About
Vanguard Productions
Our Mission
Learn more about our goals, values, and commitments to the Milwaukee Theatre Community. More info here.
Our Team
Meet our ensemble members, and learn about their work at Vanguard Productions. More info here.
Past Performances
See production photos, videos, and rehearsal footage from previous productions and readings. More info here.
Work With Us
View our latest audition notices, job listsings, and performance opportunities with Vanguard Productions. More info here.
Our Story
Founded in 2022 by Co-Founders George Lorimer and Joshua Pohja, Vanguard Productions strives to elevate Milwaukee Theatre and create a shared sense of community through excellent performances. The company was originally formed around a single production, a concert performance of All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914 by Peter Rothstein. We scheduled four performances at the Interchange Theatre here in Milwaukee, and expected a modest audience and to break even on the project.
To our surprise we sold out the run, even adding seats, and were left with a sizable profit to fund other works. More importantly, in a few short months we had built a community of artists, patrons, and audience members that were passionate for moving, intellectually engaging works performed by local artists. We knew that we had more stories to tell.
Since our first production, Vanguard has expanded into two distinct but interconnected missions, performance and education. We identified that Milwaukee has a lack of professional actor training, despite having a host of professional theatres. We sought to remedy this through our APEX program.
Through the generousity of Jayne and Michael Pink of Milwaukee Ballet, we launched our Advanced Performance Experience Program or APEX in the fall of 2023. These classes combined Suzuki, Viewpoints, and Classical text to engage actors discipline, focus, imagination, and spontaneity.
We have continued to bring our work to the stage, this winter we fully staged All is Calm, doubling our audience size and continuing to hire local actors, designers, and crews. Our education and performance missions meet in our APEX Reading series, where students from our APEX program get to work along side seasoned professionals onstage. APEX Readings have included Hamlet, and Endgame, along with our upcoming Antigone.
Vanguard Productions is committed to thoughtful and engaging storytelling that is reflective of the diverse and vibrant community of Milwaukee. We believe that theatre is a necessary and sorely needed source of community in an increasingly alienated world. We hope you'll join us onstage, in the rehearsal room, or in the audience.