A MILWAUKEE Love Story

Proposal to:

From:

Contact person:

Summary:

Herzfeld (Richard & Ethel) Foundation, Inc.

219 N Milwaukee St # 7
Milwaukee, WI 53202City, State Zip
Bronzeville Arts Ensemble
108 E Wells St.
Milwaukee, WI

Samantha Sanchez
414-416-1837
sanchesn@alverno.edu
This proposal addresses the current state of segregation in
Milwaukee and how effective it can be to address cross-cultural
relationships through the arts. Therefore, Bronzeville Arts
Ensemble is proposing an original play titled A MILWAUKEE Love
Story to be performed at four locations on Milwaukees north,
south, east, and west side. The performances will be followed by
a discussion with the audience sparking a reflection on crosscultural relationships in Milwaukee.

Signature
Name, Executive Director, President, Etc.

5/2016

Bronzeville Arts Ensemble

Contact: Samantha Sanchez @ sanchesn@alverno.edu

Need
For years experts have named Milwaukee as the most segregated city in the United States. With this
segregation comes a cultural divide. The December 2015 CNN article, Race and Reality: The scourge of
segregation written by Ray Sanchez quotes Reginald Jackson, a Milwaukee schoolteacher who is on the
board of Americas Black Holocaust Museum in Milwaukee. In the article Jackson talks about Milwaukee"People are afraid of each other. Black people are afraid of the white parts of town. White people are
afraid of the black and Latino parts of town." Jackson also says, "I used to intentionally do things to not
scare white people. If I was walking down the street and they were coming from the other direction, I
would cross the street so I wouldn't scare them."
A survey done by CNN/Kaiser Family Foundation Poll found that in the Midwest only 35 percent of
people answered in the affirmative that they either socialize or live near people of mostly or all of a
different race compared to 56 percent in the South, 51 in the West, and 44 percent in the Northeast.
Robert Smith, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee says in the CNN article, "There are
no borders, no walls, there are no actual gates, but we know that there is gate keeping that goes on -whether it's with the police or just the way commercial and retail operations treat you. You live the
isolation, the racial prejudice, the hostility in all kinds of ways."
Marc Levine, a professor of history and economic development at the University of WisconsinMilwaukee has found in his more than 30 years of research on race and inequality that nearly 16% of
affluent black households, with income above $200,000 live in neighborhoods with poverty rates over
40% in Milwaukee. To put this into perspective; an affluent African-American household in Milwaukee is
24 times more likely than one of the same income level in Baltimore to live in an extreme poverty
neighborhood.
Daleshontai Tate, a 20-year old who comes from a neighborhood in Milwaukee where 60% of its men
have served time in a correctional facility by the age of 34, talked about his experience with an afterschool arts program he attended in highschool. The program helps students deal with the despair of
their surroundings through the use of the arts. Tate said when talking about his experience with the
program "a sense of family, a sense of community. It was a place where I felt welcomed. It felt really like
the first time I could collaborate with other people." Tate now has a job working as an assistant.
With this kind of segregation in Milwaukee we are left asking, what is the real problem? And what can
we do? One problem is evident; there is a true lack of cross-cultural understanding in the city of
Milwaukee that needs to be addressed immediately.
One way of helping different races and cultures find understanding in one-another lies in the arts. An
article by The Atlantic written by Andy Horwitz talks about how funding for the arts in America is mostly
given to the largest arts organizations in the U.S., leaving less-known but sometimes more diverse art
programs with smaller and sometimes insufficient funds. The article says art reflects the values,
aspirations, and questions of a culture; its a mechanism for a society to articulate how it imagines

