Act 1 Productions
A highly-acclaimed performing arts company featuring plays, musicals, children’s theatre, dance concerts, and film festivals.
Act 1 is the producing arm of the DeSales University Division of Performing Arts. We encourage our students to bring truth and beauty to the world through their art forms in Theatre, Dance and TV/Film.
We invite you to join us in our celebration of truth and beauty in our production of plays, musicals, children’s theatre, dance concerts, and film festivals. Most of our productions can be seen either in person or streamed* — call or email our box office for your tickets and your preference.
The DeSales TV/Film students have been instrumental in filming these productions to deliver them in a virtual format. In addition, the Act 1 faculty and guest directors and designers continue to enjoy the challenge of discovering new ways to design sets, costumes, lighting, and sound for both social distancing and filmed live productions.
*Streaming rights are limited by the licensing organizations; not all shows are permitted to be streamed.
DeSales University Film Festival
A celebration of the diverse range of genres and styles form the next generation of DeSales filmmakers.
March 23rd 2024 - 7:30 PM
Upcoming Productions
48-Hour Screendance Challenge Returns to DeSales
The Division of Performing Arts is pleased to reintroduce its annual 48-Hour Screendance Challenge. This online event will premiere at 8 p.m. on Sunday, November 1, 2020. Please note that, due to careful timing, this event will only be available starting at 8 p.m. on Sunday, November 1. Following the event there will be a live Zoom Q&A for anyone interested.
“What we see is a private affair. A sight is received through the act of looking. It is shaped by our earliest experiences of light, space, movement, tactility, and all forms of sensation, both physically/relational and emotional, tracing our individual, unique embodiment. How do we frame our experience?”
In an effort designed to foster collaborations between the departments within the Division of Performing Arts at DeSales University, students have been working together to create a Screendance all under the constraint of time. The students have 48 hours to go through the entire process of filming and producing a Screendance, which entails: directing, rehearsing, lighting, filming, and editing.
The 48-Hour Screendance Challenge will feature five teams, and their work will be adjudicated by this year’s faculty curators, E’lise Jumes and Brian McDermott.
“I invite you to question the world alongside us as the Screendance challenge teams embark on a creative endeavor that is a result of what this pandemic has inspired many people to do,” says Jumes.
The DeSales Division of Performing Arts’ “virtual” edition of the Fall 2020 48-Hour Screendance Challenge will feature a live Q&A with the teams after the show. Viewers are asked to please stay tuned after the performance.
The event is $5 per viewer. Tickets are available online at www.desales.edu/act1 or by calling the Labuda Center Box Office at 610.282.3192.
The Labuda Center for Performing Arts
The Labuda Center for the Performing Arts is home to most Act 1 events. It is handicapped accessible, and features the 473 seat Main Stage Theatre and the 187 seat Schubert Theatre.
GPS Location: 2755 Station Ave., Center Valley, PA 18032
