Leadership
ORIGINS
Inspired by the 2015 Women’s Voices Theatre Festival, which successfully brought together theaters in Washington, DC under one unifying initiative, Jen Uphoff Gray, Artistic Director of Madison’s Forward Theater Company, called on the leaders of Wisconsin’s top theaters to think big, be bold, and create a festival to serve not just one city but the entire state. Today, the team behind WPW consists of leadership from three of Wisconsin’s largest theaters – Forward Theater Company, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, and Northern Sky Theater of Door County.
Leadership Team
Laura Braza
(she/her/hers) is a director, producer, and the Associate Artistic Director of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater. MILWAUKEE REP: Much Ado About Nothing, Beehive, Steel Magnolias, Grounded, Souvenir, Always... Patsy Cline, Songs for Nobodies (American Premiere), Two Pianos Four Hands. NEW YORK: 10 plays for The Attic Theater Company, including The Tutors, The Notebook of Trigorin (NY Premiere), Strictly Dishonorable, and Jericho (world premiere); world premieres of Friend of the Devil, If I Were You (Clurman Theatre); work at Keen Company, NYMF, FringeNYC, Atlantic Theater Company Stage II, and more. CHICAGO: We Are Out There, It Came from Outer Space (Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Jeff Nomination for Best Director). REGIONAL: It Came from Outer Space (Theater Squared); The Dispute (Hangar Theatre); Theophilus North (Dog Days Theatre with FSU/ Asolo Rep) EDUCATION: BFA from NYU/Tisch School of Drama, Drama League Directors Project Alumnus. Laura has worked extensively as a guest director and teaching artist for University of North Carolina School of the Arts and New York University Stella Adler Studio of Acting. She was artistic director of Attic Theater Company in NYC from 2009–2019 and currently is Associate Artistic Director of Milwaukee Repertory Theater. Proud SDC Member.
Lachrisa Grandberry
(she/her/hers), Milwaukee-born native, is an actor, singer, and writer who has made Chicago her home. As a performer, she has done regional theater throughout Wisconsin and Chicago, as well as television, film, and commercial work. Her voice as a writer has been heard as a classroom teacher, poet, key-note speaker, and most recently a playwright, lyricist, and composer. Her writing credits include two musicals for Northern Sky Theater in Door County, WI. She is the co-author and co-lyricist of Girls On Sand, premiering in the summer of 2024, as well as lyricist, co-author, and co-composer of Sunflowered, produced at Northern Sky Theater in 2022. Lachrisa’s generational drama, Eeny Meeny Miny NO!, had a staged reading in the inaugural Milwaukee Black Theater Festival, and she’s written and performed her solo piece, The Healing Session, a show of all original poetry. Her performance credits include Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, The Second City, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Skylight Music Theatre, Theatre LILA, Forward Theater Co., First Stage, and seven seasons at Northern Sky Theater, where she also serves as the Program Director of NOVA (Nurturing Original Voices & Artists) and leads multiple Writing Circles each year for writers of all levels. Lachrisa was named one of Wisconsin’s 52 Most Influential Black Leaders in 2022 and one of the Dramatists Guild Foundation's inaugural National Musical Theater Playwriting Fellows in 2024. Lachrisa is an alumna of Wisconsin Lutheran College and is represented by Paonessa Talent Agency. She aims to continue inspiring and transforming the human mind through the power of storytelling. Her first musical, Sunflowered, is available now on Apple Music and other streaming platforms.
Annika Perez-Krikorian
(she/her/hers) is a recently minted Wisconsinite by way of Seattle and NYC. She is the current Associate Artistic Producer at Milwaukee Repertory Theater, overseeing the Literary Department. She has previously worked at Playwrights Horizons, Seattle Rep, and The 5th Avenue Theatre. Milwaukee Rep: Parental Advisory (Assistant Director), What the Constitution Means to Me (Dramaturg). Other favorite credits include: Next to Normal, Constellations, and we will eat your grief (Director), Indecent, True West (Assistant Director), Shout Sister Shout! (Script Supervisor/Assistant to the Playwright). She is a graduate of Gonzaga University and an alumnus of the National Theater Institute's Advanced Directing program, where she was a Miranda Family Fellow.
Molly Rhode
(she/her/hers) began acting with Northern Sky Theater in 2007 and joined their staff as Associate Artistic Director in 2014 where she focuses on the development of new musicals. She holds a degree in Theatre Studies from Southern Methodist University with a double emphasis in Playwriting and Directing. Born in Wisconsin, Molly is proud to make this state her artistic home. She has appeared on all of Milwaukee's professional stages as well as in Madison, Spring Green, and Door County. An actor, director, choreographer, and theater educator, Molly loves working with playwrights and composers to birth new works for the stage. She is honored to serve on the leadership team of World Premiere Wisconsin.
Julie Swenson
(she/her/hers) joined Forward Theater Company as Managing Director after 17 seasons as Producing Director for Renaissance Theaterworks in Milwaukee. Julie received a BA in theater from Illinois Wesleyan University and became a member of Actors’ Equity Association while living in New York city. Julie fell in love with the Forward family when she worked as an actor in Forward’s production of Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike in the role of Masha. Outside of theater she served on the Village of Nashotah board serving as President for two terms and was the host of New Home Building Today on WTMJ-4 in Milwaukee. Julie has two grown sons, Johnny and Jarek, and is happily settled on the west side of Madison.
Jennifer Uphoff Gray
(she/her/hers) is the founding artistic director of Forward Theater Company. Jen dreamed up World Premiere Wisconsin in September 2018, and has spent the last 4+ years advocating and organizing to turn the dream into a reality. In Wisconsin, she has directed for Madison Rep and Milwaukee Shakespeare. She directed the National Tour of Copenhagen, and was Associate Director on Broadway of Copenhagen, Cabaret, The Blue Room (starring Nicole Kidman) and The Life. Off-Broadway directing credits include the world premiere of Suburb at the York Theatre Company. Jen grew up in the Madison area, holds a degree in Dramatic Literature & Stage History from Harvard College, and is the proud parent (alongside husband Peter) of Jamie, Seeger and Arden.
Deanie Vallone
(she/her/hers) is a writer, producer, and dramaturg from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. For the past six years she’s worked in new play development at Milwaukee Repertory Theater, dramaturging new plays by Dael Orlandersmith, Idris Goodwin, Eleanor Burgess, Lloyd Suh, Ayad Akhtar, and others. Previously, she’s worked with the Kennedy Center, Forward Theater, Asolo Rep, and Baltimore Center Stage. She received her MA from the University of Cambridge.Festival Producer
