2020/21 SEASON IMPACT REPORT
SEASON AT A GLANCE
5,000 $2M+ FEDERAL DONORS
IN
COVID-19 RELIEF
277
FUNDING
MILWAUKEE REP STAFF & ARTISTS
EMPLOYED
80 ARTISTS ARTIST RELIEF FUND
INDEPENDENT SUPPORTED THROUGH THE
ATTENDED OUR JUNE/JULY CONCERTS 1 ,800 3,500 IN-PERSON ATTENDEES IN TOTAL
1 MILLION+ VIEWS
DIGITAL CONTENT OF
141
PIECES OF
DIGITAL CONTENT
CREATED FOR
“MILWAUKEE REP AT HOME”
1,400 18 STUDENTS
A C R O S S
SCHOOLS IMPACTED BY VIRTUAL PROGRAMMING
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Milwaukee Rep
Dear Friends, The 2020/21 Season was perhaps the most challenging in our entire 67-year history. Never before have we endured nearly an entire season of our stages being dark. As the COVID-19 pandemic continued to ravage our community at the beginning of our fiscal year, we prioritized the safety and care of our people. The majority of our staff remained fully employed when most other theaters nationwide laid off up to 90% of their employees. For those that remained, we made small, temporary reductions in compensation and benefits that we were able to restore retroactively. We also prioritized reopening for live performances as quickly as possible without compromising safety, creating the first safety plan in the nation that was approved by our performing arts unions. The 36-page plan was developed with guidance from the City of Milwaukee Health Department, local epidemiologists and medical experts on our Board of Trustees, and was used as a model nationally, allowing other theaters to reopen safely as well. In April 2021, we were one of the first theaters in the country to reopen for live, indoor performances, which was highlighted in national press outlets like the Chicago Tribune and The New York Times. To support the theater, we launched the Rep Rising Emergency Fund campaign in August 2020. Our incredible Board of Trustees and Presidents Council provided a total of $600,000 in gifts that were used as matching funds. Additional thanks to Donald and Donna Baumgartner, the Elizabeth Quadracci-Harned Family, and Anthony Petullo and Beverly Trier for their incredible matching gifts. Our first ever virtual Curtain Call Ball took place in October 2020 and featured performances from Rep favorites like Gavin Gregory, Bethany Thomas, Michael Doherty and Alex Keiper, as well as moving testimonials from actress Judith Light and Pulitzer Prizewinner Ayad Akhtar, raising more than $100,000 for the Rep Rising Emergency Fund. We were able to not only support our organization, but provide $60,000 in grants to 80 artists through our Artist Relief Fund and realize our most successful annual fund campaign in the organization’s history. We are incredibly grateful for how our community stepped up to support Milwaukee Rep in its hour of need. There is finally a spotlight at the end of this dark tunnel and we can’t wait to see what comes next.
Mark Clements Artistic Director
Chad Bauman
Executive Director
2020/21 Impact Report
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ENGAGEMENT We collaborated with local artist Kiran Vedula to create youth-led Hip Hop videos. Students wrote and performed hip hop songs to encourage residents in BIPOC neighborhoods to vote this fall, and then created additional videos to encourage residents to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in the spring. To further encourage civic participation, we partnered with Metcalfe Park Community Bridges on “Jammin’ Out At The Polls” to keep residents entertained as an incentive to wait in line and vote. This collaboration encouraged music artists, visual artists, and photographers to present/perform/capture images at specific voting polls in Metcalfe Park. Using the pandemic as inspiration, we partnered with Metcalfe Park Community Bridges to cocreate a storytelling program based on Giovanni Boccaccio’s famous work, “The Decameron”. Youth and young adults from the neighborhood developed works drawing parallels between the Black Plague in the 14th Century and the COVID-19 pandemic, using the project as an opportunity to tell stories of survival.
In lieu of being able to gather in small groups for Act II, we developed REPair Divides – a virtual dialogue series including an online performance that led to a facilitated discussion in partnership with the Zeidler Group. More than 100 participants over the year came together to discuss intergenerational conflicts, the deaf community and the reentry difficulties faced by former prisoners. We held several Voices of Violence Panels in collaboration with UWM’s Voices of Gun Violence Project led by Professor Leslie Harris and Debra Gillispie, founder of Mothers Against Gun Violence. During a virtual adult panel and a virtual youth panel, panelists shared their stories of surviving gun violence to encourage others to share their stories and heal our communities.
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Milwaukee Rep
MILWAUKEE REP AT HOME We continued our at-home virtual programming through December 2020 to provide our community with creative ways to engage with our work and keep our incredible artists employed while our stages were dark. We contracted more than 200 artists (the majority of which were black, indigenous, or persons of color) to create, inspire, and provide Milwaukee and Rep fans across the globe with some much needed solace.
Featured artists songs Original monologues
PlayOn
Rep favorite artists sang a wide variety of songs that were enjoyed from the comfort of home.
