Proud Theater Madison is back in action with an exciting new opportunity for LGBTQI+ and allied youth between the ages of 13 and 18 to explore themselves and their identities through theater, music, dance, and spoken word in a safe, fun, welcoming, and supportive environment.

The organization will begin enrolling 13 to 18 year old youth for their upcoming 2018-2019 season who identify as or who are allied with the LGBTQI+ community. Rehearsals are held at Trinity United Methodist Church, 1123 Vilas Avenue, beginning Thursday, September 13, 2018, 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.

, and run every week during the school year. Youth interested in being part of Proud Theater need only show up to rehearsals before open enrollment ends on November 29, 2018.

Proud Theater is an award-winning, exciting, and innovative youth theater program whose mission is ‘to change the world through the power of theater and the theater arts, and to make a positive difference in the lives of LGBTQIA+ youth through the tenets of art, heart, and activism’.   Founded in 1999, the group is open to youth that identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, Intersexed or who are allied with the queer community (LGBTQIA+).

Empowering and creative, Proud Theater encourages youth to share their personal stories through the creation of original theatrical works, which they then present to the community at large throughout the school year. Traditionally, the group ends each season with a culminating showcase production.  The 2018 culminating performance is May 23-25, 2018, at the Diane Ballweg Theatre in Madison, Wisconsin.

There are now five chapters of Proud Theater. Aside from Madison, Proud Theater has chapters in Wausau, Milwaukee, and Sun Prairie, as well as a chapter of Proud Theater Beyond in Madison, an organization for young LGBTQIA+ adults ranging from post-high school 18 years of age up to 24 years old. Proud Theater, with help from a generous donation from The LaForce Family Foundation, will be opening an additional chapter in Green Bay, Wisconsin, in late 2018

Proud Theater is a program of Art and Soul Innovations (artandsoulinnovations.org). The upcoming season is sponsored through generous financial support from the LaForce Family Foundation, the Pride Youth Theater Alliance, and from many other community members, partnerships, and organizations around the state.

For more info on Proud Theater, contact Executive Director Brian Wild at [email protected], or call the Proud Theater hotline at 608-222-9086. Tax-deductible donations to Proud Theater can be sent to: Proud Theater, PO Box 6306, Monona, Wisconsin 53716, or made via PayPal at www.proudtheater.org.