The Professional Theatre Training Program (PTTP), the College's premier graduate curriculum for the actors, stage managers and theatre technicians of tomorrow, has honored six of its students with the first Polly Russell Dowling Fellowships.

Each fellowship, an annual award of $3,000, is designed to recognize those students who best embody and practice the principles of the program: well-being, integrity, service, responsibility, communication, possibility and accomplishment. Recipients are selected annually by PTTP faculty.

The fellowships are funded by individual gifts and $1 million from the MBNA Foundation, given to honor the memory of Mrs. Dowling, wife of Arthur Dowling of Houston, Texas, and mother of Cynthia Dowling Tanner and Louise Dowling Roselle. At the ceremony announcing the fellowships, Roselle said her mother was a native New Yorker, and other than her family and her country, there was very little that she loved more than the theatre. "We are very pleased that this fellowship program has been established in her name," she said.

The actors

With an interesting face audiences are sure to remember, Lynn Berg proves that you don't have to be from New York or Los Angeles to become an actor. Just like him, you can be from Idaho.

Berg had just finished his undergraduate degree at Boise State University and was working at the Idaho Shakespeare Festival when he met Steve Tague, UD associate professor of theatre. Berg says he was looking for a graduate program, and the timing was perfect for applying to PTTP.

"The program helps you open yourself up," Berg says. "You get to try new techniques and learn what works for you and what doesn't. It's valuable because we all know that, once we are out of here, no one is going to have the time to sit down and work with us on the use of our bodies and voices."

When it comes to competition among actors for roles, Berg says there isn't much of that within PTTP. "Roles here are prescriptive," he explains. "When you are given a role, there are specific things in it that you need to work on, something you can develop."

Megan Noble, of Arlington, Texas, has the sweet face and piles of blond curls that naturally give her the look of a leading lady. She attended seminary for a year before deciding to pursue an acting career.

"Megan is an exceptionally gifted young woman," Sanford Robbins, chairperson of the theatre department, says. "Her enthusiasm and the courage and responsibility she demonstrates by fully throwing herself into new possibilities with great freedom and no constraints are an inspiration to her classmates and the faculty."

Last summer, Noble says, she had the experience of a lifetime, traveling to Cyprus with theatre Prof. Heinz-Uwe Haus and performing the title role in Medea in that country's ancient amphitheatres, where some of the performances were presented in a mixture of Greek and English.

Being a Polly Russell Dowling Fellow is "a genuine blessing," Noble says. "It enables me to pursue what I love to do. I know it will be hard to make it as an actor and my future will be somewhat uncertain, so these three years are a wonderful gift."

Ricardo Zeger is a personable young man who counts portraying the lion in Androcles and the Lion for the children's wing of the Texas Shakespeare Festival as one of his favorite roles.

Reared in Mexico City, Zeger moved to Los Angeles after high school, where he worked and studied for six years before a chance meeting with some PTTP alumni sparked his interest in UD.

"Someone told me about this place in Delaware where you are funded to get trained and become a better actor," he says.

"Sometimes, I still can't believe it. It's such a supportive atmosphere."

The stage manager

Brian Newman, of Baton Rouge, admits that he loses sleep the night before the opening of a show. But, that's little wonder, given all the things a stage manager "manages" in the course of a performance.

At Louisiana State University, Newman was working toward a career as a lighting designer when he was asked to stage-manage a show. He was hooked, he says, and has focused on stage management ever since.

"Basically, a stage manager manages what a director wants to accomplish," Newman explains. "You manage the big picture and the small details. During rehearsals, a stage manager makes sure the actors know what they need to work on at any given time. You manage the props and scenery and make sure they get to the rehearsal hall."

During performances, stage managers sit in the booth and call all sound, light and backstage cues. The stage manager also watches a performance for such slips as an actor accidentally changing his or her stage movement or adding something that isn't in the script.

Newman says PTTP "is the first time I've had mentors and colleagues. The exchange of ideas is exciting. We really are a team, and the job itself is great--it's always fresh, always new."

The crew

Jeff Stiefel, of Berkley Heights, N.J., says he has a "love for supporting the big picture but no interest in being on stage." And, while his first love is working on the electrical aspects of a show, he also enjoys props and scenery.

Although he has worked on a number of shows over the years, he has no favorite. "I have a general love for all theatre, musical theatre and opera. I'm just fascinated by the magic that has to happen and can happen in the creation of a show," he says.

Bill Browning, UD professor of theatre and head of the technical production area of PTTP, says, "We hired Jeff as an electrician for a year during our last alumni season, and he was such a positive force that we were really impressed. We encouraged him to apply to the program."

Browning describes Stiefel as especially good at supervising undergraduates. "They know from his first words that they will be inspired to work with him," he says.

Tomoko Yamaguchi, of Japan, found PTTP on the Internet and knew the program was for her.

"I really like supporting actors behind the scenes, during rehearsals and during a show," she says. "You're not seen, but you are a very important part of every performance."

Yamaguchi's favorite area is working in props--managing the list of things needed for a production and building furniture for sets. And, according to Browning, she manages those prop lists very well.

"Tomoko has exhibited the most extraordinary ability to be organized," he says. "She is more organized than anyone I know."

Before joining PTTP, Yamaguchi had little construction experience and has had to conquer a fear of power tools while learning a new trade. Last summer, she served as the assistant props master for the Pennsylvania Shakespearean Festival, where she built furniture for plays as diverse as Driving Miss Daisy and Pinocchio.

--Beth Thomas