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{{Short description|American theater company founded 1972}}
{{Infobox organization
| name = The Acting Company
| image = Logotag blackback redwhite.jpg
| type = [[Nonprofit organization|Nonprofit]] ([[501(c)(3) organization|501(c)(3)]])
| founded_date = 1972
| tax_id = 13-2759292
| founder = [[John Houseman]]<br />Margot Harley
| leader_title = Artistic director
| leader_name = Kent Gash<ref name=Leadership />
| ___location = [[New York City]]
| area_served =
| product =
| services = Touring repertory theater<br />Educational programs
| revenue =
| footnotes =
}}
'''The Acting Company''' is a professional theater company that tours the United States annually, staging and performing one or two plays in as many as fifty cities, often with runs of only one or two nights. Drama critic [[Mel Gussow]] has called it "the major touring classical theater of the United States."<ref name=Gussow /> Based in [[New York City]], The Acting Company also sponsors several educational programs for middle school and high school students.
The Acting Company was founded in 1972 by [[John Houseman]] and Margot Harley. Houseman, a distinguished actor and theater producer, was then the head of the new Drama Division of the [[Juilliard School]]. Loath to see the first group of actors disbanded upon graduation from Juilliard, Houseman and his Juilliard colleague Harley founded the "Group I Acting Company<!--often listed as the Group 1 Acting Company, which is erroneous-->" as a non-profit corporation in [[New York City]] to provide employment and make use of their talents.<ref name=Olmstead /><ref name=Form990 /> The name was changed to "The Acting Company" after a few years as the original group I actors were replaced by graduates from many acting conservatories. From its beginnings, the Company toured extensively. As Margot Harley explained in a 2004 interview, "We knew perfectly well that in order to keep them together we had to tour, because nobody would come and see, over a long period of time, a young company in New York. And touring is historically a great training ground for an actor."<ref name=Phoenix />
▲== The Acting Company (Group 1 Acting Company) ==
Houseman served as the producing artistic director through 1986; Harley was the Company's producer from its founding until her retirement at the end of 2015.<ref name=Leadership>{{cite web |title=Leadership & Staff |url=http://theactingcompany.org/about/leadership/ |publisher=The Acting Company |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160304115813/http://theactingcompany.org/about/leadership/ |archive-date=2016-03-04}}</ref> The Company has been affiliated with [[New York City Center]]. Starting in 1980, it toured in association with the [[John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts]] in Washington, D.C.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Cambridge Guide to Theatre |editor1-last=Banham |editor1-first=Martin |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1995 |isbn=9780521434379 |page=[https://archive.org/details/cambridgeguideto0000banh/page/5 5] |url=https://archive.org/details/cambridgeguideto0000banh|url-access=registration }}</ref> Since 2009,<ref>{{cite web |title=The Acting Company and the Guthrie Team on 'Henry V' Tour |date=July 10, 2008 |publisher=Broadway World |url=http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/The-Acting-Company-and-the-Guthrie-Team-on-Henry-V-Tour-20080710#.UxQI7oVGaok}}</ref> the touring theater productions have been in association with the [[Guthrie Theater]] of Minneapolis.<ref name=About /> Over its history, The Acting Company has produced over 130 plays that have been seen by over 3 million people in 48 states and ten foreign countries. Its educational programs primarily serve students in disadvantaged communities.<ref name=About>{{cite web |title=About Us |url=http://theactingcompany.org/about/ |publisher=The Acting Company |accessdate=2014-02-26}}</ref>
The Acting Company won [[Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre]] in 2003.<ref>{{cite news |last=Gans |first=Andrew |url=http://www.playbill.com/news/article/82689-Jackman-Seldes-and-Hairspray-Part-of-2003-Tony-Honors-Celebration |title=Jackman, Seldes and Hairspray Part of 2003 Tony Honors Celebration |work=Playbill.com |date=November 11, 2003 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020180911/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/82689-Jackman-Seldes-and-Hairspray-Part-of-2003-Tony-Honors-Celebration |archive-date=October 20, 2012 }}</ref> Its touring company was the subject of a documentary film, ''Still on the Road'' (2013), that was directed by Sara Wolkowitz; the film has been widely televised.<ref name=Still /> The Company and its productions have also been honored with a 1975 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award,<ref>{{cite web |title=1969-1979 Awards - LA Drama Critics Circle |publisher=LA Drama Critics Circle |url=http://ladramacriticscircle.com/1969-1979-awards/ }} The Acting Company's 1975 production of ''[[Edward II (play)|Edward II]]'' won a production award.</ref> the [[Obie Award]], [[Citibank]]'s Excellence in Education Award, and two [[AUDELCO]] Awards.<ref name=About />
