Andrea Barrier has been a resident costume designer for the PTTP since its inception. Ms. Barrier headed the Costume Construction Program at the University Of Wisconsin-Milwaukee for 10 years before coming to the University of Delaware. Her professional costuming experience includes work at New York's Public Theatre, Julliard, The Goodman Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Milwaukee Ballet, American Players Theatre and McCarter Theatre. She continues to free lance as a costume designer, most recently at Delaware Theatre Company, The University of the Arts and the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival. Ms Barrier is a graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology with additional study at the University of Wisconsin, The New School for Social Research and The School for Visual Arts.
Peter Brakhage resident technical director and technical production faculty
Peter Brakhage came to the University of Delaware from Center Stage in Baltimore where he served for two seasons as Master Carpenter. His construction experience spans more than 20 years and includes work in the shops of the Goodman Theatre and Actors Theatre of Louisville. Among the designers for whom he has constructed sets are Paul Owen, Alex Okun, John Conklin, John Lee Beatty, and Michael Yeargin. Mr. Brakhage has a background in science and a mastery of woodworking, metalworking, and other technical production disciplines that he brings to the processes and management of scenery construction.
Joann Browning has served as Associate Chair of Theatre and Associate Director of the Professional Theatre Training Program since 1989, teaching movement and dance to actors and serving as resident choreographer for PTTP productions. Formerly a member of the Kathryn Posin Dance Company in New York, Professor Browning has created and coached movement, choreographed, and provided musical staging for a wide range of professional theatres and dance companies, including the Alley Theatre, the Delaware Theatre Company, The Enchantment Theatre of Philadelphia, and Milwaukee Dance Theatre. She has conducted workshops utilizing the work of Rudolph Laban and Francois Delsarte in London, Japan, Thailand, and for The Voice Foundation in Philadelphia. Professor Browning was formerly the Acting Associate Dean of Fine Arts and Head of Dance at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and prior to that was a faculty member in the Dance Division at Southern Methodist University. She is a member of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE) and the Association of Theatre Movement Educators (ATME). She received her B.F.A. and M.F.A. in Dance at Southern Methodist University.
William Browning founded, and has served as head of, the Technical Production Program of the PTTP since its inception. Mr. Browning has designed scenery and/or lighting for the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, the Frankel Theatre and the Oulu City Theatre in Finland, Trier City Theatre in Germany, Next Generation Theatre, and Erie Playhouse. He has been an active member of the United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT) since 1975, and currently serves as the Technical Production Commission’s Associate Editor for TD&T (USITT’s quarterly publication). He received his M.F.A. in Technical Theatre from the University of Iowa and has also taught at San Francisco State University, Centre College of Kentucky, Wright State University, and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Deena Burke has coached dialects, voice, speech, and text for the Shakespeare Theatre Company, Center Stage, The McCarter Theatre, Everyman's Theatre, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Old Globe Theater, Seattle Repertory Theatre, ACT, Empty Space, Delaware Theatre Company, Grove Shakespeare Festival, Tacoma Actor's Guild, and the Intiman Theatre where she coached 21 productions and also served as Assistant to Director Bart Sher on Homebody/Kabul. She has taught for numerous theatre companies and institutions including California Institute of the Arts, University of California San Diego, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and the University of Washington. She developed the Voice and Speech component of the MFA program at the Old Globe/University of San Diego, and served as Head of Voice and Speech at the Cornish College of the Arts for 14 years. Her acting credits include major roles at the Old Globe, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, ACT, Tacoma Actor's Guild, Pacific Theatre Ensemble, and the Group Theater. Her voice can be heard on ads for Alaska Airlines, Nordstrom's Perfume and Petites, and Sleep Train USA, among others. Ms. Burke is a graduate of The Juilliard School.
