Backstage Left Library
A 2025 Preview Page
From Randall: I have been longing to provide my theatre colleagues with a peek at the ongoing work on this archival project about the American Conservatory Theatre, particularly the apogee of 1974-76. As you may know, I began this collection of interviews in 2019, and after a lengthy illness which rendered me as flat as spike-tape, I have now recovered. With a devoted haste, I return to the entries of the BACKSTAGE LEFT collection which include essays, interviews, and gazettes of the time. I look forward to 2025 being the year in which these offerings appear in episodic form for your enjoyment. A dedicated webspace will launch soon: and that's where the completed collection will be housed, waiting for you to make an entrance...to feel that raked stage beneath your feet.
A "re-membering" of a Golden Era in San Francisco
(specifically the 24 months of July 1974 through July 1976)
A.C.T.'s Ninth Season 1974-1975: A jaunty and dashing theatrical season with productions of King Richard III, Pillars of the Community, Horatio, Jumpers, Street Scene, The Threepenny Opera, The Ruling Class and the final year of the beloved production of Cyrano De Bergerac. The company is buzzing with success, touring in the summer, and hosting the newly-established Asian American Theatre Workshop. The country is reeling from Vietnam & Watergate, an energy crisis, and the kidnapping of a local heiress, even as the citizens were marching for women’s rights.
A.C.T.'s Tenth Anniversary Season 1975-1976: A vivid theatre season with epic productions of Tiny Alice, The Matchmaker, Desire Under The Elms, General Gorgeous, Merry Wives of Windsor, This Is (An Entertainment), Equus, Peer Gynt and the final year of the smash hit The Taming of The Shrew. The company is flying high, commissioning new works, and hosting the Black Actors Workshop. It all points to an apogee for the Arts in America, when the "regional rotating repertory system" was in fact the revolving galaxy in which theatre artists could defy gravity and take flight.
A.C.T.'s Tenth Anniversary Season 1975-1976: A vivid theatre season with epic productions of Tiny Alice, The Matchmaker, Desire Under The Elms, General Gorgeous, Merry Wives of Windsor, This Is (An Entertainment), Equus, Peer Gynt and the final year of the smash hit The Taming of The Shrew. The company is flying high, commissioning new works, and hosting the Black Actors Workshop. It all points to an apogee for the Arts in America, when the "regional rotating repertory system" was in fact the revolving galaxy in which theatre artists could defy gravity and take flight.
Take a ride in that beautiful balloon, back to the 1970's,
and share the refulgence.
Interviews with 1974-76 Company: Randall Duk Kim, Ray Reinhardt, Joy Carlin, Megan Cole, Elizabeth Huddle, Deborah May, Barbara Dirickson, Fredi Olster, Rick Hamilton, J. Steven White, Raye Birk, Candace Barrett, Laird Williamson, Ben Moore, Jim & Lucille Burke, Larry Hecht, Sabin Epstein, Daniel Davis, Hope Alexander, David Hammond, Dirk Epperson, Cathleen Edwards, Daniel Zippi…and more to come. 1974-76 students Advanced Training Program: Susan Pellegrino, Peter Davies, Michael Hume, Gina Ferrall, Anita Maynard, Ray Dooley, Nathan Haas, Traber Burns, Noel Koran, Frank Abe, Tomas Arana, Bill Peck, Leslie Harrell, Katherine Conklin, Angie Thieriot, Anni Long, Sands Hall…and more to come. Homage to those we've lost: William Ball, Allen Fletcher, Edward Hastings, Gino Barcone, Dennis Powers, Peter Donat, Sydney Walker, Ruth Kobart, William Patterson, Charles Hallahan, Anthony S.Teague, Anne Lawder, Marrian Walters, Earl Boen, Dan Kern, Joseph Bird, Gregory Itzin, Rick Echols, Nancy Wickwire, Barbara Colby, Paul Shenar, Michael O’Sullivan, John Hancock, and René Auberjonois.