The list of theater royalty, starting with Noel Coward, Laurence Olivier and Helen Hayes, who have spent time working at Ten Chimneys in Genesee Depot is becoming longer this week with the arrival of actress and director Olympia Dukakis.
Ten Chimneys is, of course, the iconic Waukesha County estate of the late Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, the acting couple who were revered for their talent as well as their generosity. Dukakis is conducting workshops on the plays of Anton Chekhov for 10 hand-picked stage actors from around the country. Several local actors will also participate on a more limited basis.
It's called the Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship Program, and this is the third summer Ten Chimneys has hosted it. Performing Shakespeare was the focus the first two years, and the late Lynn Redgrave and director Barry Edelstein were the leaders.
"Several actors who participated the first year commented that Ten Chimneys was evocative of Chekhov," Ten Chimneys Foundation president Sean Malone said last week. "It reminded them of Chekhov."
He further explained that Dukakis was chosen to lead this year's program because of her expertise and passion for the Russian writer's plays. She has frequently acted in and directed them.
"The idea is to explore the plays and the characters. Unlike what you would get in a rehearsal, the work is not production oriented," Malone said.
The Lunts were famous for their mentoring of other theater artists, and the program is designed for mid-career regional theater actors who have attained a high level of achievement. They are the veteran artists to whom others look for guidance and inspiration.
"Where do mentors go to be mentored?" Malone rhetorically asked. "These people seldom have the time to take a retreat." Ten Chimneys is the answer.
This year's class of fellows has representatives from the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, Penumbra Theatre in St. Paul, the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, the Dallas Theater Center, the South Coast Rep in Costa Mesa, Calif., the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Arden Theatre Company in Philadelphia and the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. The Milwaukee Rep's James Pickering was chosen to be a fellow, but family obligations required him to withdraw.
Local actors who will participate in some of the workshops include Ruth Schudson, Norman Moses, C. Michael Wright, Matt Daniels, Patrick Lawlor and Jonathan West.
Two programs are being offered to the public this week. At 8 p.m. Friday, Dukakis will tell theater stories, do a little acting and answer questions from the audience. At the same time Saturday, the ten acting fellows and Dukakis will pull back the curtain and share what they have been doing this week with snippets from the workshops.
Tickets are $25 and $50, and a few premium seats at $100 may still be available. Call (262) 968-4110 to order.
Damien has been around so long, he was at Summerfest the night George Carlin was arrested for speaking the seven dirty words you can't say on TV. He was also at the Uptown Theatre the night Bruce Springsteen's first Milwaukee concert was interrupted for three hours by a bomb scare. Damien was reviewing the concert for the Milwaukee Journal. He wrote for the Journal and Journal Sentinel for 37 years, the last 29 as theater critic.
During those years, Damien served two terms on the board of the American Theatre Critics Association, a term on the board of the association's foundation, and he studied the Latinization of American culture in a University of Southern California fellowship program. Damien also hosted his own arts radio program, "Milwaukee Presents with Damien Jaques," on WHAD for eight years.
Travel, books and, not surprisingly, theater top the list of Damien's interests. A news junkie, he is particularly plugged into politics and international affairs, but he also closely follows the Brewers, Packers and Marquette baskeball. Damien lives downtown, within easy walking distance of most of the theaters he attends.
