Ashland, Ore.--Oregon Shakespeare Festival actor Dan Donohue was honored as one of the inaugural Lunt-Fontanne Fellows today. He will receive a cash fellowship and will participate in an intensive week-long master class and retreat at Ten Chimneys, the National Historic Landmark estate of Broadway legends Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne.
The content and structure of the daily master class activities will be shaped by the expertise of the master teacher, and the actress Lynn Redgrave will be the first master teacher in the Fellowship Program. Ms. Redgrave and the 2008-09 Lunt-Fontanne Fellows will focus extensively on Shakespeare.
"I feel honored to be included with such an inspiring list of actors, and to be asked to take part in what is sure to be a rare and rewarding experience," Donohue said. "It is a wonderful and unique opportunity to further my work--to learn and grow as an actor. I consider The Oregon Shakespeare Festival my artistic home, and I could not be more pleased and proud than to represent it in this program."
Ten Chimneys invited 11 of the most accomplished regional theatres in the country to nominate multiple actors for consideration to be named Lunt-Fontanne Fellows. All of the actors who were nominated for this honor have 20-plus years of experience as professional actors, are widely considered among the top actors in their community; and are widely respected by audiences, directors, and fellow actors for their talent, dedication to craft, attention to detail, and passionate pursuit of excellence.
With the guidance of a National Advisory Council, Ten Chimneys Foundation selected these nominees to be the inaugural Lunt-Fontanne Fellows.
The 11 selected actors are:
SUZANNE BOUCHARD: Seattle Repertory Theatre
DAN DONOHUE: Oregon Shakespeare Festival (Ashland)
LEE ERNST: Milwaukee Repertory Theater
MARY BETH FISHER: Goodman Theatre (Chicago)
JON GENTRY: Arizona Theatre Company (Phoenix and Tucson)
DONALD GRIFFIN: Alliance Theatre (Atlanta)
FRANCIS GUINAN: Steppenwolf Theatre Company (Chicago)
NAOMI JACOBSON: Arena Stage (Washington, D.C.)
KIM STAUNTON: Denver Center Theatre Company
TODD WAITE: Alley Theatre (Houston)
JACK WILLIS: American Conservatory Theatre (San Francisco)
Writing to Ten Chimneys in his testimonial for Donohue, Artistic Director Bill Rauch wrote:
"Dan Donohue is a genius. I don't use that word often or lightly. His idiosyncratic way with language, both classical and contemporary, is always surprising and yet completely true to whatever character he is playing. Indeed, he reveals the truth in what it means to try (and fail) to express one's self with language. As a member of the acting company at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, he has played over 30 roles in 23 plays. Highlights of his remarkable career here in Ashland including his recent Iago in Othello, Dvornichek in Tom Stoppard's Rough Crossing, Mark Antony in Julius Caesar, Edgar in King Lear, and the three year cycle playing Hal in Henry IV, Parts I & II and Henry in Henry V. Highlights away from Ashland include Scar in The Lion King on Broadway, Vincent van Gogh in the world premiere of Steven Dietz's Inventing Van Gogh at Arizona Theatre Company, Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream at Seattle Rep, and several productions with Stephen Wadsworth including Triumph of Love and The Game of Love and Chance. He is a tireless workhorse, never satisfied with his work but always pushing himself and his collaborators to find new angles and greater truth. He is also a gentleman, with a great sense of humor and a joyful collaborative spirit. I am deeply proud that Dan is an ongoing member of OSF's acting company.
For more about the Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship Program visit: www.tenchimneys.org.
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