3:36 p.m., Oct. 5, 2007--Seven graduates of UD's Professional Theatre Training Program (PTTP) have 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.

“Milwaukee Repertory is one of the premiere regional theatres in the country, and it is wonderful that so many of our graduates are working there,” said Sanford Robbins, director of UD's PTTP, who also directed the Milwaukee performance. “Cyrano is just one example of the success and visibility of our graduates all over the country. Currently, two of our graduates are playing leading roles in Othello at the Cincinnati Playhouse, another Tony Award-winning regional theatre. And another UD PTTP graduate is playing the lead in Doubt at the prestigious Alley Theater in Houston. We are proud that our students are so present at the leading theatres in America.”
Robbins said that he was especially pleased that so many UD PTTP graduates are key members of theatres with resident professional companies. “Such companies are vital cultural assets of the communities in which they reside,” he said.
Leads in the Milwaukee production, which runs through Oct. 7, are 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) complement the cast, playing numerous roles. And two other graduates of PTTP, before it relocated to UD, play supporting roles.

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

“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,” Jacques wrote.

A review by Peggy Sue Dunigan, theatre critic for the arts Web zine Vital Source, had similar kudos for the cast.

“Cyrano is a tour de force for graduates of the [PTTP],” Dunigan wrote. “Ernst creates a believable and honorable Cyrano....[and] delivers an exceptional persona true to playwright Edmond Rostand's panache.

“Two other graduates of the PTTP include Erin Partin...and Andre Martin,” continued Dunigan. “Both light the stage as lovers and actors, especially Partin as she imbues Roxanne with comely dignity.”

Article by Becca Hutchinson