Rick Cunningham heads the M. F. A. Stage Management program for the PTTP. An A.E.A. Stage Manager since 1980 he is nearing 100 professional credits under L.O.R.T., Casino, S.P.T., U/RTA, L.O.A contracts and has premiered works by more than 30 playwrights including Jane Martin, Adrian Hall, Sheri Wilner, Tazewell Thompson, Robert Schenkkan, Lee Blessing, Richard Dresser and Romulus Linney. He spent six seasons at Actors Theatre of Louisville as a Production Stage Manager/Resident Director. He has also taught stage management at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Auburn University and Xavier University. He holds an M.F.A. in Directing from Tulane University. He served as Coordinator of the Stage Management Mentoring Project for the United States Institute for Theatre Technology from 2003-2006 and continues to freelance as a stage manager and event manager. Stage Management: Bulgarian Theatre Festival (Sopia); Roy Hart Theatre of France; German Theater Festival (Bremen); Shakespeare For My Father (Lynn Redgrave); All The King’s Men (Adrian Hall); Constant Star (Tazewell Thompson); Contemporary American Theater Festival; Delaware Theatre Company; Trump Plaza Casino Atlantic City; Rosebud Theatre Company of NYC; Event Management: Gubernatorial Inaugurations for Massachusetts and Delaware; National Football League; Points of Light Foundation; Kennedy Center; AstroDome; SuperDome; FedEx Field; First Night Wilmington ‘97–02.
Stefanie Hansen joined the technical production faculty of the PTTP in 2004. She is a member of United Scenic Artists Local 829, USITT, and SPAM (Society of Property Artisan Managers). Her prop artisan and prop master credits include The Old Globe, McCarter Theatre, Intiman Theatre, Lake George Opera Festival, San Diego Junior Theatre, Paper Mill Playhouse, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, and St. Louis Repertory Theatre. As a scenic designer and assistant scenic designer her credits include Broadway, Off- Broadway, Delaware Theatre Company, Idaho Shakespeare Festival, SeaWorld San Diego, Dreamcatcher Repertory, Paper Mill Playhouse, La Jolla Playhouse, George Street Playhouse, Barrington Stage Company, The MUNY, Playwright's Horizon, The Denver Center Theatre Company, and Seattle 5th Avenue Theatre. Ms. Hansen received her B.F.A. in design from Webster University-Conservatory of Theatre Arts and her M.F.A. in design from San Diego State University.
Heinz-Uwe Haus is an internationally renowned director and is considered one of the world’s leading experts on Bertolt Brecht. Dr. Haus is the former director of the German Democratic Republic’s Institute of Theatre. In addition to his work in Germany, he has directed for the National Theatre of Cyprus, The Greek National Theatre, and the Finnish National Theatre. In addition to his work at the PTTP, he is currently teaching at the National Theatre School of Sweden.
Leslie Reidel acting and stage management faculty
Leslie Reidel has directed for the Walnut Street Theatre, the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, New York's Young Playwright's Festival, and the Colorado, Utah, Ft. Worth, and Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festivals. He taught acting, text analysis, scene study, and directed in the actor training program at Temple University for ten years prior to participating in the establishment of the PTTP at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he served on the faculty for eleven years before the program was relocated to the University of Delaware. Mr. Reidel has served as drama critic for the Philadelphia Review and Philadelphia After Dark and was the resident director for the Great American Children’s Theatre for fourteen years. He is currently the co-artistic director of Philadelphia's Enchantment Theatre Company whose productions have been seen across the United States. He directed the New York workshop of The Magician, a new play with music, and recently received his third grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities which took him to Stratford, England for work on Shakespeare. Mr. Reidel is a graduate of Muhlenberg College and received his M.F.A. from Temple University.
