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Mission

Ten Chimneys Foundation’s Mission

  • Preserve and Share the buildings, furnishings, collections, and grounds of a national treasure – Ten Chimneys, the estate created by Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne.
  • Serve as a continuing resource and powerful inspiration for theatre, the arts, and the art of living.
  • Offer public programs consistent with the Lunts’ varied interests and core values, while maintaining the integrity and intimacy of this extraordinary estate.

Ten Chimneys is a National Historic Landmark, a “Save America’s Treasures” project site, and is listed in the National Registry of Historic Places. Ten Chimneys is owned by the non-profit 501(C)3 organization Ten Chimneys Foundation, Inc.

Top Actors From Across The Country Have Transformative Experience At Ten Chimneys

August 05, 2009

Ten of the most respected and talented actors from across the country, representing ten of the nation’s premier regional theaters, have just completed a week of intensive study and reflection on the art of acting, led by master teacher and revered Shakespearean actress, LYNN REDGRAVE. The highly competitive Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship Program took place July 13-19 at TEN CHIMNEYS, the inspirational National Historic Landmark estate of Broadway legends Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne. Answering the question, “where do our nation’s acting mentors go to be mentored?” the inaugural Lunt-Fontanne Fellows journeyed to Ten Chimneys from across the country to study with Ms. Redgrave and – literally – walk in the footsteps of the Lunts’ closest pals and protégés (Helen Hayes, Noël Coward, Alexander Woollcott, Katharine Hepburn, Laurence Olivier, Uta Hagen, Montgomery Clift, Julie Harris, and on and on…).

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS AVAILABLE You can view “video highlight reels” of Lynn Redgrave and the inaugural Lunt-Fontanne Fellows, including reflections on their experiences and excerpts from the Concluding Presentation, when Lynn and the Fellows treated a live audience to a behind-the-scenes look at the master class process. The videos are available at http://www.tenchimneys.org/videos or http://www.youtube.com/user/tenchimneys.

DAY-BY-DAY DESCRIPTIONS OF THE WEEK AVAILABLE You can click on the headlines below to see the daily updates and photos that were posted throughout the Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship Program week.

1. Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship Program Off To Perfect Start

2. Fellows Begin Powerful Theatrical Work During Day Two of the Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship Program

3. LFFP Day Three: Lynn Redgrave Welcomes Milwaukee Actors and Fellows Explore the Estate

4. Day Four of Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship Program Inspires and Surprises

5. Lynn Redgrave Delights Public Audience on Day Five of Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship Program

6. Sixth Day of Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship Program Inspires Public

7. Inaugural Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship Program Week Concludes

The Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship Program is a groundbreaking national program to serve regional theatre actors and the future of American theatre. The program, created by Ten Chimneys Foundation, is a fitting tribute to Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, who are widely regarded as the greatest acting couple in the history of the American theatre. During their lifetime, the Lunts’ beloved home and retreat, Ten Chimneys, was considered the “center of the theatrical universe;” the world’s most-talented actors and most-famous faces journeyed repeatedly to Ten Chimneys for inspiration, rejuvenation, collaboration, and mentorship. The Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship Program continues that legacy, serving current and future generations in the same way the Lunts’ served theirs.

Master teacher LYNN REDGRAVE brought a lifetime of rich theatre experiences to her role as the mentor to the mentors, leading the top regional theatre actors in the country through intensive study and conversation centered on Shakespeare. “This is such a talented group of master actors,” shared Ms. Redgrave, “and what Ten Chimneys Foundation is doing with this program is simply astounding. This kind of opportunity simply hasn’t existed before, anywhere. And it’s so important; it’s so meaningful. I am proud and excited to be a part of this remarkable week.”

Following are the inaugural Lunt-Fontanne Fellows, along with their nominating theatres:

Suzanne Bouchard: Seattle Repertory Theatre

Dan Donohue: Oregon Shakespeare Festival

Lee Ernst: Milwaukee Repertory Theater

Mary Beth Fisher: Goodman Theatre

Jon Gentry: Arizona Theatre Company

Donald Griffin: Alliance Theatre

Francis Guinan: Steppenwolf Theatre Company

Naomi Jacobson: Arena Stage

Kim Staunton: Denver Center Theatre Company

Jack Willis: American Conservatory Theater

At the end of the week, Lynn Redgrave and these top actors from around the country kept saying, over and over, how important this week was to them personally, and how important this program is to American theatre. Many shared that the program has been honestly transformational, that they are leaving Ten Chimneys changed – and inspired. One Fellow, Naomi Jacobsen, from Arena Stage, expressed her feelings by saying that she was looking at her career and her life, now, as “pre-Ten Chimneys or post-Ten Chimneys,” to which the rest of the Fellows and Lynn Redgrave voiced their enthusiastic agreement. There was much discussion of the fact that being named a Lunt-Fontanne Fellow is a permanent designation, not a one-week honor. And everyone in the group embraced and celebrated this enduring title.

The Fellows all say that they have a renewed commitment to mentorship. They are eager to share stories from their inspirational week at Ten Chimneys with colleagues and friends (“civilians” and actors alike) around the country. They are eager to stay connected with one another, and to continue to support each other’s work. And they are eager to return to Ten Chimneys for a variety of exciting artistic pursuits (for example, a number of Fellows are interested in developing one-person shows and having early workshop-readings at Ten Chimneys.) Lynn and the Fellows all agreed to serve on a National Advisory Board for the Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship Program – to help Ten Chimneys Foundation make subsequent years of the program as successful as this first year has been.

On the last day of the program, Lynn and the Fellows enjoyed a final walk around the estate – strolling through the gardens, dipping their feet in the pool, admiring the many birch trees (which Alexander Woollcott gave the Lunts as a gift), posing by the clothesline, telling stories in the log-cabin Studio, and recreating a few historic photographs of the Lunts at Ten Chimneys. As the Lunt-Fontanne Fellows parted ways to their home cities across the country, they did so grudgingly and with many tears – but they did so with a strong bond, with a shared purpose, and with the spirit of Alfred, of two Lynns, of Ten Chimneys, and of the Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship Program.

LFFP Photos by Jim Brozek Photography © Ten Chimneys Foundation

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