Bronzeville Arts Ensemble

Contact: Samantha Sanchez @ sanchesn@alverno.edu

itself. Bronzeville Arts Ensembles (BAE), a theatre company committed to the expansion and
cultivation of Milwaukee's African American theater arts community, wants to use the arts to help
bridge the gap of cross-cultural understanding in the city of Milwaukee by their production of A
MILWAUKEE Love Story. A MILWAUKEE Love Story will be a theatrical showcase of original works
written about and for Milwaukee from the perspective of people of color to showcase the love/hate
relationship many people of color have with Milwaukee.
To understand the importance of the Bronzeville Arts Ensemble and the impact it can have on the
Milwaukee community look at the impact of their first major production The Mojo and the Sayso that
was playing at the Milwaukee Reparatory theater at the beginning of 2016. The Mojo and the Sayso
was named by American Theatre magazine as one of a handful of plays that could spark a national
conversation, at a time when racial relations have become increasingly strained. In a theater review on
January 29th, 2016 in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Mike Fischer summed up his positive review by
saying As this deliberately surrealistic design choice makes clear, what's been unfolding recently in
places like Ferguson, Charlestown, Chicago and Milwaukee stretches all the way back to the arrival of
those first African slaves in 1619 Virginia. The tragedy of families like the Glovers (referring to the
African American family the play is written about) is just another link in a long chain, making it all the
more important that we collectively find the mojo and sayso necessary for a liberating ride toward a
higher and more open road.
Bronzeville Arts Ensemble has proven that it can put on a professional and artistically worthy
performance that raises questions to the audience about the current state of racial relationships. With
this ability the Milwaukee community has a responsibility to continue to support the endeavors of this
remarkable organization.

Objectives
Objectives

Measures of Accomplishment

Bronzeville Arts Ensemble to continue

relationship with the Milwaukee Repertory
theatre in the downtown area and subsequently
the use of the Steimke Theater. To form a
mutually beneficial partnership with Alverno
Colleges Pitman Theatre on the south side of
Milwaukee, DSHAs theatre department on the
west Side of Milwaukee, and The Mainstage
Theatre at UW-Milwaukee on the east side of
Milwaukee.

To attain a formal signed agreement of

partnership with all institutes as well as use of
the theatres associated with those institutions.

Bronzeville Arts Ensemble

Contact: Samantha Sanchez @ sanchesn@alverno.edu

Objectives

Measures of Accomplishment

To put on two productions of A MILWAUKEE Love

Story at four different locations; The Steimke
Theatre, Pitman Theatre, DSHAs Theatre, and
The Mainstage Theatre at UW-Milwaukee,
reaching a variety of communities in Milwaukee
for a total of eight productions in the Fall of 2017.

To reach Milwaukee county residents with the

production of A MILWAUKEE Love Story and
subsequent discussion causing them to think
about cross-cultural relationships.

To reach at least 3,500 Milwaukeeans with the

production of A MILWAUKEE Love Story on the
north, south, east, and west sides of Milwaukee.

To sell 75% of all tickets available.

To host discussions with the audiences of A

MILWAUKEE Love Story after every show to
encourage them to think about the current state
of cross-cultural relationships in Milwaukee. To
get people to think about how race affects
peoples lives in their community with the
discussion.

To pass out an evaluation after every show asking

the audience to give feedback on the impact the
discussion had on them.

Work Plan
Activities
The script for A MILWAUKEE Love Story has been completed and is attached at the end of this proposal.
A MILWAUKEE Love Story is centered on a topic important to all people: love, understanding, and
acceptance. Furthermore, the production will address the love people of color have for Milwaukee, and
how the segregation and racial stereotypes prominent in our city affect that love. The play will tell the
untold story of many who live and love in the city of Milwaukee. It is important that people in
Milwaukee take the time to listen to those stories and reflect upon what race means to them, what it
means within their community, and what they want it to mean in their future. If people take the time to
think about cross-cultural relationships in their lives, and discuss it with people in their community, they
are already on their way to better understanding each other and improving those relationships in their
lives.
A MILWAUKEE Love Story will begin casting in the summer of 2017. Rehearsals will last nine weeks
followed by four weeks for performance with a total of eight shows among four locations. Two shows
will take place at each at the four locations; one show will be on a Saturday night and the other show
will be on a Sunday afternoon. After every show there will be a discussion with the audience prompting
further thought and reflection on the current state of cross-cultural relationships in their community.
The audience will also be given an evaluation to complete asking for their feedback on the discussion.

