Bat Boy: The Musical

July 21 - August 6, 2023

Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm and Sundays at 2:30 pm

A rock musical comedy, Bat Boy: The Musical expands on a June 23, 1992 Weekly World News tabloid story about a bat boy – half-boy, half-bat – found in a cave and forced into society. The musical – at turns both haunting and hilarious – deals with themes of racism and revenge, hypocrisy and forgiveness. This darkly quirky, compelling “B Movie” musical is not to be missed!

Content Disclaimer: Bat Boy: the Musical contains violence, drug use, and sexual references. Viewer discretion is advised.

Accessibility:

All performances: Accessible wheelchair/scooter seating available.

Saturday, Aug 5, 2023: ASL-Interpreted Performance

Bright Star

April 21 - May 14, 2023

Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm and Sundays at 2:30 pm

VIEW PLAYBILL

Set in our very own Blue Ridge Mountains, Bright Star tells the story of Alice at two different points in her life: as a young girl in the mountains, and 22 years later as the well-to-do editor of a successful Asheville magazine. A serendipitous encounter inspires Alice to face her past, and a stunning realization changes her life forever. Bright Star is based on the Grammy Award-winning bluegrass album, Love Has Come for You, and centers particularly on the song “Iron Mountain Baby.” Be sure to listen also for the song with our namesake – “Asheville”!

Content Disclaimer: Bright Star contains swearing, language that some may find blasphemous, incidental drinking and smoking, and kidnapping.

Accessibility:

All performances: Accessible wheelchair/scooter seating available.

Saturday, April 29 & Sunday, April 30, 2023: Descriptive Audio for the Sight Impaired (DASI)

Saturday, May 6, 2023: ASL-Interpreted Performance

Elf The Musical

December 2 - December 18, 2022

Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm and Sundays at 2:30pm, and Thursday December 15 at 7:30 pm

Based on the beloved film Elf, this hilarious fish-out-of-water musical comedy is an extravaganza of holiday cheer! Join Buddy the Elf in his quest to share his authentic self, win over his birth family, and help New York City remember the true meaning of Christmas. Elf The Musical is bursting with bright costumes, jolly dancing, and show-stopping songs. This heartwarming holiday tale dazzles and delights all ages!

Click here for the playbill!

Accessibility:

All performances: Accessible wheelchair/scooter seating available.

Saturday, Dec 17, 2022: ASL-Interpreted Performance

Dec 10 and Dec 11, 2022: Descriptive Audio for the Sight Impaired (DASI)

Native Gardens

February 10 - February 26, 2023

Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm and Sundays at 2:30 pm

Gardens and cultures clash in contemporary comedy Native Gardens! Tania, a very pregnant PhD candidate, and Pablo, her high-powered lawyer husband, buy a house with a big backyard in Washington, DC. Living next door to community stalwarts Virginia and Frank is great – until a disagreement arises over a long-standing fence line between their homes. The conflict spirals into an all-out war of taste, class, privilege, and entitlement. With witty humor and engaging real-life drama, Native Gardens showcases conflict – and the worst and best ways to work it out!

Content Disclaimer: Native Gardens contains mature themes, depictions of smoking, pregnancy/childbirth, microaggressions, and discussions of racism.

Click here for the playbill!

Accessibility:

All performances: Accessible wheelchair/scooter seating available.

Feb 18 and Feb 19, 2022: Descriptive Audio for the Sight Impaired (DASI)

Saturday, Feb 25, 2023: ASL-Interpreted Performance

Sunday, Feb 26, 2023: Spanish-Translated Performance by Cenzontle (Spanish audio listening devices will be available in the lobby before the show. Devices may be used in any seating location.)

Our Town

September 30 - October 16, 2022

Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm and Sundays at 2:30 pm

Our Town tells a story of life – from birth to love to death – that we can all relate to. Next-door families, the Gibbs and the Webbs, and their tight-knit small town, experience love and loss as they face the realities of life’s inevitable changes.

ACT gives this American classic a fresh approach and contemporary design to reflect our own town of Asheville, North Carolina today: how we look and sound, how we work and play, how we live and die. Come celebrate Our Town and heed the reminder to appreciate life’s most precious moments – the ones we spend with each other!

View the PLAYBILL here! 

Accessibility:

All performances: Accessible wheelchair/scooter seating available.

Oct 8, 2022: ASL-Interpreted Performance

Oct 8 and Oct 9, 2022: Descriptive Audio for the Sight Impaired (DASI)

Raffle: Trip to NYC 2023

Enter to win a fabulous trip for two to New York!

Raffle tickets on sale through Sunday, August 6, 2023!

Tickets are $50 and only 500 will be sold.

Travel package for Thanksgiving 2023, with check-in on Wednesday, November 22, 2023 and check-out on Sunday, November 26, 2023.

