2017 Master Teacher: Alfred Molina
"The prospect of working in such a memorable and historic place of theatre with devoted and experienced actors is both humbling and inspiring."Alfred Molina, 2017 Master Teacher
Our 2017 Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship Class will focus on developing fresh ways into character work through text analysis and casting against type.
About Alfred Molina
Alfred Molina is an accomplished London-born actor whose diverse and distinguished gallery of performances has led to a lengthy and triumphant career. Some of his most unforgettable performances include portraying hedonistic Mexican muralist Diego Rivera in “Frida” (2002 / SAG Awards nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role), Jewish milkman Tevye in the 2004 Broadway revival of the musical “Fiddler on the Roof” (Tony nominated for Best Actor), deranged drug dealer Rahad Jackson in the critically acclaimed film “Boogie Nights” (1997), comic book villain Doc Ock in the blockbuster hit sequel “Spider-Man 2” (2004) and the John Logan play “Red” (2009-2010 / Tony Award nominated for Best Lead Actor) in which Molina portrayed the artist Mark Rothko. He can also be seen in the hit movies “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (1981), “Chocolat” (2000), “The Da Vinci Code” (2006), and “The Truth About Emmanuel” (2013), along with many other films, TV, theatre, and animation.
Recently Molina showed off his chops in the Ryan Murphy directed HBO film “The Normal Heart” (2014 / Emmy Nominated for Outstanding Best Supporting Actor), HBO’s critically acclaimed miniseries “Show Me a Hero” (2015) for director Paul Haggis, TBS comedy series “Angie Tribeca” (2016), Paramount Pictures feature “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” (2016) co-starring with Tina Fey, Tom Holloway's play "And No More Shall We Part" for the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Eugene O'Neill's Pulitzer Prize winning drama "A Long Day's Journey into Night" for the Geffen Playhouse, indie feature “Sister Cities” for director Sean Hanish, and most recently British period drama miniseries “Close to the Enemy” opposite Jim Sturgess and Freddie Highmore for the BBC. Currently, he can be seen in the Ryan Murphy produced FX series “Feud” opposite Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon.
Still in the pipeline are Showtime’s comedy-drama series “I’m Dying Up Here,” indie features: “Message from the King” opposite Teresa Palmer and Luke Evans and “The Headhunter’s Calling” opposite Gerard Butler, feature films: “Road to Capri” opposite Virginia Madsen, an adaptation of the Janet Fitch novel “Paint it Black,” and “Breakable You” opposite Tony Shalhoub, Holly Hunter and Anna Paquin, and animated films: “Henchman” for Bron Studios and “Hey Arnold: The Jungle Movie” for Nickelodeon.
Master Teachers (2009-2016)
Every year, Ten Chimneys selects and collaborates with a Master Teacher for the Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship Program — a luminary stage actor whose talent, generosity, ability to teach, and dedication to mentoring are deeply admired by stage actors and the entire theatre community. The Master Teacher for each year is a key collaborator in the program, working with Ten Chimneys staff to develop the curriculum, content, and focus of the artistic elements of the experience. During the first two years of the program, the top regional theatre actors in the U.S. spent the artistic portion of their Ten Chimneys immersion delving into Shakespeare — with the late actress Lynn Redgrave in 2009 and renowned Shakespearean Barry Edelstein in 2010. In 2011, they explored Chekhov with award-winning actress Olympia Dukakis, and in 2012, the Lunt-Fontanne Fellows focused on American Musical Theatre with Broadway legend Joel Grey. The 2013 program explored spontaneity on stage, and was led by American icon, Alan Alda, and in 2014 the Fellows studied works related to the Lunts' and their illustrious friends with award-winning actor David Hyde Pierce . In 2015 we welcomed Phylicia Rashad, who led the class in roles that were "against type" and differentiated from the characters they typically were cast in. Our 2016 Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship Class, with Master Teacher Jason Alexander focused on the physicalization of choice - the powerful collaboration of mind and body in building a performance.