Bronzeville Arts Ensemble

Contact: Samantha Sanchez @ sanchesn@alverno.edu

Personnel
A MILWAUKEE Love Story will include ten actors/actresses total. This will include two professional actor/
actresses, six non-professional actor/actresses and two children actor/actresses. All actors will be
employed for nine weeks of rehearsal time plus four weeks of performances. Casting will take place in
the summer of 2017.
The director of A MILWAUKEE Love Story will be ____________.
A MILWAUKEE Love Story will be a traveling production. The production will have a production
coordinator as well as a stage manager that will travel with the show. These staff members will help
direct the resident staff at the different theatre locations in lighting and other technical aspects of the
production in addition to adjusting actors to the different stages. These staff members will also be
responsible for all the props, costumes, and set designs that travel with the show. This will include setup and take-down before and after each show with the help of any resident staff members at the four
theatre locations helping with the production.
A MILWAUKEE Love Story will be working with two college students who are seniors majoring in
marketing at Alverno College. These two students have volunteered to work as publicist/PR coordinator
in return for improving their portfolio and resume for future employers. These students will help with
promoting the shows using digital advertising through uses such as social media as well as classic print
advertising.
Occupancy
A MILWAUKEE Love Story will take place at four different locations. The Steimke Theatre at the
Milwaukee Repertory Theatre downtown, Pitman Theatre at Alverno College on the south side of
Milwaukee, DSHAs Theatre on the west side of Milwaukee, and UW- Milwaukees Main Stage Theatre
on the east side of Milwaukee.
Evaluation
A MILWAUKEE Love Story will be more than a theatre production. It will be a community event meant to
evoke a response from the audience on racial relationships in the community. To facilitate and develop
this thought-provoking response there will be a discussion with the audience after every show. This
discussion will be moderated by director _________________ of A MILWAUKEE Love Story,
______________ of Bronzeville Arts Ensemble, and of chosen staff members from each location. The
chosen staff at each location will be anywhere from one to three persons. They will be part of the
community involved in the discussion and employed by the facility, such as a teacher or minister who
will be able to reflect and add their own experiences to the discussion. Combining members of
Bronzeville Arts Ensemble and the staff of locations such as Alverno College and DSHA will ensure a
diverse and rich discussion. Audience members will give feedback of the discussion through an
evaluation form.

Bronzeville Arts Ensemble

Contact: Samantha Sanchez @ sanchesn@alverno.edu

Budget
A MILWAUKEE Love Story
EXPENSES:
TYPE
Personnel
Professional Actor/actress #1
Professional Actor/actress #2
Non-professional Actor/actress #1
Non-professional Actor/actress #2
Non-professional Actor/actress #3
Non-professional Actor/actress #4
Non-professional Actor/actress #5
Non-professional Actor/actress #6
Child Actor/actress #1
Child Actor/actress #2
Publcist/PR Coordinator 1
Publcist/PR Coordinator 1
Stage manager
Production coordinator
Director
Promotion
Advertising

COST
$7,800
$7,800
$5,200
$5,200
$5,200
$5,200
$5,200
$5,200
$1,300
$1,300
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0

NOTES
$600/week, 13weeks
$600/week, 13weeks
$400/week, 13weeks
$400/week, 13weeks
$400/week, 13weeks
$400/week, 13weeks
$400/week, 13weeks
$400/week, 13weeks
$100/week, 13 weeks
$100/week, 13 weeks
Paid for by Bronzeville Arts Ensemble
Paid for by Bronzeville Arts Ensemble
Paid for by Bronzeville Arts Ensemble
Paid for by Bronzeville Arts Ensemble
Paid for by Bronzeville Arts Ensemble

$1,000

Occupancy
Equipment, Facilities, Props, Costumes, $1,500/Venue
Travel
Total:
$6,000 Includes venue fee

TOTAL:

$56,400

Bronzeville Arts Ensemble

Contact: Samantha Sanchez @ sanchesn@alverno.edu