Report #2 of the Wisconsin Theatre Diversity Study
Check out this post for more info on the study and our methodology.
4/1/2026 Update - Adjusted language in the Actor/Director breakdown analysis.
Our second report is for Forte Theatre Company. The reporting period begins with Miracle on 34th Street in 2021 and runs through their current production of Mamma Mia.
Actor Breakdown
The below data is the number of roles cast with actors of each demographic and the percentage total.
White - 136 roles, 86.6%
Black - 6 roles, 3.8%
Latino/a/x - 5 roles, 3.2%
Asian-American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) - 4 roles, 2.5%
Multiracial - 4 roles, 2.5%
South Asian (SA) - 2 roles, 1.3%
Director Breakdown
The below data is the number of times a director of each demographic was hired and the percentage total.
White - 10, 100%
These numbers reflect 10 full productions consisting of 157 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 86.6% puts Forte at the 5th highest/9th lowest rate out of 13 total companies.
That 86.6% represents nearly three times the representation in city racial demographics, while their 3.8% Black actor casting rate is 1/10 of the representation of Milwaukee's largest racial demographic of 38.5%. *None of Forte's individual non-white casting demographics equaled or exceeded their relative representational populations per in the City of Milwaukee that were tracked per the census. (Updated 4/1/2026)
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.