Milwaukee Rep's PTI Ensemble Performs LOST GIRL

Milwaukee Repertory Theater presents the World Premiere production of Lost Girl by Kimberly Belflower performed by the 2017/18 Professional Training Institute (PTI) ensemble this July 19-22, 2018 in the Stiemke Studio. PTI is an advanced actor-training program for students in 8th-12th grade who may have an interest in pursuing a career as a professional theater artist. The 2017/18 PTI ensemble features sixteen students hailing from fourteen different high schools who received free training from some of the top theater professionals in the world, culminating in this capstone performance of Lost Girl where they will be employed as paid, professional actors.

Lost Girl by Kimberly Belflower, is a coming-of-age exploration of first love and lasting loss, asking what became of Wendy Darling in the years following her adventures with Peter Pan in Neverland, continuing the story of J.M. Barrie's beloved character - the girl who had to grow up.

The World Premiere production of Lost Girl will be directed by Wisconsin native Ryan Quinn who directed the inaugural production of PTI's So Thrive My Soul last year. It features costume design by Alexander B. Tecoma (Guys and Dolls), lighting design by Marisa Abbott (Sex with Strangers, Renaissance Theaterworks), sound design by Erin Paige (Always...Patsy Cline), and dramaturgy by Milwaukee Rep's Literary Associate Deanie Vallone. The production is produced by Cortney McEniry Milwaukee Rep's Director of Community Engagement.

The Lost Girl cast features PTI members Elliott Brotherhood as Peter, Juliana Garcia-Malacara as Krista, Durran Goodwin Jr. as Toodles, Meguire Hennes as Nina, Maricella Kessenich as Callie, Logan Muñoz as Nibs, Bradley Nowacek as Boy, Reese Parish as Wendy, Dominic Schiro as Curly, Kenyon Terrell as Slightly, Saleaqua Winston as Mother, and Mainyia Xiong as Cora.

The World Premiere of Lost Girl is performed in the Stiemke Studio July 19 at 7pm, July 20 at 7pm, July 21 and 2pm/7pm, and July 22 at 2pm. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased online at www.MilwaukeeRep.com, by phone at 414-224-9490, or at the Ticket Office at 108 E Wells Street, Milwaukee.

The PTI ensemble were chosen out of hundreds of exceptional young talented students from all across Southeastern Wisconsin. They spent the school year training with leading theater artists including Broadway star Nicholas Rodriguez (Guys and Dolls), Soraya Broukhim (The Who & The What), Milwaukee Rep casting director Frank Honts, Milwaukee HS of the Arts graduate and creator of Murder for Two Joe Kinosian, new Associate Artistic Director May Adrales, playwright of the World Premiere One House Over Catherine Treieschmann, music mogul Abdul Hamid Royal (Black Pearl Sings!), local favorites Norman Moses, Mark Corkins, Elizabeth Ledo and Rep Associate Artists James Pickering and Angela Iannone.

Auditions for the 2018/19 Season PTI class will be held Saturday July 7 from 10:00am-3:00pm and Monday July 9 from 5:30pm-9:00pm. Callbacks will be held July 28 from 9:30am-3:30pm. All participants must sign up for an audition slot here. Participants should prepare one memorized monologue (no longer than 1 minute) and bring their best talent (slam poetry, singing, playing an instrument, breakdancing, etc.) to showcase in 90 seconds or less. For auditions, students will choose to share either their monologue or their special talent. Students will audition alone, but will be given a time slot shared with two other participants.

Support for PTI program is provided by funders of The Rep's new community engagement initiative Mpact, which is designed to further the theater's mission of creating positive change in the cultural, social and economic vitality of Milwaukee. Mpact supporters include Northwestern Mutual, The Lubar Family Foundation, The Richard and Ethel Herzfeld Foundation with additional support from GRAEF.

For more information, please visit our website www.MilwaukeeRep.com

Lost Girl Creative Team Biographies

Kimberly Belflower, Playwright

Kimberly is a playwright and educator from a small town in Appalachian Georgia. She is currently a narrative writer at Meow Wolf, Santa Fe's celebrated arts collective, and is working on a commissioned play with the Farm Theatre's College Collaboration Project. Previously, Kimberly has developed work in New York City, both Carolinas, Georgia, and Texas, where she earned her MFA in Playwriting as a Michener fellow at the University of Texas at Austin. Her plays include Lost Girl (2018 Kennedy Center Darrell Ayers National Playwriting Award, 2016/17 UT Austin mainstage), Gondal (UT New Theatre showcase, 2017 Eugene O'Neill Theatre Conference semi-finalist), Teen Girl FANtasies (co-written with Megan Tabaque, Cohen New Works Festival, 2015 Austin Critics Table nomination for Best New Play), and The Sky Game (commission and 2017 production, Peppercorn Theatre). Kimberly has also developed and produced work with Less Than Rent Theatre, Primary Stages, 54 Below, and Front Porch Arts Collective. She was a founding member of the New York women's writing group, The Beehive Collective, and the founder of a creative arts program for preteen girls in Austin, The Sophisticated Weirdos.

Ryan Quinn, Director

Ryan is a freelance actor, director, and teaching artist based in New York City. He lives in Manhattan with his wife Katie, and one-year-old daughter Zoë. In New York, Ryan serves as the Artistic Director and Co-Founder of Esperance Theater Company (esperancetheatercompany.org). For Esperance he has directed Twelfth Night, and Youth and Ambition, and later this fall will direct the world premiere of Brietwisch Farm by Wisconsin native Jeremy Kamps. He has also directed for The Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, TinyRhino, NYU's Atlantic Acting School, and NYU's MFA Playwriting Program. As a teacher, he has worked with Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Manhattanville College, The Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, Vassar College's Powerhouse Apprentice Training Program, The National Shakespeare Company, The Shakespeare Academy and others, teaching classes in Acting, Text, Shakespeare, Stage Combat, Movement, Games, and Improvisation. He is also an acting coach for BFA, and MFA bound students through MTCA (mtcollegeauditions.com). As an actor, Ryan most recently worked Off-Broadway at The Pearl in the world premiere of Vanity Fair. Other Off-Broadway credits include the world premiere of Whorl Inside a Loop (w/ Sherie Rene Scott) at Second Stage; The Killer (w/Michael Shannon), Antony and Cleopatra (w/Laila Robins), both directed by Darko Tresnjak, King Lear (w/Michael Pennington, dir. Arin Arbus), and Hamlet (w/Christian Camargo, dir. David Esbjornson) at Theater for a New Audience; and Dead Dog Park at 59E59th (dir. Eric Tucker). As an actor, he is most proud of returning to Wisconsin to perform Eugene in Yellowman at Milwaukee Rep, and with his eight seasons with The Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival. Regionally, he has also worked at The Old Globe, Yale Repertory Theater, and many others. Originally from Racine, Wisconsin, Ryan received his BA in Theater from the University of Wisconsin Madison, where he was awarded the Smith and Butt prize for artistic achievement. He then attended The Yale School of Drama, where he received his MFA in acting.

Alexander B. Tecoma, Costume Designer

Alex has been a Draper in The Rep's Costume Shop for the past 20 seasons. He was Rep Company Member of the Year for the 2004/05 Season. Past designs for The Rep include: The 2016 World Premiere of A Christmas Carol, Guys and Dolls, Man of La Mancha, Dreamgirls, The Color Purple, Ragtime, Assassins, Always . . . Patsy Cline, Next to Normal, Nobody Lonesome for Me, Liberace!, Route 66, The Lady With All the Answers, Greater Tuna, The Norman Conquests, The Glass Menagerie, Why Do Fools Fall in Love?, Polish Diva from Milwaukee, The Andrews Brothers, The Marvelous Wonderettes, Lana Mae's Honky Tonk Laundry, Fully Committed and Shear Madness. Other design credits include: Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (Milwaukee Chamber Theatre), Barrymore, Memory House, Skin Tight, Educating Rita, Syncopation, A Phoenix Too Frequent (Renaissance Theaterworks), The Tempest (Optimist Theatre) and Harley Davidson's 100th Anniversary Tour. Other professional credits: Great Lakes Theater Festival, American Players Theatre, Colorado Shakespeare Festival and Santa Fe Opera. Alex received his MFA in Costume Design from University of Illinois.

Marisa Abbott, Lighting Designer

Marisa works as a freelance Lighting Designer, Electrician, and Scenic Artist around the Milwaukee area. Recent designs include Sex With Strangers (Renaissance Theaterworks); Momentum (Milwaukee Ballet II); The Skin Of Our Teeth and Animal Farm (First Stage); Artifacts (Wildspace Dance); The Little Mermaid (Divine Savior Holy Angels High School); and Victory For Victoria (Milwaukee Opera Theatre). Marisa has also helped paint scenery for Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Renaissance Theaterworks, and Kohl's Wild Theatre. http://marisaeabbott.wixsite.com/marisaabbottdesign.

Erin Paige, Sound Designer

Erin Paige is the Sound Director at Milwaukee Rep. Her design credits include Black Pearl Sings!, McGuire, An Evening With Groucho, and The Doyle and Debbie Show for the Stackner Cabaret. Other Milwaukee credits include Junie B. Jones Is Not a Crook, Spookley The Square Pumpkin, Mole Hill Stories, and Goldilocks at First Stage; King Lear at The Alchemist, and Phaedra's Love at The World's Stage. She holds a B.F.A. in Sound Design from Southern Oregon University and tweets about theatre, music, feminism, & basketball @whatagiveaway.

Deanie Vallone, Dramaturg

Deanie is the Literary Associate at Milwaukee Rep, working primarily in new play development. She has served as Dramaturgy Fellow at Baltimore Center Stage (2016-17 season), Dramaturgy and Casting Apprentice at Asolo Repertory Theater (2015-16 season), and Education Intern at Milwaukee Rep (2014-15 season). Recent production dramaturgy credits include Jazz (dir. Kwame Kwei-Armah), Les Liaisons Dangereuses (dir. Hana Sharif), All the Way (dir. Emily Sophia Knapp), and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (dir. Frank Galati). Her writing has appeared in The Wisconsin Review, Booth, The Independent, HowlRound, and Jumeirah Magazine, among others. She received a BA in English and creative writing from Cardinal Stritch University and an MA in English from St. John's College, University of Cambridge.

Lost Girl Cast Biographies

Elliott Brotherhood, Peter

Elliot is a senior at Pathways High School and was last seen as King Henry V in the First Stage Young Company production of Henry V. Previously, Elliott held the lead role of Courage/Batman in the Pathways High production of Finding the Suit, of which he was also the playwright and co-director. Other selected theater credits include The Skin of Our Teeth (Mr. Antrobus). Animal Farm (Boxer), Robin Hood (Deputy), Sherlock Holmes: The Baker Street Irregulars (Wiggins), Crash (Mike DeLuca), The Hundred Dresses (Willy Bounce), The Best Christmas Pageant Ever at First Stage, Twelfth Night, The Heart of Robin Hood, Julius Caesar, and A Midsummer Night's Dream at Door Shakespeare, and the 2012 and 2013 productions of A Christmas Carol (Ensemble and Peter Cratchit) at Milwaukee Repertory Theater.

Juliana Garcia-Malacara (Juju), Girl
Juju is 17 years old and attends Horlick High School in Racine, WI. Juju has been actively involved in the Racine Theatre Guild's productions since age 11. She has been in RTG's Sister Act, Joseph & The Technicolor Dream Coat, Mary Poppins, Beauty and the Beast and Willy Wonka. Other credits include: Belinda Cratchit (2017) in Milwaukee Rep's A Christmas Carol, Horlick's Shrek the Musical as Donkey, RUSD's Seussical as Jojo, and Horlicks's Bye Bye Birdie as Ursula Merkle.

Durran Goodwin Jr., Toodles/Therapist

Durran is a rising freshman at Howard University in Washington DC. During high school, Durran was very-active in his schools' speech and debate team. He's been recognized for his performances at the local, state, and national level. Notable achievements are: 2017 Wisconsin State Champion, 2018 Wisconsin State Champion, 2016 NCFL National Tournament- Top 48, 2017 NSDA Nationals-Top 60 & Top 45, Emory University Double Semi-Finalist (9th Place), and Harvard University Top 24. He was recently a part of the Milwaukee Rep's stage reading for Nathan Alan Davis' The Wind and the Breeze.

Meguire Hennes, Nina
Meguire is a junior at eAchieve, is a quadruple threat with the ability to dance, play the piano/keyboard, sing and act. Even though much of her time is devoted to training, performing and auditioning, Meguire still enjoys normal teenager activities such as fashion, archery and photography. Meguire also performs regularly with her three sisters as the keyboardist in The BAND Hennes. Her recent credits include: The British Invasion & Billy Joel and Friends (Sunset Playhouse), Musical performances at Madison Square Garden and Carnegie Hall, Youth Swing (The Magic Flute, Lyric Opera of Chicago), Baby Louise (Gypsy, Northwestern University), Bethie (A Wonderful Life, Fireside Theatre), Jane (Mary Poppins, Fireside Theatre), Young Cosette (Les Mis, Fireside Theatre), Alice Cratchit (A Christmas Carol, Milwaukee Rep), and Nellie (Annie Get Your Gun, Fireside Theatre).

Maricella Kessenich, Callie

Maricella is a 17 year old senior at Shorewood High School and is thrilled to be making her Rep debut! At Shorewood she was most recently seen as Tammy in Hairspray, The Baker's wife in Into the Woods, Martha in The Secret Garden, Sweeney Todd...Fleet street, South Pacific, American Idiot, and Cabaret. Outside of acting Maricella enjoys music composition, hiking, and exploring the world!

Logan Muñoz, Nibs/Detective

Logan will be starting his senior year this Fall at Racine Horlick High School, where he is co-president of his International Thespian Society troupe, leader of his school's Chorale choir, and an AP student. He most recently played the role of Shrek in Shrek the Musical at Horlick High School, as well as previous performances as Jesus in Godspell, and Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream. In addition, Logan has performed in the ensemble of Les Miserables and played Benjamin in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, both productions at the Racine Theatre Guild. He loves his volunteer work as a cast member at the Bristol Renaissance Faire and enjoys writing vast numbers of stories and plays, as well as drawing and creating funny cartoons.

Bradley Nowacek, Boy

Bradley is a junior at Wauwatosa West High School, where he is the Treasurer of the school theatre department. Previous roles include Bryce (Edward Tulane), Papa Ge (Once On This Island), and UPS man/retiree (Working 2012) at First Stage, as well as Amos Hart (Chicago) and Orin Scrivello (Little Shop Of Horrors) at Tosa West. He is second year student of First Stage's Young Company. Additionally, he is a member of MYSO, and this last year was a co-principal cellist of Senior Symphony and an honorable mention in the MSO's Stars of Tomorrow competition.

Reese Parish, Wendy

Reese is a sophomore at Nicolet High School, recently played Dorothy in First Stage's production of The Wiz. Other theater credits include, Cassandra, in Bliss (or Emily Post is Dead) through Renaissance Theaterworks; Jasmine in Aladdin, Jr. and Lorraine in Hairspray through Menomonee Falls Patio Players; and as Sarah's Friend in Nicolet High School's production of Ragtime. She has had roles in several First Stage productions and a member of Young Company. She also played Z, in a short film called, The Revolt of Color. Reese is a member of Nicolet's Varsity Dance Team, Nicolet's Concert Choir and Nicolet's Varsity Cheerleading Team. When not on stage, Reese may be found singing, dancing, or running track.

Dominic Schiro, Curly/Doctor

Dominic is a Senior at Pius XI High School where he is a member of the Madrigal Choir and has played Duke Orsino in 12th Night, Orestus in Electra, and most recently Jean Valjean in Les Miserable. Outside of school, he has been fortunate to have trained in the Ten Chimneys High School Actor Fellowship program as well as First Stage Young Company. He is happy to be returning to the Rep where he performed in A Christmas Carol (2010, 2013) and as Lady Capulet in the inaugural year of the Rep's Professional Training Institute (PTI). Dominic is very grateful for the skills and training he has received from the Milwaukee Rep and looks forward to taking that knowledge into the next chapter of his career.

Kenyon Terrell, Slightly

Kenyon is in his final year at Marquette University High School. He has done some great shows and had some great roles in school including Barnabas in Franz Kafka's The Castle, Earnest Worthing in The Importance of Being Earnest, Juror #3 in 12 Angry Jurors, and Finny in A Separate Peace. He plans to pursue acting at either Fordham University in New York City or The Theater School of DePaul in Chicago. Kenyon was born and raised in Milwaukee, and loves the city.

Saleaqua Winston, Mother

Saleaqua is a 12th grade theatre major at Milwaukee Highschool of the Arts. She is a local Artist that lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with her Mom, Dad, and dog (Homie). She loves acting, music, writing and performing poetry. She played the role of Dr. Harper and Lt. Rooney in Arsenic and Old Lace, Elaine Brown and Elvira Evers in Twilight: Los Angeles 1992 and also Miss Pat, Jeanine, and Lady in plaid in The Colored Museum. She was an ensemble member for the Milwaukee Rep's PTI program 2016/2017 season and is currently a member for the 2017/2018 season. She has won an Outstanding Actor award from Wisconsin's One-Act Play Festival competition and has also won 2nd place at the 2017 Wisconsin state "Poetry Out Loud" competition. She is a National Honor Society member, planning to attend UWM for a BFA in Acting and also plans to pursue her career as a professional actor, writer, and performer.

Mainyia Xiong, Cora

Mainyia is an active senior at Menomonee Falls HIgh School. She has performed with her high school choir at Carnegie Hall twice during her high school career. She loves the performing arts, cosmetology, and fashion. To date, she has been in eight productions. She is currently working on her ninth production, 9 to 5, where she is casted as Violet Newstead. In addition to Lost Girl with the Professional Training Institute, Mainyia is participating in Sudbrink Performance Academy's summer production, School of Rock, where she was casted as Patty Di Marco. She will pursue her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale in the fall.

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