Over its 40-year history, hundreds of actors beginning their professional careers have been employed in The Acting Company's productions. <!--List of alumni with Wikipedia articles-->The Company's alumni include Michael Abbott Jr., [[Dennis Boutsikaris]], [[Frances Conroy]], [[Kevin Conroy]], [[Keith David]], [[Megan Gallagher]], [[Harriet Sansom Harris|Harriet Harris]], [[Benjamin Hendrickson]], [[Jack Kenny]], [[Kevin Kline]], [[Patti LuPone]], [[Jesse L. Martin]], [[Dakin Matthews]], [[Heather Raffo]], [[David Schramm (actor)|David Schramm]], [[Jack Stehlin]], [[David Ogden Stiers]], [[Jeffrey Wright]], and [[Rainn Wilson]].<ref name=Alumni>{{cite web |title=Alumni > The Acting Company |publisher=The Acting Company |accessdate=2014-03-01 |url=http://theactingcompany.org/about/alumni/}}</ref>
==
'''Notes'''
{{reflist |refs=
<ref name=Gussow>{{cite news |title=A Touring Troupe That Plays Classics On Main Street |first=Mel |last=Gussow |date=January 30, 1996 |work=The New York Times |quote=Seven years after Mr. Houseman's death, and after a steeplechase course of obstacles, the Acting Company endures as the major touring classical theater in the United States. Now under the sole leadership of Ms. Harley, the company takes plays to 45 cities from Orono, Me., to Sheridan, Wyo.. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/01/30/theater/a-touring-troupe-that-plays-classics-on-main-street.html?smid=pl-share}} Descriptive article on the occasion of the Company's 25th anniversary.</ref>
<ref name=Olmstead>{{cite book |title=Juilliard: A History |first=Andrea |last=Olmstead |publisher=University of Illinois Press |year=2002 |isbn=9780252071065 |page=230 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YLQXrHGNlQUC&pg=PA230 |quote=The success of The Acting Company's first season had greatly benefited the School and lifted the Drama Division's stock with Lincoln Center's Board.}} Reprinting of the 1999 book, which described the relationship between the Juilliard School and The Acting Company at the time of the latter's founding.</ref>
<ref name=Phoenix>{{cite news |title=Classical gas: The Acting Company’s rich tradition |first=Bill |last=Rodriguez |work=The [[Providence Phoenix]] |date=January 30 – February 5, 2004 |url=http://www.providencephoenix.com/theater/other_stories/documents/03555027.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140301143441/http://www.providencephoenix.com/theater/other_stories/documents/03555027.asp |archive-date=March 1, 2014 }}</ref>
<ref name=Still>{{cite news |title='Still On the Road,' Documentary About The Acting Company, Will Premiere on PBS in February |last=Gans |first=Andrew |date=January 25, 2013 |work=Playbill |url=http://www.playbill.com/news/article/174398-Still-On-the-Road-Documentary-About-The-Acting-Company-Will-Premiere-on-PBS-in-February |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140303165432/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/174398-Still-On-the-Road-Documentary-About-The-Acting-Company-Will-Premiere-on-PBS-in-February |archive-date=March 3, 2014 }}</ref>
<ref name=Form990>The Group I Acting Company is a [[501(c) organization#501(c)(3)|501(c)(3)]] non-profit corporation under US tax law. See {{cite web |url=https://bulk.resource.org/irs.gov/eo/2013_03_EO/13-2759292_990_201206.pdf |title=2011 Form 990 for Group I Acting Company |work=CitizenAudit.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140303162311/https://bulk.resource.org/irs.gov/eo/2013_03_EO/13-2759292_990_201206.pdf |archive-date=2014-03-03 }}</ref>
}}
'''Further reading'''
▲www.theactingcompany.org
*{{cite news |title=John Houseman's Acting Company at age 40 |last=Cary |first=Emily |work=[[The Washington Examiner]] |date=April 25, 2013 |url=http://washingtonexaminer.com/john-housemans-acting-company-at-age-40/article/2528150}} Brief review of the history and impact of the Company.
*{{cite news |title=THEATER; From Juilliard to Shakespeare at a Pond |last=Klein |first=Alvin |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date= July 12, 1992 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/12/nyregion/theater-from-juilliard-to-shakespeare-at-a-pond.html?smid=pl-share }} Brief history of the founding of the Acting Company.
*{{cite AV media |title=Still on the Road |url=http://watch.thirteen.org/video/2365151895/ |people=Wolkowitz, Sara |date=January 18, 2014 |publisher=Public Broadcasting Service}} The documentary film ''Still on the Road'' about The Acting Company has been made available for online viewing.
== External links ==
*[http://archives.nypl.org/the/24620 The Acting Company records, 1968-2017], held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division, [[New York Public Library for the Performing Arts]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Acting Company, The}}
[[Category:Performing groups established in 1972]]
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