3-5 minute monologues centered on the themes of connectivity, hope and the need of community.
Monologues, sonnets and scenes from Shakespeare’s canon right to a phone, computer or tablet.
Behind the scenes
What’s the Tea
Reprise series
Catch up with Rep staff and guest artists.
Artistic Director Mark Clements and different featured artists gab and gossip, “spilling the tea” for participants.
Provides artists a platform for storytelling, monologues and songs and an opportunity to showcase their talents.
Wellness videos
Online Workshops
Activity Books
Video resources to help nurture the mind and soul as part of our #WellnessWednesdays.
Learn new theatrical skills and express creativity.
Activity books that feature crossword puzzles, costume sketches and scenic drawings.
2020/21 Impact Report
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W
N
We partnered with Milwaukee Chamber Theatre on the first Milwaukee Black Theater Festival. We hosted the 20/20 Vision for Milwaukee Arts, a one-day virtual conference on September 9, 2020. The conference included several industry and community speakers, a panel discussion, and the debut of an original commission by Milwaukee Rep.
S
E
ARTISTIC HIGHLIGHTS
In partnership with seven fellow regional theaters, we sponsored the streaming version of Dael Orlandersmith’s Until the Flood, which was produced by Milwaukee Rep in the 2017/18 Season. This recording of Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre’s production will be available for free on our website through 2023. We were one of the first theaters to attempt a return to live performances with Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol. With COVID-19 cases on the rise during the fall of 2020, we instead filmed a professional recording that was available for rent on demand. Additionally as our gift to Milwaukee, we provided the full performance of our 2016 production A Christmas Carol online for free which was enjoyed by more than 50,000 viewers. SoundStage MKE was created as an innovative way to continue telling stories. Part audio play, part walking tour, SoundStage MKE highlights the history, humor, and hidden treasures of beloved downtown Milwaukee landmarks through original short plays and soundbites. The program launched in June 2021 and will be available online through the summer of 2023 for patrons to experience at their own pace.
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Milwaukee Rep
ARTISTIC HIGHLIGHTS Our first in-person production, First Lady of Song: Alexis J Roston Sings Ella Fitzgerald, received rave reviews for both the production quality and our enhanced safety protocols. We collaborated with the Jewish Community Center on the premiere of If Not Now, When? This concert was presented both live and virtually on June 7, 2021. Directed by Malkia Stampley, the piece examined the themes of justice and equity through the Jewish text, Pirkei Avot. The event included an outstanding cast of 18 performing artists from around the country – including Tony Award-winners and nominees. We launched our first ever outdoor Summer Concert Series. The month of June 2021 featured The Three Divos, Jeffrey Kringer, Gavin Gregory and Nicholas Rodriguez, along with Kelley Faulkner, singing some of their favorite Broadway tunes at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. Additional concerts took place in July and August.
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EDUCATION In response to schools eliminating in-person learning, we pivoted our education programs to an online platform. Reading Residencies utilized pre-recorded lessons and at-home activities around our production of A Christmas Carol and a shortened version of Julius Caesar performed by our Emerging Professional Residents. The whole program was designed using Google Classroom for schools to utilize at their own pace, increasing flexibility.
2021 The 2020/21 Season was our first year as an official host city for the August Wilson Monologue Competition, newly renamed as the national Next Narratives Monologue Competition to celebrate the words of other great BIPOC playwrights. Two regional winners advanced to compete virtually at the national finals. Yexuanj Rivera Melendez, from Milwaukee High School of the Arts, finished in the top six out of 33 total competitors from 16 cities and received $500 in scholarship money.
Jonathan Edwards
Anyiah Lobley
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Terynn Erby-Walker
Yexuanj Rivera Melendez
Francis Faye
Kamani Graham
Dejanaye Jones
Lilyanna Romer
Fardowso Shidad
Alexis Wilson
Milwaukee Rep
ARTISTIC TRAINING
Professional Training Institute Though Milwaukee Rep’s stages were dark, PTI’s 2020/21 year was full of training opportunities with six guest artists Zoomed in from across the country. Fifteen students met monthly with experts in casting, vocal work, storytelling, physicality, and scene work. In addition, as part of the rehearsal process for their production of Ghost Bike, we brought in an actor and dramaturg from the original Chicago premiere production.
Emerging Professional Residency Seven emerging actors, directors and education leaders joined Milwaukee Rep for a hybrid in-person and virtual residency. In lieu of understudying our productions, these emerging professional residents (EPRs) worked with our Education department to film virtual lesson plans and a special production of Julius Caesar. Residents participated in virtual masterclass workshops with guest artists such as Golden Globe-winner Matt Bomer (Doom Patrol, White Collar, American Horror Story) and Emmy-nominee Zachary Quinto (Star Trek, American Horror Story, Heroes). As a final project, residents performed in indivisible with…, an original work by former Associate Artistic Producer Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement.
