Report #13 of the Wisconsin Theatre Diversity Study
Check out this post for more info on the study and our methodology.
Our thirteenth report is for Voices Found Repertory. The reporting period begins with Margaret in 2022 and runs through their most recent production of Richard II in 2023.
Actor Breakdown
The below data is the number of roles cast with actors of each demographic and the percentage total.
White - 44 roles, 88%
Asian-American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) - 2 roles, 4%
Multiracial - 2 roles, 4%
Latino/a/x - 1 role, 2%
South Asian (SA) - 1 role, 2%
Director Breakdown
The below data is the number of times a director of each demographic was hired and the percentage total. These numbers include directors and co-directors.
White - 5, 100%
These numbers reflect 5 full productions consisting of 50 total roles for actors. Only actors listed in the adult cast/adult ensemble were considered for this study. Their casting rate of white actors at 88% puts Voices Found Repertory at the 4th highest/10th lowest rate out of the 13 total storefront companies.
That 88% represents a little under 3 times the representation in city racial demographics. They cast no Black actors across these five shows, leaving them with no representation of Milwaukee's largest racial demographic. None of Voices Found’s individual non-white casting demographics equaled or exceeded their relative representational populations in the City of Milwaukee that were tracked per the census.
Milwaukee Demographics
White (Alone) - 31.1%
Black (Alone) - 38.5%
Latino/a/x or Hispanic - 20.9%
AAPI (Alone) - 5.2%
Indigenous (Alone) - .8%
All Others (Including Multiracial) - 3.6%
Current Milwaukee Census Estimates: Link
We acknowledge that census data is imperfect, in part due to a lack of representation for SWANA and South Asian populations and confusion for Latin/Hispanic populations, but it gives us a starting point to understand where we’re falling short when it comes to representation in our community.