Welcome! This year the Anthony Bean Community Theater and Acting School celebrates15 years of excellence in the performing arts.

The Anthony Bean Community Theater (ABCT) was established in Spring 2000 to meet the growing demands of New Orleans area residents seeking a quality, culturally diverse, performing arts venue. The theater also met the needs of individuals seeking to learn the art of acting, set design and theatre management. In recent years, ABCT has become a vehicle to enter New Orleans' booming "Hollywood South" film industry.

ABCT is unique in that it is not only a major theater production company, but a year-round, open enrollment acting school serving both adults and children with an eclectic group of courses designed to meet the basic needs of individuals seeking careers in stage and screen acting, set design and theatre management.  

ABCT believes that the arts have the power to transform people's lives. Our Mission is simple: "to inspire those we serve through the magic of the arts."  The Hallmark of ABCT and that which separates us from "all the rest" is - diversity.  ABCT proudly presents the most diverse theater schedule in the New Orleans area.  Our programing fare includes, the classics; Shakespeare, August Wilson and Tennessee Williams as well as popular drama (Reflections and Misery), comedy (Jar the Floor, Steal Away), and musicals (The Color Purple, Simply Irma and The Phyllis Hyman Story). Most importantly, ABCT mounts original plays such as I'd Rather Be Rich and Say Amen, and showcases our talented kids in perennial favorites: Cats, The Wiz, High School Musical and 504.  

The goal of the ABCT Acting School is to provide an intense, high quality learning and performing opportunity in an atmosphere where young people are encouraged to set goals, take risks and view mistakes as an avenue for learning. ABCT opens students up to the greatness that lies within them and creates an awareness that the Arts are a constructive vehicle of personal expression.

Anthony Bean Community Theater boasts a full professional portfolio including video DVD Productions and an ABCT clothing line. In addition to children and adult acting classes, ABCT offers a youth theater, an after-school program, and the Anthony Bean Community Theater City Choir.  During the summer months, working in conjunction with the New Orleans Recreation Department Commission - ABCT also operates a summer day camp.

We at ABCT wish to express our sincere gratitude for your ongoing support over the past 15 years and we urge you to purchase your PASS for the upcoming season. Thank you for your ongoing support. We look forward to seeing you at our next production.

Come and celebrate our Anniversary and you will agree.

"ABCT IS MORE THAN THEATER

IT'S CULTURE!"

Back ABCT! Be a part of the Anthony Bean Community Theater and Acting School! ABCT is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and all contributions are tax deductible. Donate today and keep the arts alive and exciting in our community!

2010-01-29 00:00:00.0

written by Regina King and Directed by Anthony Bean

New Orleans, LA. August 22, 2007… In celebration of The Anthony Bean Community Theater 10th year Anniversary. We’re returning to the play that started it all. “Steal Away”, a comedy written by Regina King and Directed by Anthony Bean and original cast member, Gail Glapion, a prominent community leader, will return in the lead role as Stella. A lighthearted, outrageous comedy for the entire family. In this fun-filled production, the ladies of the Negro Women’s Organization for Youth Education find inventive ways of sending girls to college.

Steal Away, an incisive Depression-era comedy, follows five upstanding, God-fearing women endeavoring to provide scholarships for young black women residing in the community. When the group is flatly refused a bank loan on the grounds that “colored girls shouldn’t waste their time on education” – as the bank manager puts it-the friends devise an elaborate scheme to rob a bank.

Gail Glapion, a prominent community leader, will return in the lead role as Stella.Also starring in this stellar cast will be, seasoned actress, Linda Merritt as Miss Sudy Atkinson, Nadine Cutno as Mrs. Bluiah (Blu) Daniels, Venita Matthews as Mrs. Renita (Redd) Ruth and super kids Jade Radford as TracyAda Kyzer and Morgan Lawrence as Mrs. Jade Long.

Starring
Gail Glapion

Cast of Steal Away

(Front) Nadine Cutno,Gail Glapion, Linda Merritt,Jade Radford,Morgan Lawrence and Venita Matthews in Steal Away

Jade Radford worry as they plan a bank heist