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!

2009-03-06 00:00:00.0

By Carson McCullers Directed by Janet Spencer

CAROL SUTTON LEADS CAST IN 'THE MEMBER OF THE WEDDING' OPENS ABCT'S 2009 SEASON New Orleans, La February 26, 2009…A Member of the Wedding, Written by Carson McCullers and directed by Janet Spencer begins performances at the Anthony Community Theater New Orleans, La February 26, 2009…A Member of the Wedding, Written by Carson McCullers and directed by Janet Spencer begins performances at the Anthony Community Theater

'It happened that green and crazy summer when Frankie was twelve years old. This was the summer when for a long time she had not been a member. She belonged to no club and was a member of nothing in the world. Frankie had become an unjoined person who hung around in doorways, and she was afraid.' So wrote Carson McCullers about her beautiful play, adapted from her own novel of the same name. It tells the story of the poignant loneliness of adolescence and the strange bond between African Americans and whites in the American South in the 1940’s. Frankie Addams feels disconnected from the world. Her mother died at her birth and her father is a “busy widow-man, set in his ways.” Her only companions are the family’s housekeeper, a sensitively drawn portrait of a Black woman striving to maintain balance in a cockeyed society, and her precocious young cousin, John Henry. Frankie dreams of going away with her brother and his bride-to-be on their honeymoon, following them and becoming part of their life.

CAROL SUTTON makes the role of the housekeeper, Berenice Sadie Brown GRETA ZEHNER, as Frankie, and THOMAS HELLMERS as John Henry. KEVIN SMITH, KATHRYN TALBOT, ALFRED AUBRY, SARAH PERKINS, RENE LA PLANTE, EDWARD BUCKLES, DORRY CARONNA, RUTH THOMPSON, MARTIN SMITH AND JUSTIN SANDOVAL play supporting roles

Starring
Starring Carol Sutton

Thomas Hellmers as John Henry and Greta Zehner as Frankie

Thomas Hellmers as John Henry and Greta Zehner as Frankie

Greta Zehner as Frankie and Carol Sutton as Berenice

Greta Zehner as Franki And Carol Sutton as Berenice

(seated) Thomas Hellmers as John Henry, Greta Zehner as Frankie and Carol Sutton as Berenice