PULSE:
Stage
ACT Up A Contemporary Theatre Brings Broadway to Western Connecticut. By William Squier Photo Contributed
destination theater in a little over two years. And they’ve rallied a small army of supporters that includes the residents of Ridgefield, their professional friends from the New York stage and a multi-award winning, musical theater composer-lyricist. “I have always worn two different hats,” ACT’s Artistic Director, Dan Levine, explains. “In college, I was a theater major and a premed student; theater because I loved it and premed because I was going to be a doctor. I thought that there was no way I would ever be able to make it as an actor. It more made sense to me to go to dental school.” So, when he graduated from Brandeis University, Levine enrolled in the Tufts University School Photo Contributed
of Dental Medicine. But, at the beginning of his second year of study, he traveled to New York
The first time you walk into A Contemporary Theatre in Ridgefield,
to audition for the Broadway musical Les Miserable. It was his first
Connecticut, you’re forgiven if you think that you’re entering a ven-
professional audition and, surprisingly, Levine was cast as Marius, one
erable theatrical institution. It’s an easy assumption to make!
of the principal roles! That was the end of dental school. From Les
To begin with, the regional theater company’s home is an impres-
Miz, he moved onto the Broadway and national tours of Mamma Mia!,
sive, midcentury modern building, co-designed by famed architect
Little Shop of Horrors, The Rocky Horror Show, Jesus Christ Superstar,
Philip Johnson, with soaring glass walls that look out over the distant
Chicago and Tommy.
Berkshire Hills. Its cozy auditorium offers audience members roomy
In between acting gigs, Levine supported himself as an upper level
seating, excellent sightlines and the area’s only stage outfitted with
math and science tutor. He ended up with so many clients that he
a permanent turntable. Glance at ACT’s programming and you’ll see
started hiring other tutors to share the workload and eventually opened
they’ve recently mounted Broadway quality productions of the hit
the Manhattan based education company, Big Apple Tutoring. Levine
musicals Mamma Mia! and Evita, hailed by local critics as “breath-
says that he drew on the range of his work experience to make the
taking,” “exuberant” and “flawless.” And the theater’s educational
dream of opening a regional Equity theater a reality. “The fact that I
schedule is packed with master classes, summer camps and a
have a business sense; that I’ve always done multiple things my whole
22-member choir that benefit the area’s youngest stage enthusiasts.
life and I know how to juggle it – all of that lends itself to running a
You’d never guess that A Contemporary Theatre is only a little more than a third of the way through it’s inaugural season!
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theater company,” he feels. In contrast to Levine, ACT’s Executive Director, Katie Diamond,
Credit for ACT’s remarkable growth goes to the tireless team of
was set on performing career from an early age. She began by acting,
Katie Diamond and Daniel C. Levine. Together with Levine’s husband,
and singing in choirs while she was growing up on the West Coast.
Bryan Perri, a conductor and music director of Broadway’s Wicked,
Diamond went on to study vocal performance at the New England
they’ve taken ACT from a glimmer of an idea to a fully functioning,
Conservatory, fully intending to devote herself to opera. “But, I missed
CONTEMPORARY CULTURE//MAGAZINE