Sanford Robbins director
of pttp, acting
faculty, stage management faculty
Sanford Robbins, Director of the Professional Theatre Training Program and Chairperson of the Department of Theatre, founded the PTTP and for 14 years served as its Director at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee before relocating the entire program to the University of Delaware. His directing credits include productions for the Alley Theatre, Oregon Shakespearean Festival, Utah Shakespearean Festival, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Illinois Shakespeare Festival, Los Angeles Shakespeare Festival, American Players Theatre, Delaware Theater Company, as well as multiple productions for the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, where he served for several years as a resident director. While serving as Cultural Specialist in Theatre for the U. S. State Department, Mr. Robbins directed for the national theatres of many foreign countries, including the Moscow Art Theatre Studio and the National Theatre of Cyprus. His production of Sam Shepard's The Tooth of Crime received the Thalia Award for Best Production in Finland, an award received in the previous year by Ingmar Bergman. Most recently he directed the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre's production of Cyrano De Bergerac. In addition to his work as a director, Mr. Robbins serves professional theatres as a text and verse speaking coach for Shakespeare and other classic plays, most recently for the Alley Theatre's production of Hamlet. He has taught acting, voice, verse speaking, and period style at Carnegie-Mellon University, The American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and Los Angeles City College.
Eileen Smitheimer has provided lighting and sound designs for theatre productions in regional, university, and civic organizations. Her design credits include The Walnut Street Theatre, The Arden Theatre Company, The Huntington Theatre Company, Delaware Theatre Company, Surflight Theatre, Queens Theatre in the Park, The Russian Ballet, Drexel Institute, Allentown College, Tennessee Williams Fine Arts Center, The Miniature Theatre of Chester, Hope Summer Repertory, Music Theatre North, City Theatre, First Stage, Southern Methodist University, Enchantment Theatre Company's world-touring magic show A Magical Fantasy, and the American tour of the Bolshoi Ballet. She worked for four years as Sound Designer/Engineer and Master Electrician at Southern Methodist University teaching courses in sound design/engineering and as a freelance engineer/designer at McFarlin Auditorium. Ms. Smitheimer received her B.A. and E.E.T. degrees from Purdue University. She serves as a Vice–commissioner of the Sound Commission of the United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT), is a member of the International Organization of Scenographers, Theatre Architects and Technicians (OISTAT) working group on Sound Design, and was a participant in the OISTAT Colloquium on Theater Sound Design, Royal National Theatre, London, England, the first international conference of theatrical sound designers. She was also part of the planning and staffing committee for the Sound and Lighting Design Exposition at the 2003 and 2007 Prague Quadrennial.
Fritz Szabo technical production faculty
Fritz Szabo’s design credits include Trinity Repertory Company, Freedom Theatre, Delaware Theatre Company, Gateway Playhouse, the Kennedy Center, Des Moines Metro Opera, Opera Iowa, Glimmerglass Opera, the North Carolina and Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festivals, The Cubiculo Theatre, TOMI, Ballet Iowa, Iowa Public Television, the Smithsonian, and Nashville Opera. He has taught and designed at the Boston Conservatory, Colgate University, Syracuse University, Iowa State University, Elon University, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Le Moyne College, the University of Northern Iowa, and Duke University. Mr. Szabo has a bachelor's degree in directing from Emerson College and an M.F.A. in design from Syracuse University.
Steve Tague has recently played the title roles in Titus Andronicus at the Intiman Theatre in Seattle, Hamlet and Tartuffe at the Great Lakes Theatre Festival, and Malvolio in Twelfth Night at the Arden Theatre in Philadelphia. He has acted major roles at regional theatres including Seattle Repertory Theatre, A Contemporary Theatre, Great Lakes Theatre Festival, Baltimore Center Stage, Walnut Street Theatre, and Sierra Repertory Theatre. He has been a company member of the Idaho Shakespeare Festival for the last ten seasons where his roles have included Hamlet, Macbeth, Richard III, Henry IV, Tartuffe, Prospero, Jacques, Shylock, and Benedick. His directing credits most recently include The Importance of Being Earnest at the Texas Shakespeare Festival and Henry V at the Idaho Shakespeare Festival. In addition to his work as an actor and director, Mr. Tague serves as a voice, speech, and text coach to professional theatres, most recently for the Delaware Theatre Company and the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre. He received his B.F.A. in Theatre and Music from Illinois Wesleyan University and his M.F.A. in Theatre from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Faculty
