PCPA's Kitty Balay Selected For Tyne Daly Master Class

Every year, since 2009, The Ten Chimneys Foundation, which facilitates the Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship Program, brings together just ten of the nation's top regional theatre actors to work with a world-renowned Master Teacher. This year, PCPA's Kitty Balay was selected to join leading actors and acting teachers who were chosen from an exclusive list of only ten national theatres. The actors will participate in a week of master classes headed by distinguished actress Tyne Daly from July 14 - 20, 2019. The intensive master class will take place at the estate of theatre legends Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne in Genesee Depot, Wisconsin. This is a life-altering opportunity for the selected theatre actors to expand their creative and mentoring abilities.

The 10 selected theatres presented their nominees to the Ten Chimneys Foundation which in turn consulted with a distinguished board of national advisors in collaboration with top regional theatres from around the country in determining the finalists for this year's master class.

PCPA Artistic Director, Mark Booher who nominated Kitty Balay for the Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship said, "Kitty Balay is a treasured theatre artist, artistic advocate, and civic engager. Kitty's creative relationship with PCPA - Pacific Conservatory Theatre began 30 years ago! From those early stages of her professional career until today, Kitty has refined her terrific gifts into powerful skills, while she has forged deep relationships with her colleagues, generations of students, and the community we all serve. Her vibrant artistic career has been built in a context that makes a constant, direct connection between excellent professional practice and learning. I am honored to call Kitty Balay colleague and friend, and very grateful to the Ten Chimneys Foundation for the recognition and rejuvenation the Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship will rightly afford her through this visionary program."

In addition to Kitty Balay of PCPA, the nine other chosen actors, whom Ten Chimneys considers the "best of the best" in American theatre, are: Charin Alvarez - Goodman Theatre, Nancy Carroll - Huntington Theatre Company, Donna English - Paper Mill Playhouse, Sam Gregory - Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Reggie Jackson - Intiman Theatre, Paolo Montalban - Paper Mill Playhouse, Joey Parsons - Yale Repertory Theatre, Herbert Siguenza - La Jolla Playhouse, and Craig Wallace - Shakespeare Theatre Company.

Kitty Balay has been a Resident Artist with PCPA since 1989. She has appeared in more than 85 productions including Shakespeare in Love, Mamma Mia!, Disney's Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, The Glass Menagerie, Richard III, Hamlet, Always...Patsy Cline (three times),Gypsy, and Hello Dolly. She has directed Million Dollar Quartet, A Little Night Music, The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence, andTrying. She has also worked with South Coast Rep, Utah Shakespeare Festival, and Sacramento Theatre Company. Ms. Balay teaches Voice & Speech in the PCPA Conservatory and is a member of Actors' Equity Association.

Tyne Daly is an award-winning actress of stage, television and film and is a Madison native. She had been nominated for a Tony Award twice, winning as Best Actress for her portrayal of Rose in Gypsy. Ms. Daly's additional work on Broadway includes performances in It Shoulda Been You, Mothers and Sons, Master Class, Rabbit Hole, The Seagull, and That Summer-That Fall as well as numerous other stage credits. She has been nominated for an Emmy Award a total of 17 times, winning six, four as Lead Actress in a Drama for Cagney and Lacey, and again as Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in both Christy and Judging Amy.

Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne were widely known for their dedication to the next generation of actors. The Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship Program continues that tradition of mentorship at Ten Chimneys by offer the nation's accomplished actors the rare and deeply needed opportunity to grow artistically, hone their craft, renew their passion for their art form, deepen their commitment to mentorship, and form a national community of Lunt-Fontanne Fellows, all under the direction of a renowned Master Teacher.

Past Master Teachers have included Alan Alda, Lynn Redgrave, Olympia Dukakis, Joel Grey, and Barry Edelstein. For more information on the fellowship visit www.tenchimneys.org

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