Mission Statement: Creating a home

base for Wisconsin theater professionals

and audiences that expands the cultural

and economic life of the greater Madison area.

Broad and growing impact on the

quality of life for audiences, artists,

and the greater Madison area.

Together, we’ve been moving the

community forward for 10 years.

Thank you!

2018-2019 10th Anniversary Annual Report

Resident Professional Theater Company at Overture Center

Rachael Zientek, Andy White, Chantae Miller, Karen Olivo, Matt Daniels in Fun Home; Photo by Ross Zentner

THANK YOU For Your Support!Our 10th anniversary season was one of profound gratitude. Gratitude for the artists who lend their talents to our work, gratitude for the funders and donors who make our work possible, gratitude for the many nonprofit community partners who give our work added meaning and impact, and above all else, gratitude for the audiences that show up to share in this work with us.

We are so very lucky to be able to make our art in collaboration with such a wonderful community!

Library Partnerships!

We love libraries. This year, we were excited to offer eleven free programs at libraries around Dane County, including 5 Play Clubs (participants read the script in advance and then join actors and an FTC facilitator for scenes from the play and a thoughtful discussion), 5 collections of monologues from past festivals, and 1 reading of Uncle Vanya to set the stage for Aaron Posner’s modern reinvention Life Sucks.

Our Top 10 Moments of the 10th Anniversary Season

Celebrating 10 Years of Forward Theater

Our 10th Anniversary Feast Forward Gala raised over $80,000 for Forward Theater’s productions, artists, and community engagement programming. The aurora borealis glowed as actors took the stage to reprise dramatic moments from past seasons, and guests feasted on divine dishes by some of Madison’s brightest chefs. Our heartfelt thanks to Presenting Sponsor Full Compass and the individuals, businesses, and restaurants that contributed so generously!

Moving Two Steps Forward

This year we presented our beloved biennial Monologue Festival. Titled Two Steps Forward, it looked at Wisconsin’s progressive (and sometimes regressive) history. Twelve original pieces were performed by 12 actors working with 12 directors.

Pieces about suffrage, LGBTQ+ rights, immigration policy, racial inequity, and various other aspects of our changing world, forged a rousing and energizing push towards civic action.

“We push up and up and up. Against and around.

Sometimes through. Our progress never sweeping.

More like creeping, with all the speed of glacial melt.

But always, always in the direction I’m fixed. The

direction I lean and point. Always, forward.”

- Excerpt from Erin Celello’s Forward, performed by Kelly Doherty (seen right)

Event Chair Jolen Neumann (center) welcomes our Full Compass hosts Jonathan and Susan Lipp to the stage; Photo by Frank Sommers

Board Chair Steve Suleski raising a glass to all those who have made Forward’s first 10 years a rousing success; Photo by Frank Sommers

Cast, playwrights, and directors of Two Steps Forward; Photo by Ross Zentner

March 22, 2009 Birth of Forward Theater at Celia Klehr and Sam White’s tableFounding Members: Colleen Burns, Jim Buske, Sarah Day, Celia Klehr, Michael Herold, Richard Ganoung, Jen Uphoff Gray, Frank Schneeberger, Sam White, and Jack Forbes Wilson

“[Forward Theater] came out of all of us getting together and saying how we have always wanted our professional theater experiences to go and asking if we could create that model at a professional level.”

- Jen Uphoff Gray in an interview with Isthmus, April 2009. The answer: Yes!

2013-2014Began continuing partnership with Goodman Community Center

2016-2017Began Artist Investment Initiative with increase of artists’ pay to at least $10/hour. Beginning 2019-2020, everyone working on our mainstage productions will be paid at least $15/hour.

March/April 2017First Commissioned Work: Learning to Stay, with private performance for veterans; First NEA grant

2018-201910th Anniversary SeasonExpanded season to 4 mainstage shows

Served over 22,000 patrons at the Playhouse, plus hundreds more through our community engagement programming

140 artists hired (94% from Wisconsin)

Budget $1.2 mil (from a first-year budget of $80,000!)

Highlights of Forward’s First 10 Years

2010-2011 First full 3-play season,

plus Monologue Festival

2011-2012January 2012

First World Premiere; a co-production with Milwaukee Chamber Theatre of

A Thousand Words by Gwendolyn Rice.

