UA, Ala. Shakespeare Fest Ending Masters Program MONTGOMERY, AL (APR - Alabama Public Radio ) - The University of Alabama is ending an alliance with the Montgomery-based Alabama Shakespeare Festival that has produced top actors, stage managers and designers for Broadway and Hollywood.

This weekend, the class of 2009 will become the final group to complete the University of Alabama-ASF Professional Actor Training/Master of Fine Arts program.

The university will continue to offer a master of fine arts in theater, but it will no longer be connected to the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. Graduates include Norbert Leo Butz, who won a Tony award in 2005 for his work on the Broadway production of ``Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.''

The theater and university decided to end the partnership because of funding cuts in higher education.

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