Adam RoganThrough intentional script and acting choices, an inclusive and accepting mindset, the purpose of Milwaukee's second-largest theater company is clear: helping young people achieve their potential.
Young casts wrestle with grown-up themes, working alongside adult professional actors who oftentimes take a backing role to youthful leads.
Thanks to First Stage’s all-inclusive ethos, there’s something for everybody on both sides of the fourth wall.
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First Stage Theater
325 W. Walnut St.
Capacity: 498
Season: 6 mainstage plays September-June
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firststage.org
Purpose
“The Wiz,” photo courtesy of First Stage.
The primary purpose here is helping young people grow. Through the First Stage Theater Academy, which is considered the nation’s largest theater training program for youth with as many as 3,000 enrollments yearly, students learn to take risks and strengthen their self-esteem first — the thespian lessons come second.
With such a wide reach, First Stage finds the kids who will often end up leading adult theater programs. One First Stage grad, Jeremy Tardy, is making it in Hollywood with a central role in Marvel’s New Warriors on ABC and credits in projects ranging from Dear White People to War Dogs.
Planning
Ben Kindler, DiMonte Henning and cast; photo by Paul Ruffolo
Rarely will First Stage take on overly weighty or depressing King Lear-esque scripts. Despite the professional focus, it’s still a kid-focused company.
There’s an overarching air of positivity. The intent for audiences is to have them leave with a positive outlook, but enlightened.
Heading into the 2018-19 season, Artistic Director Jeff Frank appropriately referred to First Stage as “the trailblazer.”
That year, mixed casts of actors took on adaptations of Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, Roald Dahl’s Matilda and Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. None of these shows avoided tough topics — racism for Huck, dysfunctional families in Matilda, infidelity in The Crucible — but the performances are of course kept family-friendly.
Inclusion
First Stage refers to itself as an “Equity Theater for Young Audiences.” For adult performers, that means that not all actors have to be affiliated with a union. And by employing “age-appropriate casting,” performances don’t fall into the uncanny valley of having some teenager pretend they’re 8 years old.
Beyond that, First Stage also has the Next Steps program for actors with autism and other sensory-processing disorders. The instructor-student ratio in Next Steps is 2:1 — and sometimes as hands-on as 1:1 — allowing those kids to get on stage without the stressful burnout that can sometimes come with traditional theater.
There are also sensory-friendly performances for the other shows each season, where lights are dimmed and crowd sizes are shrunk, allowing different groups of people to still enjoy the theater.
Holes, First Stage. Photo courtesy of First Stage
By the numbers
*All stats according to First Stage’s 2017-18 annual impact report
120,505
Total audience members
428
Total performances
2nd
largest theater company in Milwaukee
184
total young performers
60
total adult performers
98
schools that participated in First Stage’s Theater in Education
90%
of the participants in the Theater Academy reported improved self-confidence
630
students received scholarships to take part in First Stage programming
17
straight years with a balanced budget (take that Wisconsin state government)