Center Stage
Actors Theatre of Louisville is a dominant force in professional theater

THE State Theatre of Kentucky, Actors Theatre of Louisville, is known as one of America’s most consistently innovative professional theatre companies. It has been a major force in revitalizing American playwriting with nearly 200 American Theatre Association scripts already in production.

The Actors Theatre of Louisville has won the "Triple Crown" of American Theatre Awards: a special Tony Award for Distinguished Achievement, the James N. Vaughan Memorial Award for Exceptional Achievement, and the Margo Jones Award for the Encouragement of New American Plays.

ATL presents more than 30 productions of comedies, dramas, and musicals every year, including such celebrated theatrical events as The Humana Festival of New American plays, the Brown-Forman Classics in Context Festival, and the Bingham Signature Shakespeare. Actors Theatre also offers special programs such as free children’s theatre, a student matinee program, free apprentice/intern productions, post-performance discussions, and public seminars and workshops. A total of more than 500 performances are included in its year-round season of classical and contemporary work.

Actors Theatre performs before an annual audience of 237,000 with more than 17,000 subscribers. In addition, 90 corporate/foundation contributors and more than 800 volunteers help make the productions possible.

Center Stage

Currently located "center stage" in downtown Louisville right on Main Street, Actors Theatre was born in 1964, when a pair of Louisville theater companies – Actors Inc. and Theatre of Louisville – merged to form the new non-profit organization under the direction of Richard Block and Ewel Cornet. Starting out in a second floor loft (the former Gypsy Tea Room at 617 S. Fourth St.) the theater group quickly outgrew that location and moved to the abandoned Illinois Central Railroad Station. Louisville architect Jasper D. Ward converted the building into a 350-seat theater, preserving most of the station’s interior structure.

With the addition of new producing director Jon Jory in 1969, the theatre grew to over 9,000 subscribers, but in 1972 was forced to leave the railroad station, which was scheduled for demolition to make way for a connector highway. In 1973, ATL then moved to a new complex made up of the old Bank of Louisville building and the adjacent Myers-Thompson Display Building right on Main Street in downtown Louisville.

ATL’s unique facility on historic Main Street includes three diverse theaters under one roof. In addition to the 637-seat Pamela Brown Auditorium, the 318-seat Victor Jory Theatre, and the 159-seat Bingham Theatre, there is also an art gallery and restaurant.

The spotlight turns on

For more than 30 years, Jon Jory has led the organization as producing director. Since 1969 he has directed over 90 plays and produced over 600, including "Aloha," "Hamlet," and "Peter Pan." He has received the National Theatre Conference Award and ATA Distinguished Career Award.

Jory started the Humana Festival of New American Plays in 1976 as an annual showcase of new theatrical work. The festival has garnered international recognition for its support of new work. Since then, ATL has produced more than 230 Humana Festival plays that represent the works of nearly 150 playwrights. In all, more than two-thirds of the Humana Festival plays have been published.

More than 200 plays have premiered at Actors Theatre, including Pulitzer Prize-winners such as "Crimes of the Heart" and "The Gin Game." Of those 200 plays, 35 have gone on to production on New York City stages.

Audiences well outside of Kentucky also enjoy the theater group. In 1980, Actors Theatre launched an overseas tour to Yugoslavia, Ireland, and Israel and since then the troupe’s international appearances include 1,500 performances in over 29 cities in 15 countries.

While ATL no doubt will continue to work to earn the respect and affection of theater-goers, the organization will soon be doing it under new leadership as Jory moves on to another stage in his career after 31 years with ATL.

He has accepted a teaching and directing position with the University of Washington School of Drama in Seattle and will take on that role in September 2000. In the meantime, a search committee has been formed to fill Jory’s "very big shoes," according to Amanda Tyler, president of the Actors Theatre board of directors.

"Actors Theatre is a great American theatre in first-rate shape, with a first-rate staff and executive director," Jory said. "This is the perfect time to bring in new leadership with the new millenium."

Deanna Mascle (deannamascle@lanereport.com) is a staff writer for The Lane Report.

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