aboutus
Aberdeen Community Theatre (ACT) is a community theater located in the Capitol Theatre, a renovated 1926 vaudeville/movie house on historic Main Street. The theater provides a range of opportunities for people of all ages to "GET INTO THE ACT" onstage and backstage. ACT's Young People's Theatre program offers theater skills building and enhancement for youth ages seven to seventeen. In addition to the six mainstage production a year, we strive to bring in entertaining traveling show and a variety of festivals.
The Capitol Theatre was opened in January 1927 as a French art deco theater. Its marquee was lit for the first time that month and a stage performance called "The Green Hat: A Play with a Punch" was included in the opening ceremonies. This was followed by the theater's first silent film screening, "Kid Boots". The following year, the Capitol was outfitted with a Vita-Phone sound system for the popular "talkies".
In the late 1980s, the Capitol Theatre began to wind down as a new duplex theater was being built in Aberdeen. The last movie to play at the Capitol was "Robocop 2" in 1990.
In the early 1990s, there was a need for a permanent home for the Aberdeen Community Theatre, which had incorporated in 1980. ACT used any available theater space for their productions until moving permanently into the Capitol Theatre in 1992.
The theater was converted from a movie house into a fully functional stage and movie facility. Since then, ongoing renovations and modifications have enhanced the performance space and the theater-going experience.