Prize includes:

• Two round-trip Business Class tickets to New York from Asheville Regional Airport
• Transfers to and from the airport to your hotel
• Accomodations for four nights in Midtown at The Lotte New York Palace, with a choice of one king bed or two double beds
• VIP Macy’s Parade Day experience, including brunch and complimentary drinks, access to indoor and outdoor VIP viewing areas, and access to the Inflation Celebration of parade balloons on Wednesday afternoon
• Orchestra seating tickets to the Radio City Rockettes Christmas Spectacular
• Tickets to a Broadway show
• Up to $500 to spend on guided tours or additional theatre tickets
• Personal consultation with Foothills Travel to customize your trip
• On-site concierge provided through MyBucketListEvents

The drawing will take place the week of August 7, 2023. Winner will be notified by phone call and email.

The New York Raffle is a fundraising project for Asheville Community Theatre, a 501 (c)(3) organization. Must be 18 years or older to enter. Present employees and Board members of Asheville Community Theatre, and any immediate family members residing with ACT employees or Board members, are not eligible to participate. Contest void where prohibited. You need not be present to win.

Click here to view official rules and regulations.

RTS: Chapter Two

September 2-4, 2022

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at 2:30 pm

Friday and Saturday performances are held in 35below at Asheville Community Theatre; Sunday performance is held at the Reuter Center on the campus of UNCA. 

Chapter Two is presented as readers theatre by The Autumn Players.

In life, love and loss can intertwine in sometimes painful, sometimes funny ways. Recent widower George Schneider finds that especially true when he re-enters the dating world at the insistence of his interfering brother. The road to love is bumpy, and for George it’s a bittersweet journey towards hope and finding someone worth fighting for…again.

RTS: Hay Fever

March 17-19, 2023

All performances at 2:30 pm

Friday and Saturday performances are held at Asheville Community Theatre; Sunday performances are held at the Reuter Center on the campus of UNCA. 

Hay Fever is presented as readers theatre by The Autumn Players.

David Bliss and his wife, Judith, find their quiet family weekend in the country interrupted when their high-spirited children, Simon and Sorel, arrive with uninvited guests. Drama unfolds for the Bliss family as comedic misunderstandings and tempers flare in the countryside.

RTS: Office Hours

May 26-28, 2023

All performances at 2:30 pm

Friday and Saturday performances are held in 35below at Asheville Community Theatre; Sunday performances are held at the Reuter Center on the campus of UNCA. 

Office Hours is presented as readers theatre by The Autumn Players.

It’s a Friday afternoon in the big city and, in six different offices, six different stories are unfolding at the same time. Unrelated, and yet somehow still linked, these stories show six people trying to get by in a modern world, in a madcap race towards quitting time.

RTS: Outside Mullingar

October 28-30, 2022

All performances at 2:30 pm

Friday and Saturday performances are held in 35below at Asheville Community Theatre; Sunday performance is held at the Reuter Center on the campus of UNCA. 

Outside Mullingar is presented as readers theatre by The Autumn Players.

Anthony and Rosemary have been friends since childhood, but Rosemary has always wanted something more. When a land feud begins to brew between the two friends’ families, Rosemary worries they will never be together. But in this poignant and funny journey to happiness, Anthony and Rosemary both learn it’s never too late to take a chance on love.

RTS: The Good, The Bad, & The Guilty

April 14-16, 2023

All performances at 2:30 pm

Friday and Saturday performances are held at Asheville Community Theatre; Sunday performances are held at the Reuter Center on the campus of UNCA. 

The Good, The Bad, and The Guilty is presented as readers theatre by The Autumn Players.

A Trio of One-Acts

What dramatic truths lie behind a woman’s strange laugh, a suitor’s palpitating heart, a whistle in the night, or an Irish ballad singer and a hundred pound reward? When will the small rise up and the big fall down? When will we all change places? Three one-act plays explore how we seek to embrace – or escape – the ties that bind us.

The Rising of the Moon by Lady Gregory
Trifles by Susan Glaspell
The Proposal by Anton Chekhov

Seussical The Musical Jr.

Watch your favorite Dr. Seuss characters spring off the page and onto the stage in Seussical Jr.!

The ACT Lobby Gallery

The ACT Lobby Gallery showcases an array of works by local artists and is curated by Sara LeDonne.

Tuesday – Friday from 10-4 and before curtain on show days.

Current Exhibit

Photography by Eric Perkins

“The key to my work is that I stopped, physically, to observe something. I raised my camera and recorded my observations.” – Julius Shulman

Eric Perkins is a man of many values and continued determination. Devoted to photography and the arts from an early age, Eric attended NYU as a film major and continued his education at UNC-Greensboro, and The New School in New York City.

Moving to New York City in the early 70’s Mr. Perkins worked for 23 years as business manager to the preeminent fashion photographer, Francesco Scavullo. This collaboration resulted in his authorship of seven published books, mostly focusing on fashion modeling and health & fitness. Other management positions followed, culminating in his move to Asheville, NC in 2016 to further pursue his photography and other business ventures.

Instagram: @ericperkinsphoto
website: ericperkins.smugmug.com