If you’re thinking that the American Century Theater production of “Stage Door” is the same thing as the 1937 film of the same name, think again. Written in 1936 by Edna Ferber and George S. Kaufman, the original “Stage Door” is quite a different animal, with different points to make and different ways to make them. Although both works take place at a boarding house for young actresses in New York’s Upper West Side, the Ferber/Kaufman version has a definite bias toward theater and against film. It’s the 1930s and most people have no spare money, particularly those trying to survive by working on or around Broadway.

It takes a while for the cast at A.C.T. to hit its stride and for the cast of 16 young actresses to appear relaxed and ready to take on the fast-moving Ferber/Kaufman script. But as they ease into their roles, that rich, quirky and unpredictable script swirls the young women from subplot to subplot, allowing them to comment on economics, artistic tastes, men, love, money, romance and Hollywood.