Patrick Page is a lucky guy. After spending the past two and a half years lighting up stages around the country as Lumiere, the big-hearted candelabra in Disney's traveling Broadway production of Beauty and the Beast, he's finally taking some time off - to put the finishing touches on a play, give private acting lessons, take some more singing training, and maybe bring his one-man Shakespeare show back to Whitman.

"I don't like being bored," says Page, '85, two-time champion at the American Forensic Association's National Individual Events Tournament, award-winning actor, drama teacher, playwright, and recently retired candelabra.

Page ended his stint as Lumiere in September with two weeks on Broadway. The part had been very rewarding. "It was a great comic role, and no matter what else had happened in my day, I got to go out there at 8:45 every night and make 2,000 people very happy."

Lumiere's other gifts to Page were equally generous. "He'll probably buy me a house, . . . and the role gave me a lot of freedom because it paid well enough that I don't have to find a new one immediately." In addition, says Page, Lumiere allowed him to hone his craft. "Mastery of any art has to do with the repetition and ultimate mastery of very simple and basic techniques. Lumiere gave me something to practice to perfection, eight performances a week for two and a half years."

Page earned a reputation for perfection long before Lumiere entered his life. His Whitman career was marked by success, combining a heavy schedule of participation in forensics and theater. He led the speech and debate program to championships in individual events and played a host of characters culminating in King Lear at Harper Joy Theatre.

"I've done forensics for 25 years and I don't believe I've seen anyone as good as Pat at what he did," says Bob Withycombe, professor of speech. Page was successful because he not only had natural ability - a wonderful voice and presence - he also practiced diligently, says Withycombe. "To do both speech and theater is exhausting, but he did it. I don't know anyone who worked as hard as he did and never got tired of it."

Although Whitman broadened Page's perspective and polished his edges, says Withycombe, he arrived at Whitman with the raw materials to be successful. "We provided a place for him to mature and grow, and he did. He read more, thought more broadly. And the liberal arts was a key factor; he learned to research and write better and was exposed to a new level of intellectual ability. But his skills were his own."

Attending Whitman was a "gut choice," says Page, who came to Whitman after attending the Pacific Conservatory of Performing Arts, where the sole purpose was to train professional actors. Many of his fellow students there went on to exclusive acting schools, and although Page auditioned for and was accepted at several such schools, "I needed to be a broader person than just an actor." He began looking at liberal arts colleges. Whitman was the right choice, he says. "I just loved it. I'm very nostalgic. If I could freeze-frame my life, that's where I would do it."

In addition to the fond memories, Page appreciates Whitman for the learning experience. "Education should teach you how to think. Once I can think, I can learn anything. I liked that a lot about Whitman, where the process was learning how to analyze. That's what I do now as an actor and director and teacher ‹ I break things down and figure out what¹s going on." Participating in the speech program was a "very big part of what I did at Whitman. It was a golden time."

In the 13 "surprising" years since graduation, Page and his work in theater have been repeatedly recognized. Before his role as Lumiere garnered him rave reviews around the country, Page had earned a solid reputation as a Shakespearean actor in six years as leading actor with the Utah Shakespeare Festival and three seasons with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. In major theaters including the Kennedy Center, the New York Shakespeare Festival, SeattleRep, ACT, and the Portland Center Stage, he has played lead roles in both classical and contemporary plays, including the title roles in Hamlet, Richard III, Richard II, Henry V, and MacBeth. His one-man shows, Passion's Slaves and Nothing Like the Sun, have been performed around the country, and he is the recipient of the prestigious Princess Grace Award in Theatre. In April 1997 he was honored with the Utah Governor's Artist Award, the state¹s highest honor for the creative arts.

Of the many roles Page has played and enjoyed in his career, he says his favorites can be narrowed down to Hamlet, Lumiere ("Just because I played him for so long. . . . it's like an extended love affair"), MacBeth, Richard III, and Ben Jonson. In fact the play that Page has written, Swan Song, is a two-actor play about the friendship between Ben Jonson and William Shakespeare. He wrote the Jonson part for himself. "The play has a lot of humor," says Page, "but it deals with serious subject matter. It's a redemption story with humor and feeling."

Page also enjoys teaching. In addition to the private lessons he is currently giving in New York, he has taught at the Utah Shakespeare Festival and in various MFA programs. "I love it," he says. "When I was on the road with Beauty and the Beast, a lot of the actors got antsy - probably because they were playing cutlery - and asked me to put together a class for more intense work." Teaching has a beneficial effect on his acting, he says. "I find my technique gets clearer and clearer when I teach because I'm forced to do what I say."

Meanwhile, Page continues to seek someone new "to teach me more about life," he says. "Everybody needs to run into somebody who can see what¹s there. Professor Howells was a real mentor at Whitman, and so were Jack Freimann, Bob Withycombe, George Ball, Nancy Simon. . . . Jack Freimann cast me as King Lear at 24 years old, and I did my thesis on what it was like to play King Lear. I've gotten really lucky. But I also think you need to get as good as you can be and then put yourself in the place where you'll find the luck. You have to take your gifts very seriously. I don't believe in just standing back and waiting for the opportunity."

Page sees his future in more Broadway plays, films, teaching, and directing. Since he is not likely to stand back and wait for opportunities to find him, he no doubt will be lighting up stages for a long time to come.