March 2012FTC became a Resident

Company at Overture Center

October 2012Began continuing partnership

with Dane County Libraries

2014-2015Summer 2014

FTC accepted stewardship of the Wisconsin Wrights new play program from

UW-Madison’s Department of Continuing Studies, expanding our new play development

series from two to three staged readings.

2017-2018September 2017

Awarded National Theatre Company Grant by The

American Theatre Wing

January 2018Hired Julie Swenson as FTC’s

first Managing Director

Our Signature Talkbacks

We cherish our talkbacks! Nearly 9,000 people were

so engaged with our productions this season that

they stayed to chat about them afterwards.

Life Sucks Production Team:Director: Jennifer Uphoff GrayScenic Designer: Mike LawlerLighting Designer: Noele StollmackCostume Designer: Ren LaDassorSound Designer/Composer: Joe CerquaProps Designer: Pamela MilesStage Manager: Sarah Deming-HenesActors: Bill Bolz, Sarah Day, Elyse Edelman, Marcella Kearns, Reese Madigan, Brian Mani, Rána Roman

Life Sucks. Or, Does It?

Our final show of the season, Life Sucks by Aaron Posner, was an inventive, warm-hearted production that encouraged us to think about what we value in our lives. In conjunction with the University of Wisconsin-Madison, we brought the playwright to Madison for a two-day residency. He engaged with students in UW’s theater program and had lively conversation with over 100 people at the Playhouse during his free public talk.

“Ah, life. I thought the play did a nice job of touching

on all the possibilities in life. It can suck, but it doesn’t

have to and each person must use his/her power to

make it stop sucking. Great and thoughtful evening.”

- Lauren Cnare, subscriber

We Launched Our Theater Forward Podcast!

You can listen now and subscribe on your favorite podcast platforms. Twice monthly, Artistic Director Jen Uphoff Gray, Managing Director Julie Swenson, and Advisory Company member Mike Fischer share insights into FTC and explore issues about theater in the Midwest and around the country. Lively discussions about musicals, award season, theater criticism, intimacy on stage, and more await you.

“Older adults portraying

engaging, risk-taking

characters is balm for the

soul in an age when we are

typically living into old age.”

- Jane Villa, subscriber

“As a Sensory Analyst, I

analyzed the various aroma

and flavors in food product

to ensure its consistency

and quality. When I would

encounter an Oscar Mayer

product out in the world,

it made me feel proud to

work for this company

that everybody knows. Of

everything, though, I miss

my coworkers the most. And

I’m sad that we don’t see

Wienermobiles anymore!”

- Kayo Uda-Klein Sensory Analyst, 6 years

Sarah Day’s nightly list of audience responses to “ Life is . . . “

Rána Roman, Brian Mani, and Sarah Day; Photo by Ross Zentner

The cast of Skeleton Crew and Artistic Director Jen Gray share a laugh with the audience during a talkback.

Colleen Madden and Jim Pickering; Photo by Ross Zentner

Skeleton Crew, A Story Close to Home

Dominique Morisseau’s Skeleton Crew depicted economic changes and choices faced by the working class in manufacturing. The onstage story played out against a very real backdrop here in Madison in the wake of the recent Oscar Mayer plant closing.

Our exhibit at the Wisconsin Historical Museum featured photos and stories of former Oscar Mayer employees highlighting the impact right here at home.

“The plot couldn’t feel more urgent and contemporary.

Morisseau, who’s very much the playwright of the

moment, could just as easily have set her play in a

modern newsroom or a paper mill. Thanks to the cast’s

taut performances, these feel like real people facing

massive choices that will impact their futures.

You’d expect Forward to lead off its landmark

10th anniversary season with a punch, and

that’s exactly what they’ve landed here.”

- Aaron Conklin, Madison Magazine

Skeleton Crew Production TeamDirector: Jake PennerScenic Designer: Joseph VargaLighting Designer: Marisa AbbottCostume Designer: Monica KilkusSound Designer/Composer: Joe Cerqua

Props Designer: Pamela MilesAssistant Director: Kennedie KingStage Manager: Sarah Deming-HenesActors: Marti Gobel, Di’Monte Henning, Sherrick Robinson, Candace Thomas

The Transformative Magic of Heisenberg

“When an amazing script is merged with actors of this

caliber under the direction of a professional with a vision,

you get to experience truly transformative magic.”

