We’ve only scratched the surface. For the Shepherd Express Spring Arts Guide 2018, we decided to speak with six successful artists who emerged from our city’s many arts education programs. They work in various media, emerged from different programs and span many years in age.
The youngest, Malaina Moore, turns 20 this spring. She was a Rufus King High School student when she discovered Milwaukee Chamber Theatre’s Young Playwrights Festival and will see her newest play performed this fall by Marquette University, where she majors in theater arts. The éminence grise among them, Mark Davis, literally grew up at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music and never left the building for long. He’s now chair of the school’s jazz studies program.
In her early 20s, the Milwaukee Ballet’s Lizzie Tripp trained at the Ballet School and Academy and won a place in the internationally prestigious MBII before joining the company last season. Only a few years older are choreographer Gina Laurenzi and actress Allie Babich from Danceworks and American Shakespeare Center in Virginia, respectively. Babich is among a growing number of Milwaukee expats who have found work in the arts elsewhere, in her case after training with First Stage and absorbing that company’s mantra: “Life skills through stage skills.” Laurenzi found work closer to home. Drawing inspiration from a UW-Milwaukee outreach workshop conducted by Danceworks’ Artistic Director Dani Kuepper, Laurenzi went on to graduate from UW-Milwaukee’s dance program and is now at Danceworks as director of its youth company.
Likewise, 20-something, Madelyn Yee graduated with a theater degree from Marquette University and has applied that program’s strong emphasis on design to a career as a stage designer. She was responsible for designing the recent production Black Nativity staged at the Marcus Center and her work is often seen at the Broadway Theatre Center.
There are many other graduates of Milwaukee arts education classes whom we hope to feature in the Shepherd Express during the coming year. The institutions that have worked to create meaningful programs for students in the performing arts, in some cases to fill the gap left by the gutting of arts education in public schools, have contributed to elevating and sustaining Milwaukee’s vibrant cultural life.
David Luhrssen Spring Arts Guide Editor John Schneider Spring Arts Guide Assistant Editor
Dancer Lizzie Tripp on the Milwaukee Ballet Training Program
Lizzie Tripp became a company member of the Milwaukee Ballet School and Academy in 2016-2017 season.
Waukesha native Lizzie Tripp trained at Milwaukee Ballet School and Academy; won a place in MBII, the Ballet’s pre-professional program; and became a company member last season.
She says: “I was in seventh grade when I started at the school. I was in a jazz dance school but it was too expensive so my mom switched me. At first I didn’t like it, but Karl von Rabenau and Jenny Miller were my teachers and they made me really love ballet. Mireille Favarel was my teacher when I got to higher levels. She and MBII’s director Rolando Yanes are also amazing. They were all company members so they prepare you for stuff they know.
“At first it’s four days a week. It goes up to six. An hour and a half class and then an hour style class. It’s ballet but there are a couple classes in modern or jazz and now even hip-hop. You perform. We did Rolando’s ballets a lot. We had new works created on us. I danced in the corps in Swan Lake. I danced in Peter Pan my first year, when I was 12.
After three years, you move up to the Academy for two years. We had “pas class” every Wednesday. I had a chance to do the “Grand Pas” from The Nutcracker. You work with the MBII boys, which is a help. You have to audition for MBII. People come from all over the world to audition. It prepares you for a career anywhere.” (John Schneider)
Choreographer Gina Laurenzi on UWM’s Dance Program and Danceworks Youth Performance Company
Choreographer Gina Laurenzi teaches dance at UWM, directs the Danceworks Youth Performance Company and works as a choreographer and dancer with Danceworks.
Straight from high school, Kenosha native Gina Laurenzi joined a professional dance company in Chicago. “But I felt behind,” she said, “and I realized it was because the other company members had degrees, while I knew so little about the creative process. I realized I needed to learn more if I was going to do this for a lifetime.” She returned to Kenosha and opened her own small studio. A friend recommended an outreach workshop led by UW-Milwaukee faculty member and Danceworks Performance Company Artistic Director Dani Kuepper. Laurenzi attended and was inspired to enroll in UWM’s BFA dance program. Now a choreographer and dancer with Danceworks Performance Company, she teaches dance at UWM and directs the Danceworks Youth Performance Company.
Laurenzi: “The most important thing I learned at UWM is that it’s not just putting moves together to your favorite song. It’s about creating movement that says what you want to say. There are all these sources of inspiration; it doesn’t have to be creating from moves you’ve done before. Creating my own work has been helpful but so has coaching young dancers to come into their own voices, improvise comfortably, clearly respond to those around them and make their own choices. At UWM, all the teachers are affiliated with a company, the teachers perform, performers teach, they bring students into their work. There’s this sense of support about what we bring to the community. I feel like we’re constantly pushing to do something new, this community of artists.” (J.S.)
Scenic and Props Designer Madelyn Yee on Marquette Theatre
Madelyn Yee works as a scenic and props designer at many prominent theaters in the Milwaukee area.