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EQUITY, DIVERSITY & INCLUSION We accelerated our work improving equity, diversity and inclusion throughout the organization with guidance from the Kaleidoscope Group and newly-appointed Chief Diversity Officer Tammy BeltonDavis. In February 2021, we launched an internal strategic plan, REP Forward, to focus on diversifying our workforce, improving the inclusiveness of our workplace, and deepening our relationships with Milwaukee’s BIPOC communities. As a key component, we developed an internal staff workgroup, Champions Uniting Experiences (CUE), to provide staff trainings and keep the plan moving forward. We celebrated Black History Month in February and Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month in May, both with an array of panel discussions featuring prominent BIPOC artists and community leaders. In recognition of her achievements, Tammy Belton-Davis was the inaugural recipient of the Governor’s Diversity, Equity, Accessibility and Inclusion Award.
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Milwaukee Rep
FINANCIALS
REVENUES Contributions & Grants: $5,400,025 PPP: $1,446,200 CARES Act: $596,750 Endowment: $520,000 Ticket Sales: $116,421 Other: $54,841
Total: $8,134,237
EXPENSES Programming: $3,019,659 Administrative: $1,543,880 Marketing: $1,389,882 Occupancy: $820,000 Fundraising: $650,099 Food & Beverages: $204,266
Total: $7,627,805 Our finance department secured a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan of $1.4 million to employ our staff throughout 2020. We received CARES Act funding from the State of Wisconsin ($500,000) through their Cultural Organization and Live Venue programs, Milwaukee County ($16,750), and the National Endowment for the Arts via Arts Midwest ($8,000). At UPAF’s 2020 Annual Meeting, Milwaukee Rep received the Good Steward Award recognizing managerial excellence. We have received the Good Steward Award six times in the last eight years and remain the only non-profit performing arts organization in the State of Wisconsin with a 4-Star rating from Charity Navigator.
2020/21 Impact Report
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2020/21 BOARD OF TRUSTEES OFFICERS President
Gregory C. Oberland Northwestern Mutual Retired President
Vice President, Development
Gina Peter Wells Fargo Executive VP
Vice President, Trustees
Catherine Robinson Community Volunteer
Secretary
Bladen Burns
Fiduciary Management SVP and Partner Treasurer
Jim Phillips Godfrey Kahn Partner At Large
Warren Buliox MWH Law Group Partner
At Large
Judy Hansen Broadway Producer
At Large
Robert H. Manegold Community Volunteer At Large
Joan Lubar
Community Volunteer
TRUSTEES Ayad Akhtar
Pulitzer Prize-winning Playwright
Matt Bartel
Watermark President, Digital Measures
Ivor Benjamin, MD
Medical College of Wisconsin
Wendy W. Blumenthal Blumenthal & Associates
Melanie Booth
Andres Gonzalez
Dr. Mark Niedfeldt M.D.
William Guc
Riverwater Partners Principal and CIO
Froedert Medical College VP, Chief Diversity Officer
WE Energies VP and Controller
John Halechko
Associated Bank Exec VP, Director of Branch Banking
Bryan B. House
Community Volunteer
Foley & Lardner LLP Partner
Mike Carter
John Hunzinger, P.E.
Northwestern Mutual Chief Financial Officer
Hunzinger Construction Company President
Jane Chernof
Tom Irgens
Community Volunteer
Marybeth Cottrill
BMO Wealth Management Private Wealth Advisor
Amy Croen
Geneva Capital Co-Founder, Co-President
Robert H. Duffy
Irgens Executive VP
Lynda Johnson Harley-Davidson, Inc. Assistant Treasurer
David Kundert
JPMorgan Fleming Asset Management Retired Chairman
Phoebe Lewis
Quarles & Brady Partner
Community Volunteer
Molly Fritz
Kris Lueders
Charles E. Kubly Foundation President
Foley & Lardner LLP
ModernMed
Adam J. Peck
James Phelps JCP Construction President
Joseph Pickart Husch Blackwell Partner
Karen Plunkett
Plunkett Family Foundation
Caran Quadracci MiraMedia3 Principal
Christopher Rowland ManpowerGroup Global Diversity Officer
Craig Swan
Community Volunteer
Deborah Tomczyk
Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren Partner and Chair of Real Estate Practice Group
Nicholas P. Wahl
Godfrey Kahn President and Managing Partner
Linda Marcus
Linda Marcus Design Principal Cover photos (clockwise from top left): Students attending Immersion Day; West Side Story ensemble; Bethany Thomas in Songs for Nobodies; Milwaukee Rep staff; Lee E. Ernst in Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol; Students on a building tour; Alexis J Roston in First Lady of Song Alexis J Roston Sings Ella Fitzgerald; In The Heights ensemble; Properties Director Jim Guy. Performance photos by Michael Brosilow.