- Scott Rawson, Broadway World

Heisenberg Production TeamDirector: Laura GordonScenic & Lighting Designer: Jason FasslCostume Designer: Shannon HeiblerSound Designer/Composer: Joe Cerqua

Props Designer: Pamela MilesStage Manager: Sarah Deming-HenesActors: Colleen Madden and Jim Pickering

Portrait by Amadou Kromah

Kayo Uda-KleinSensory Analyst6 years

As a Sensory Analyst, I analyzed the various aroma and flavors in food product to ensure its consistency and quality. When I would encounter an Oscar Mayer product out in the world, it made me feel proud to work for this company that everybody knows. Of everything, though, I miss my coworkers the most. And I’m sad that we don’t see Wienermobiles anymore!

Artistic Director Jen Uphoff Gray paid it forward to La Follette High School by watching and giving notes during a Seussical rehearsal in Spring 2019. She was inspired by the energy and creativity of the students and director, but disheartened by their lack of resources. As a result, FTC has now officially adopted La Follette’s theater program through The Foundation for Madison’s Public Schools! We’ve already begun providing material support, mentorship, and education for their students.

Chantae Miller, Karen Olivo, and Matt Daniels; Photo by Ross Zentner

In collaboration with GSAFE, we hosted a free private Fun Home performance, exclusively for LGBTQ+ students and allies. Over 300 from 18 different schools enlivened the theater with what GSAFE’s Sawyer Johnson termed “buzzy queer energy!”

Total Attendance: 22,114 Subscribers: 2,976

Paying It Forward

Connecting with community partners is at the core of our work at Forward Theater. We use the themes of our plays to spark conversation about local issues, increase recognition of area needs and resources, and create engaging experiences for those outside our traditional audience base. For each of the 10 months of our 10th Anniversary season, we worked with a past partner to find a meaningful way for us to celebrate and “Pay It Forward” to them. Partners included community theater artists, Alzheimer’s & Dementia Alliance of Wisconsin, Dane County Libraries, Dane Buy Local, Fair Wisconsin, the Goodman Community Center, the League of Women Voters, the Madison Metropolitan School District, First United Methodist Church’s Food Pantry, and the Wisconsin Veterans Museum.

Our Runaway Blockbuster Fun Home!

Forward Theater’s first musical had record-breaking attendance. Over 7,800 packed the Playhouse for this groundbreaking work. Audiences gasped, choked up, and cheered.

“This definitely made a difference in GSAFE’s ability

to build relationships with middle and high school

GSAs (Gay Straight Alliances). This was the first GSAFE

event that a small middle school GSA from Belleville

attended. [They] loved it so much we’re working on

a larger collaboration in the Belleville area to bring

in-depth training on how to work with LGBTQ+

students to key point persons in their schools.”

- Sawyer Johnson, GSAFE

*Includes box office fees

*Includes box office fees

How they’re used:Artistic, production, and outreach 42.5%

Venue* 19.5%

General and administrative 11%

Marketing 10.5%

Strategic fund 9%

Development/Events 7.5%

Where they came from:Ticket sales and handling fees* 56.5%

Contributed income 40%

Investments/in-kind/other 3%

Events 0.5%

Your support is vital to producing our artistically excellent productions, connecting that work to our community, and paying our artists a living wage.

You can support Forward Theater with an annual gift, a monthly sustaining gift, or with your direct tax-free IRA distribution (if you qualify).Please consider including Forward Theater in your will or estate plan to ensure the impact you’re having today will continue for generations to come.

Since our wildly successful 10th Anniversary Feast Forward fundraiser was held in July (after the end of our 2018-2019 fiscal year), that revenue will be included in next year’s totals.

56.5%*40%

.5%3%

The Fun Home effect: The additional week of Fun Home over the Thanksgiving holiday swung the percentage of our revenue from ticket sales much higher than our more typical 50%.

Our 10th Year in the Black! 2018-2019 Operating Funds

Approximately $134,000 (from additional Fun Home revenue and special 10th Anniversary contributions) will be put into FTC’s modest reserve fund.

