Alumni find success on stage, behind the scenes

Seven graduates of UD’s Professional Theatre Training Program (PTTP) recently garnered rave reviews from theatre critics in Milwaukee for their performances in Cyrano De Bergerac, the classic play by Edmond Rostand.

Showcased as the season opener for the Milwaukee Repertory Theater, one of the leading regional theatres in the country, the ambitious three-hour, five-act play is set in the 1600s and follows the life of the real Cyrano de Bergerac, a swashbuckling poet and soldier in the French Army.

Leads in the Milwaukee production, which ran through Oct. 7, were played by PTTP graduates Lee Ernst, ’92,, as Cyrano; Erin Partin, ’07, as Roxanne; and Andre Martin, ’07, as Christian. Cameron Knight, ’07, and Ben Reigel, ’99, complemented the cast, playing numerous roles. And two other graduates of PTTP, before it relocated to UD, played supporting roles.

“Ernst is a physical actor who dotes on perfecting disguises and bits of stage combat and movement, but he is also capable of attaining sublime levels of sensitivity and human vulnerability,” wrote Damien Jacques, theatre critic for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

“Roxanne, the comely woman he loves but refuses to pursue, is more than an ingénue. Erin Partin brings a sense of grounded maturity and inner wisdom, as well as beauty, to the role.”

Other PTTP graduates are working on stage and behind the scenes at some prominent productions. Among them are:

John Gruber, ’07, stage manager for Cirque du Soleil’s Zumanity production in Las Vegas; Chris Digsby, ’07, stage manager for Cirque du Soleil’s Mystère, in Las Vegas; Merril Whittenberger, ’03, who builds and maintains the props for Cirque du Soleil’s Love, the show based on the music of the Beatles, also in Las Vegas; Terence Alexander, ’95, a stage manager for Mary Poppins on Broadway; and Lauren Hickman, ’03, a resident stage manager for the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago.