FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENUF BY NTOZAKE SHANGE

DIRECTED BY LINETTA ALEXANDER

Linetta is a creative who uses her words to change atmospheres, shape minds, and shut down ignorance in every form. As an educator and director, her entire purpose is to draw out raw and refined talent to
create the most authentic experiences for audiences. During the pandemic she has developed an African American Immersion
Curriculum, facilitated trainings on the Beloved Community and decentering whiteness, wrote a children’s book about Ella Baker, started and is half way through writing her first fiction novel
about an empathic sapiosexual, started the U.N. (Ujamaa & Nia) Challenge to motivate and encourage African American women entrepreneurs by gifting them with cashapp bombs in weekly drawings (she supported a little over 50 businesses at the start of the
pandemic), adapted “The End of Hope” to a public service announcement to remind folks that domestic violence is on the rise during the pandemic, started a summer program and tutoring
business; Rebirth Ink 1:1 Tutoring and Rebirth Ink Saturday School, made several liters of her immunity boosting stay away covid tea for sick neighbors and family members, accepted her purpose as an Oracle, perfected using her singing bowl, established an ancestral altar, stay giving her money to Black businesses, and tries every day to
be the dopest mom she can be to Zora Davis in this incarnation.

THE REALNESS BY IDRIS GOODWIN

DIRECTED BY DENZEL TAYLOR

Denzel Taylor is an alum of the University of Wisconsin - Madison and the First Wave - Hip Hop and Urban Arts scholarship program. In February of 2020, Denzel further completed an Education residency with Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s Emerging Professional Residency program. Since graduating from college in 2018, Denzel expanded his theater credits with companies including Children’s Theater of Madison, Skylight Music Theater, and Black Arts MKE. In 2022, he briefly returned to the First Wave program as a performance and collaboration instructor and in the following year, made his director’s debut at TBEY. Arts Center for the company’s spring production of Rap-Punzel. Later, in August of the same year, Denzel directed his second production, The Meeting, for the 2023 Milwaukee Black Theater Festival. Continuing his career, Denzel made his First Stage Children's Theater debut as “Donald D.” in the world premier of Dream, Quickie! Dream! and returned to Black Arts MKE. for his third appearance in the annual production Black Nativity. Continuing further, Denzel launched his new company Nobleman Theater Troupe, making their 2024 debut with a second run of The Meeting at Madison Area Technical College. Grateful for an ongoing and endearing relationship with Black Arts MKE. Denzel directs Idris Goodwin’s The Realness for the 2024 Milwaukee Black Theater Festival.

STORIES ABOUT THE OLD DAYS BY BILL HARRIS

DIRECTED BY SHERI WILLIAMS PANNELL

Sheri Williams Pannell is a native Milwaukeean who has performed, directed, or written for a number of Milwaukee’s theater and arts organizations including Bronzeville Arts Ensemble, First Stage, Florentine Opera, Milwaukee Chamber Theater, Milwaukee Fringe Festival, Milwaukee Rep, Milwaukee Symphony, Milwaukee Art Museum, and Skylight Music Theatre. Beyond Milwaukee, Pannell has worked at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Utah’s Old Lyric Theatre, Children’s Theater of Madison, University Opera and University Theater at UW Madison. Pannell was selected to direct a production as part of the United Nations Conference on Genocide, hosted at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In 2017, Pannell was honored as an Artist of the Year by the City of Milwaukee. In 2020, Pannell wrote the libretto and directed the Florentine Opera School Tour of BRONZEVILLE BOHÉME. A founding member and artistic director at Bronzeville Arts Ensemble, Pannell is also a senior artistic associate at Black Arts MKE, and co-director of the drama ministry at Calvary Baptist Church.  Pannell is a co-founder of the Milwaukee Black Theatre Festival.  Pannell is an assistant professor and area head for the Musical Theatre Program at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, College of the Arts and Architecture. A graduate of Spelman College, Pannell also holds an MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  

IN THE BLOOD BY SUZAN-LORI PARKS (Staged Reading)

DIRECTED BY LORI A. WOODALL

Lori is beyond thrilled to debut with Black Arts MKE at the Festival! She has worked as a professional Theatre artist for over 30+ years, having begun her professional career as a youth in Milwaukee, WI, first beginning with The Rep’s “A Christmas Carol” when she was a child. In the Theatre, she has been an award-winning actor, singer/dancer, director, choreographer, writer and producer, having lived and worked in WI, Los Angeles and abroad. Additionally, she is a TV/Film actress, having appeared in over 50 regional, national, and local commercials/industrials, and has had a prolific career in radio voice over. She has been represented by Howard Talent West (Los Angeles), Shirley Hamilton, Inc. and Ford Models and Talent (Chicago), and Jennifer’s Talent and Ford Models and Talent in Milwaukee. She holds an MFA in Acting from The California Institute of the Arts (Los Angeles) where she worked under notable figures such as Suzan-Lori Parks, Fran Bennett, Joan MacIntosh, Travis Preston and Denise Woods, and a BA in Theatre (Acting Specialist) and African-American Studies from UW-Madison. One of her favorite theatrical career highlights was portraying Broadway’s Kirsten Childs in Childs’ Off-Broadway musical, “The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin”, where she played the title role in the West Coast premiere.

Lori has taught Theatre at Concordia University since 2006, has led the program since 2013, and has directed and produced over 30 plays including favorites Death of a Salesman, Singin’ in the Rain, Pride and Prejudice, Steel Magnolias, Guys and Dolls, The Women of Lockerbie, A Raisin in the Sun, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Macbeth, Godspell, The Great Gatsby, and Hairspray. Prior to teaching at CUW, she had taught at the California Institute of the Arts, California Arts Institute, First Stage Milwaukee, and Performing Arts Workshops Los Angeles, to name a few. She has been dedicated to teaching youth, college, and adults in the Theatre Arts and Film/TV acting, as well as serving in various drama ministries and doing private acting coaching and on-set coaching/consulting. This summer, she is directing Acacia Theatre’s The Agitators, a play that combines her passion for Theatre and African-American history, and she is excited to return to Suzan-Lori’s In The Blood with Black Arts MKE, where she played Hester at the Walt Disney Modular Theatre. In her spare time, she enjoys time her husband and two children, writing, singing, traveling, and general creating!