. All performances will be in the Pantages Theater at the Broadway Center for the Performing Arts and are open to the public. Tickets for individual sessions and festival passes will be available through the Broadway Center Box Office. 253-591-5894 or online at www.broadwaycenter.org <http://www.broadwaycenter.org/> .

AACTFest ‘09 has received generous support from: The Boeing Company, Sequoia Foundation, The City of Tacoma and Tacoma Public Utilities, The Ruth Murphy Evans Unrestricted Fund of the Greater Tacoma Community Foundation, The Pierce County Arts Commission, Music Theatre International, Theatrical Rights Worldwide, Dramatists Play Service, and the Broadway Center for the Performing Arts.

Information about AACTFest '09, including festival registration, can be found at our website: http://www.aactfest09.org

AACTFest '09 also maintains a blog which is linked to the website, and may also be found at http://www.aactfest09.blogspot.com

For Podcast Interviews with companies coming to Tacoma to participate in AACTFest '09, visit:
http://www.aactfest09.org/podcast.php

 

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