Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Martyna Majok is one of America's hottest playwrights, and we're excited to experience two of her plays in Wisconsin during the 2025-26 season. We welcome Marcella Kearns and Jake Penner, two directors preparing to stage her work, to discuss Majok’s themes of survival, resilience, and connection.

They share what makes Majok’s plays hit so hard—and why directors are so drawn to her work. We talk about how her plays resonate personally, what challenges them, and why Majok’s stories feel more urgent than ever.

We get down to business about one of the most contentious issues in modern American theater - play length and whether or not to have an intermission. Audiences have VERY STRONG feelings about this, and as producers of new plays we see these trends firsthand. As much as we love a 90-min theater experience, are our shrinking attention spans getting in the way of deeper, richer storytelling? Have we lost our theater stamina?

We are excited to welcome BJ Jones, Artistic Director of Northlight Theatre in Skokie, IL. Northlight is among the largest non-profit theaters in the Chicago area, known for their commitment to contemporary works and their extensive youth education program.

Summertime means outdoor theater! We discuss the productions we're excited to see at some of our favorite summer theaters. We also dive into the 2025-26 season announcements from Wisconsin theaters, and share what we'll be checking out in the year to come. 

We tackle the sudden and rapidly-shrinking landscape of government arts funding - and what it means for organizations trying to stay afloat without compromising their values. From disappearing grants to the risks involved for the artists and companies that are sitting out (and speaking out), this conversation is candid, urgent, and eye-opening.

It's season announcement time for theaters across the country, and we're excited to share our slate for the 2025-26 season! A common question we get is, "how do you choose your plays?" We talk about the decision process behind selecting these four productions, and how they fit together in the grand scheme.

Jen Uphoff Gray welcomes Kait Kerrigan and Nathan Tysen, writer and lyricist of Broadway's THE GREAT GATSBY! In this episode, this musical power couple shares their insight into the broken pipeline of musical theater development, which leaves countless new works stuck in limbo. We discuss the roadblocks that prevent fresh stories from reaching American audiences and why regional theaters hesitate to take the leap.

Kait and Nathan reference the types of grants and financial assistance that keeps many writers afloat while they create America's next musical sensation. Here's a link to the Dramatists Guild resource directory of Grants & Fellowships. 

This episode was inspired by a VERY spirited conversation we recently had, centered around a particular play and whether it would be a good choice for a future season. This debate required us to evaluate our relationship with our audiences - how do we meet them where they are, and how do we bring them along with challenging material while creating a welcoming and community-centered environment?

*This episode went missing late last year! It is officially Episode 113. Enjoy!

Despite the fact that theater is back to being live and in-person, many theaters (including ours) have discovered great value in offering a streaming option for their productions. As arts companies strive to become more accessible, digital theater has become an oasis for many patrons.

Happy Holidays! Enjoy our end-of-year episode, in which we share everything we loved about 2024, including stellar productions and films, the support of our amazing audiences, and the brilliant artists that continue to make the theater an inspiring and life-affirming experience.