Report #5 of the Wisconsin Theatre Diversity Study
Check out this post for more info on the study and our methodology.
Our fifth report is for Vanguard Milwaukee. The reporting period begins with All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914 in 2022 and runs through their most recent production of All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914 in 2025.
Actor Breakdown
The below data is the number of roles cast with actors of each demographic and the percentage total.
White - 37 roles, 72.5%
Latino/a/x - 5 roles, 9.8%
Black - 4 roles, 7.8%
Asian-American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) - 4 roles, 7.8%
Indigenous - 1 role, 2%
Director Breakdown
The below data is the number of times a director of each demographic was hired and the percentage total.
White - 6, 100%
These numbers reflect 6 full productions consisting of 51 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 72.5% puts Vanguard at the 11th highest/3rd lowest rate out of 13 total storefront companies.
That 72.5% represents a little over 2.3 times the representation in city racial demographics, while their 7.8% Black actor casting rate is a little under 1/5 of the representation of Milwaukee's largest racial demographic of 38.5%. Vanguard’s casting rates for Indigenous and AAPI actors exceed 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.