PTP Directors Leaving Legacy Of Achievement

Robert C. Schnitzer and Marcella CisI ney, who are responsible for the creation and establishment of the highly successful and outstanding Professional Theatre Program at the University, will leave Ann Arbor at the close of the 1972-73 season, it was announced today. Schnitzer is executive director of the program and Miss Cisney, his wife, is artistic director. They are leaving after 12 years, :Schnitzer said, so he can concéntrate full-time on his duties and growing responsibilities as executive director of the nationally expanding University Theatre Association. Schnitzer has been executive director of the organization since it was established in 1969 at a conference sponsored by the Johnson Wax Foundation at Racine, Wis., where 40 leaders of university professional drama were brought together to form a special división within the American Educational Theatre Associa;ion. Temporary headquarters were established at the U-M until a permanent ■ headquarters could be set up in Washi n g t o n . Harían Hatcher, presidentemeritus of the University, was elected chairman of the organization. The Schnitzers were brought to Ann Arbor in 1961 at the direct invitation of Hatcher to créate a pioneering pilot project in academie sponsorship of professional theatre at the University. The couple was staging the U.S. State Depártment's cultural exchange program, which took American plays and actors and formed them into a temorary acting company to entertain abroad. Helen Hayes, the noted American actress, advised them to accept the U-M invitation. More than 100 theatre companies sprang up across the country following the success of PTP here and the I er name has become synonymous with I making regional theatre work. "We will depart," Prof. Schnitzer said, "with certainty that new leadership can reach fresh goals, with the continued support of the administration, campus ' and community." At the dedication last October of the Power Center for the Performing Arts, University President Robben W. Fleming presented the Schnitzers with a University tribute for "inspiring and imaginative leadership of the Professional Theatre Program, which has played such a , ishing role in the creative life of the 1 University of Michigan and made it an j acknowledged leader on the national I scène. They have provided much of the I Ímpetus for the new theatre." I I Paying tribute to the artistic accomI plishments during their years at MichI i g a n , University Vice-President f o r I Academie Aftairs Alian F. Smith said, I "The Schnitzer decade has helped make I Ann Arbor a major regional theatre cenI .ter. New works have been presented I fírst here before going on to become maI jor New York theatre attractions. And dozens of PTP fellows in many fields of theatre have bridged the gap between classroom and professional theatre. "I know you will continue to provide the kind of creative contribution to the whole U.S. theatre movement that you have given to this community. We may have changes in Ann Arbor, but they will be changes that start from a solid base of accomplishment, with a splendid theatre and with a standard of excellence which we all enjoy." Fleming added that "Ann Arbor's theatrical life broadened during the past 10 years. The measure of that breadth is the life poured into the art by the Schnitzers. They have served the University and their art well." During their Michigan seasons, the i campus was visited by the country's six major theatre companies: the APA, American Conservatory Theatre, the Phoenix, the Juilliard, the Actors Company and the Stratford Canada Festival. I Many productions created in Ann Arbor went successfully to New York and on national tours. New works for the theatre were produced annually. Tours j of Michigan communities were sent out j under State Arts Council sponsorship. Seventy gifted gradúate students from I throughout the nation received fellowships I for professional experience as actors, I technicians, administrators and I wrights, enabling them to join leading I regional and New York theatres in I ecutive and artistic posts. Many I nent U.S. directors, players and I ers participted in PTP productions. J In resigning, Miss Cisney expressed I hope that a successor would continue to I work toward the long-range goal of I tablishing a training center for I sional theatre talent, focused on the I Power Center and linked to an expanded I Professional Theatre Program. "By integrating conservatory training I of talented gradúate students with the work of a major company, Michigan can become a key national theatre center " she stated.