American Players Theatre

American Players Theatre (APT) is a classical theater located just south of Spring Green, Wisconsin. It includes a 1,089-seat outdoor amphitheater.

Frank Lloyd Wright Visitors Center, near American Players Theatre, from WIS 23

APT sits on 110 acres (0.45 km2) of woods and meadow just off the Wisconsin River across Wisconsin Highway 23 from Frank Lloyd Wright's studio Taliesin. Founded in 1980, APT has grown rapidly in recent years, with more than 100,000 patrons attending performances each year. It currently claims to have the second largest audience in the United States for outdoor classical theater.[1]

APT typically produces 116 performances of nine plays running in repertory from June to November. In 2009, APT opened the new, indoor Touchstone Theatre. With 200 seats, the Touchstone provides an intimate, complementary space to the outdoor amphitheater, and allows for new genres to grace an APT stage. APT's repertoire consists primarily of plays by Shakespeare and other noted (usually Western) playwrights, such as George Bernard Shaw, Anton Chekhov, and Molière. Three of the plays at "the hill theatre" are typically Shakespeares, with some 20th-century productions performed on both the Hill and the Touchstone.

James Ridge & Tracy Michelle Arnold in Taming of the Shrew, 2011

A significant part of APT's mission is its education program. APT works with schools and educators to teach students both about Shakespeare and other classic dramatic works, and about the theater in general. Each season, APT offers student matinees during school hours in the fall. The actors of APT also conduct in-school workshops.

APT offers picnic dinners and a picnic area for those who bring their own food to enjoy before the show. Thursday night shows are billed as "Skippeth-Out-Of-Work-Early Thursday Nights".

APT was co-founded by Randall Duk Kim, Anne Occhiogrosso and Charles Bright. Kim was the artistic director and mainstay lead actor for 15 years before reviving a movie career after a dispute with the board of directors.[2] David Frank became Artistic Director in 1993 and successfully served until 2013. Brenda DeVita, after serving as Associate Artistic Director for 10 years became Artistic Director in 2014.

Acting Company

American Players Theatre has an Actors' Equity Association, a company of actors cast in annual productions for one season, along with a core company, 14 actors committed to APT for a designated period of time through a contract. APT's core company consists of actors and actresses Tim Gittings, Kelsey Brennan, James Ridge, Tracy Michelle Arnold, Jim DeVita, Brian Mani, Gavin Lawrence, Marcus Truschinski, Melisa Pereyra, Sarah Day, Nate Burger, David Daniel, and Colleen Madden.

Notable alumni
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References
  1. "About". American Players Theatre. Retrieved April 16, 2012.
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2005-02-06. Retrieved 2006-08-11.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

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