Madelyn Yee graduated from Marquette University in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in theater arts and a minor in Spanish language, literature and culture. She now works as a scenic and props designer at many prominent local theaters. As a props artisan or master, her credits include Skylight Music Theatre, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Renaissance Theaterworks, KOHL’s Wild Theater, Optimist Theatre, Bronzeville Arts Ensemble and Splinter Group. As a scenic designer, she’s worked with Renaissance, First Stage, Chamber and Forward Theater.
Asked about the influence of her Marquette education on her work, Yee says, “Marquette showed me different sides of theater I didn’t see in high school. I went intending to focus on stage management, but tried out all different sorts of fields—the lovely benefit of attending a liberal arts program—and then ultimately landed on design. Marquette really helped me just grow as a human which sounds hackneyed but is nevertheless true. I learned what kind of person I wanted to be, and how I could put that energy into my work.”
What does she believe is most special about the Milwaukee theater scene? “I love the size and sense of kinship. It allows me to really get to know the people I’m working with. So many of the artists I’ve met here are warm and helpful and kind which was useful for a starting designer who didn’t know exactly what she wanted from her career yet. It’s just a welcoming and nurturing environment for young folk.
“I definitely plan on staying here. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t mind travelling for shows, but it’s the Midwest mentality that’s really appealing to me. I love the seasons, I love the food, I love the people.” (Selena Milewski)
Mark Davis, Chair of Jazz Studies at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music on His Musical Education
Mark Davis, Chair of Jazz Studies at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music
How did the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music help you grow to be the artist you are?
The Conservatory is the institution that is most responsible for our area’s thriving jazz scene, and I’m fortunate to have received my early musical training there. I’ve now been teaching there and serving as the Chair of the Jazz Institute for 25 years. I’ve learned so much from working with hundreds of students, teaching alongside amazing faculty members, and performing with legendary guest artists such as Benny Golson and Phil Woods.
What sort of training and resources does the Wisconsin Conservatory offer?
We offer lessons and classes for all ages and levels in a variety of styles, and our faculty are teaching in over 50 schools. The Conservatory’s Jazz Institute offers a jam session on the second Friday of each month and master classes by world-renowned artists—all free and open to the public. The Institute also offers concerts by our faculty ensemble, We Six, a summer jazz camp, a high school honors program, school residencies as well as lessons and ensembles for teens and adults.
What is unique about learning to play jazz as opposed to other genres?
In addition to mastering their instrument, a student of jazz learns how to improvise. This involves assimilating the “language” of jazz through in-depth listening and emulating great players. Improvisation is the creative freedom that makes jazz so exciting. Students of jazz also learn by playing in a group where they develop a strong sense of rhythm and learn how to interact musically with others. (Tyler Friedman)
Actress Allie Babich on First Stage
Allie Babbich began her performing career with First Stage in fifth grade.
Encouraged by her aunt, Milwaukee actress Debra Babich, Allie began training and performing with First Stage in fifth grade, graduating to its Young Company in high school. The opportunities to practice and to watch professional actors work inspired her to pursue acting as a career. After completing the University of Minnesota/Guthrie Theatre’s BFA acting program, she taught Shakespeare at First Stage, acted professionally here and nationally and is now with the American Shakespeare Center repertory company in Virginia.
Babich: “At First Stage, I never felt like a “kid” in the room. We were “young performers” and that’s how we were treated. We were expected to work as hard as the adults, and we were prepared for it, too. We learned how to score our scripts, interact with the stage manager, what “tech week” means, and about the jobs that aren’t as visible but are just as important—prop artisans, designers, house management and many others! I think what really sets First Stage apart is that it’s just as important to them to train good people as good actors. That’s the life skills part of “life skills through stage skills.” It’s in the cheer students say as part of their warm-up: ‘I can’t is not in my vocabulary. I take risks. I conquer my fears. I am not afraid to lead.’ While that’s good advice for any career, it’s especially good for artists. That mantra has helped me to choose excitement and joy instead of fear when things are in transition.” (J.S.)
Playwright Malaina Moore on the Milwaukee Chamber Theatre Young Playwrights Festival
Playwright Malaina Moore majors in theater arts at Marquette University.
One of three high school students citywide to win production of an original one act in the 2016-17 Milwaukee Chamber Theatre Young Playwrights Festival, Malaina Moore will have her newest play produced this fall by Marquette University where she majors in theater arts.
Moore: “I hadn’t written a play before. I was a junior at Rufus King. When [associate artistic director] Marcy Kearns came, she was really good at motivating us. I mean to come into a classroom of majority non-theater students and get so many kids excited about playwriting is amazing. They do this with a lot of schools so she’s giving feedback to hundreds of students.
“She had us think about conflicts. My conflict was around black lives, the black community. I wanted to represent the people I knew. She gave me a lot of praise. After the first draft, she said ‘I want you to know I love this.’ I know she probably says that to everyone but she’s one of the people who inspired me to keep going. Kids don’t get that recognition for their work, ever. Then, once I was chosen, it kept getting better. I met so many people, made so many connections. They’d invite me to all types of things, to almost the entire production process. They were very nice. They told me, this is how it works. I had a voice. I came to auditions, of course. It was so cool to see how many people I could have play each part.” (J.S.)
