Milwaukee, Wisconsin – Thursday, August 20, 2015 — Proud Theater Milwaukee is currently enrolling youth for its 2015-2016 season, starting. Rehearsals for the season begin on September 26, 2015, and are held on Saturdays during the school year from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., and are held at the LGBT Community Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1110 North Market Street. To enroll, youth need only contact Proud Theater Milwaukee by phone at 608-222-9086, by e-mail ([email protected]), or by simply showing up to a Saturday rehearsal. Open enrollment ends November 21, 2016.

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 in Madison, Wisconsin, the group in Milwaukee is open to youth ages 13 to 19 that identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersexed or who are allied with the queer community.

Empowering and creative, Proud Theater Milwaukee 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 2016 culminating performance is to be determined. Proud Theater Milwaukee’s first performance of the year will take place at the LGBT Film Festival on October 25, 2015.

There are now five chapters of Proud Theater. Aside from Milwaukee, Proud Theater has chapters in Wausau, Madison, and Sun Prairie, as well as a pilot chapter of Proud Theater Beyond in Madison, designed for post-high school 18 to 24 years old young adults.

The Milwaukee chapter is looking for local artists and community activists to become youth mentors, and share in the storytelling within the Milwaukee area. Training is provided. Contact Proud Theater for an application.

Proud Theater is a program of Art and Soul Innovations (artandsoulinnovations.org), and enjoys generous financial support from the Mukti Fund (muktifund.com), and the New Harvest Foundation (newharvestfoundation.org), as well as support from many community members and organizations from around the state.

For more info on Proud Theater Milwaukee, contact Proud Theater Executive Director Brian Wild at [email protected], or call Proud Theater at 608-222-9086.

Tax-deductible donations to the Proud Theater Milwaukee can be sent to: Proud Theater, PO Box 6306, Monona WI, 53716, or via PayPal at www.proudtheater.org. Please indicate funds are for the Proud Theater Milwaukee Chapter.