42.5%

19.5%*

11%

10.5%

9%7.5%

Rána Roman and Marcy Kearns in Life Sucks; Photo by Ross Zentner

Fun Home Production TeamDirector: Jennifer Uphoff Gray Scenic Designer: Keith Pitts Lighting Designer: Jason Fassl Costume Designer: Scott RottSound Designer: James Uphoff

Props Designer: Pamela Miles Music Director: Mark Wurzelbacher Associate Director: Jake Penner Choreographer: Maureen Janson Stage Manager: Sarah Deming-Henes Actors: Matt Daniels, Tryg Gundersen, Clare Arena Haden, Donovan Lonsdale, Chantae Miller, Karen Olivo, Solana Ramirez-Garcia, Walker Stephenson, Andy White, and Rachael ZientekMusicians: Jonathan Backus, Luke Busch, Ben Ferris, Joe Harris, Michael Koszewski, and Marie Pauls

Special Thanks to our 2018-2019 Forward LeadersForward Leaders show a strong personal commitment to Forward Theater’s mission by making annual gifts of $1,000 or more. They receive invitations for exclusive experiences behind the scenes and with our artists.

Corporate, Foundation, and Government Supporters

Thank you for your commitment to bringing exceptional professional

theater to Madison area audiences!

AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin

First Business BankJH Findorff & Son

Steve Brown ApartmentsPleasant T. Rowland FoundationPromega

The Evjue Foundation, the charitable arm of The Capital Times

with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts

with additional funds from the Endres Mfg. Company Foundation, The Evjue Foundation, Inc., the charitable arm of The Capital Times, the W. Jerome Frautschi Foundation, and the Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation

Efrat Livny

Dr. Linda Garrity

Mr. William Wartmann

$20,000+Joe & Mary Ellyn Sensenbrenner

Steve & Jacqui Suleski

$10,000 - $19,999Diane Ballweg

Maurice & Sybil Better

Nancy Ciezki & Diane Kostecke

Janet Zimmerman

$5,000 - $9,999W. Jerome Frautschi

Threshold/Efrat Livny

Jane & David Villa

$2,500 - $4,999Rozan & Brian Anderson

Beth Bovis & David Feldstein

Jane Coleman

Tim Crisp & Laura O’Brien

Carla & Michael DiIorio

Charles N. Ford & Sharon L. James

Dolores & Paul Gohdes

Betty & Walter Gray

JoAnn Gruber-Hagen & Doug Hagen

Kathleen Harker

John & Karen Icke

Susan & Jonathan Lipp

Kathie Nichols

Terry & Jean Prahl

Tom Reps & Fran Wong

John & Mary Schroeder

Jane Taves

Don Tubesing & Nancy Loving Tubesing

$1,000 - $2,499Anonymous (2)

Merry Anderson

Richard & Janneke Baske

Dean & Nancy Baumgardner

Donna & George Beestman

Kit & Phil Blake

Diane Bless

Lewis Bosworth

Alexandra & William Dove

Marilyn Dreger

Peter Gray & Jennifer Uphoff Gray

Marci Henderson

William & Anne Hunnex

Thomas Hurst & Kleo Baruth Kritz

Roth & Lynne Judd

Scott & Mary Kolar

David & Paula Kraemer

Roger & Sheryl LePage

Lovers of the Arts

Peter & Jill Lundberg

Don & Mary Metz

Jane & Duane Miller

Karen & Allan Moore

Chad & Jolen Neumann

Tom & Julia Nicholas

John & Jane Norman

Pamela Oliver & John Lemke

Judith Pierotti

Joan Pulver

Tim Radelet

Ken & Nancy Ragland

Linda Reivitz

Dean & Therese Richards

Susan A. Riedel

Pleasant Rowland

Linda & John Schilling

Dean & Carol Schroeder

Lynda Sharpe

Tim & Pat Size

Bud & Lisa Smith

Jeffrey Steele & Jocelyn Riley

Cheri Teal

Sherry Wagner-Henry & Mick Henry

Jennifer & Bob Winding

Cathy & Ted Waskowski

“10 for 10” Anniversary GiftsThese generous donors made commitments of $10,000 or more to support our growth in 2018-2019, FTC’s 10th Anniversary Season.Anonymous

Rozan & Brian Anderson

Diane Ballweg

Sybil & Maurice Better

Diane Kostecke & Nancy Ciezki

Kathleen McElroy & David Newby

Mary Ellyn & Joe Sensenbrenner

Steve & Jacqui Suleski

Jane Taves

Don Tubesing & Nancy Loving Tubesing

Jane & David Villa

Sponsors of our free Fun Home performance for LGBTQ+ students and allies in partnership with GSAFE

Timothy Radelet

AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin