Amy Herzberg Wins Acting Teacher Of The Year Fellowship

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Amy Herzberg, associate professor of drama in Fulbright College at the University of Arkansas, has won the 2003 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival’s (KCACTF) National Acting Teacher of the Year Fellowship. The Kennedy Center Fellowship is awarded to only one teacher of acting each year, chosen from college and university faculty across the country.

As winner of an KCACTF Regional Acting Fellowship, she attended a week-long symposium this April at the Kennedy Center, held in conjunction with the National College Theatre Festival in Washington, D.C. Winning a regional fellowship and contributing for 10 years to the KCACTF were both factors in her being chosen a National Fellow.

"Amy has coached at least 50 student actors to prepare them for competing in festival auditions, as well as directed several fully mounted works that were entered in festival competition. Our productions and students have regularly won both regional and national awards, in no small part a result of the dedication and creativity Amy brings to her work," said Andrew Gibbs, chair of the drama department.

The KCACTF awards fellowships to recognize faculty who excel in preparing college students for careers in the theatre. The fellowship paid tuition and travel costs for Herzberg to attend a two-week intensive training program at the Actors’ Center in New York City held June 1 — 14. Program faculty included Earle Gister, formerly the head of the acting program at the Yale School of Drama, Slava Dolgatchev, formerly of the Moscow Art Theatre, and award winning Broadway and film actress Olympia Dukakis.

"The experience was amazing, confirming beliefs I’ve held for a long time about acting and how to teach acting," said Herzberg. "The class of 14 included actors from far and wide, from China, the U.K., and Puerto Rico, professionals just coming off Broadway shows, and a nationally recognized director. We worked from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day, acting, analyzing scripts, and rehearsing. It was utterly exhausting and completely wonderful."

In addition, Herzberg said the class led to an invitation to direct at an American performing arts center in Shanghai and a chance to act professionally in a regional theater.

The UA Department of Drama has been active in the festival since 1976, entering 15 productions into competition and sending over 100 students to participate in individual performance, design and playwriting events.

Several faculty have served as leaders of the organization as well. Chair Andy Gibbs has been a national design chair, board member, and chair of the Southwest Region, while Chuck Gorden is the current playwriting chair for the Southwest Region. The mission of the KCACTF, the only national organization of its kind, is to encourage and recognize the finest, most diverse work being produced by college and university theater programs. The Festival is presented and produced by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

The Actors’ Center, which hosted the training program, is a non-profit institution established by the Alliance for the Development of Theatre Artists, Inc. The Center brings together leading teachers from well-established training institutions such as Julliard, NYU and Yale with established artists such as Maria Aitken of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Brian Murray from Broadway, and Michael Langham, former head of the Guthrie Theatre, to form the most versatile as well as the most distinguished faculty of its kind in the country.