AntiShadows Theatical Designs - Lighting and Set Design
AntiShadows, LLC is a theatrical design company based in Milwaukee, bringing illumination solutions to plays, musicals, operas, ballet, video, concerts and corporate settings. Global touring experience includes lighting for magician David Copperfield and Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. Theatrical designs include close to 500 productions for American Players Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Milwaukee Ballet, First Stage Children’s Theatre, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Northern Sky Theater, Renaissance Theatreworks, Next Act Theatre, Skylight Opera Theatre, Forward Theatre Company, Milwaukee Opera Theatre, The Fireside and many others. Find more information at www.AntiShadows.com and on social media at AntiShadows

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Jake Badovski - Marketing Director

Jake Badovski (he/him) After graduating from the University of Minnesota and attending the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin, Jake is thrilled to return to his hometown of Milwaukee and continue to perform and create meaningful stories with incredible art-makers. Some of Jake's previous credits include most recently A Midsummer Night's Dream with Summit Players, All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914, The Hobbit, She Kills Monsters, The Winter's Tale, Skin of Our Teeth, Antigone; and readings of Hamlet and Endgame with Vanguard Productions. Thank you for supporting the necessity that is the arts and Vanguard Productions

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Jared Brandt Hoover - Dramaturg, Company Manager

Jared is a proud core member of Vanguard, he has been with them since the very beginning with the first All is Calm. Jared has also been seen in Milwaukee and Madison regionally in productions at the Milwaukee Rep, Skylight Music Theater, Renaissance Theaterworks, Outskirts Theatre Co. and Forward Theater. He feels incredibly blessed that he continues to make art with his good friends and would like to specially thank George and Joshua for their support and kinship both on and off the stage. Jared also owes his gratitude to Mom, Dad, Ethan, Conor, Vicki, Mimi and Papaw for always guiding me in the right direction.

 

Maya Danks - Rachel Corrie

Maya Danks (she/her) received her theatre education at the University of Minnesota, and now works as an actor, playwright, and director in Milwaukee. Recent credits include A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM (Helena/Snout/Egeus) with Summit Players Theatre, L'APPARTEMENT (understudy) with Renaissance Theaterworks, and ANTIGONE (Eurydice) with Vanguard Productions. In her spare time, Maya writes adaptations of classical plays. A very very deep thank you to the incredible individuals at home and around the world who work towards peace, rebuild when others destroy, and advocate for those whose voices have been silenced.  "Everyone must feel safe.... That's the best rule I can think of." www.mayadanks.com

 

Mohammad N. ElBsat - Assistant Director

Mohammad is excited to make his debut with Vanguard Productions. He would like to thank JP and George for the opportunity. Directing credits: Assistant Director, “The Treasurer”, Next Act Theatre.  Acting credits: “The Who & The What”(Afzal U/S), The Milwaukee Rep, "Back of the Throat" and “Laughter on the 23rd Floor”, Next Act Theatre, “Much Ado About Nothing”,  “King Lear”, Optimist Theatre, "RED", “By Jeeves”,  “Red Herring”, "The Metromaniacs", "Sons of the Prophet", “City of Angels”, “Prin” , “An Empty Plate in the Café du Grand Boeuf”, and “Omnium Gatherum” at Windfall Theatre, “Dr. Faustus” and "Call Me Ishmael", Off the Wall Theatre, and "Significant Other" at Boulevard Theatre.  Exhibit credits: “Chasing Rainbows” and "Ordered Chaos" : Acrylic paintings. Mohammad would like to thank his family and friends for their continuous love and support. 

 

George Lorimer -  Co-Founder, Executive Producer

George is a Milwaukee based actor and producer. He has appeared in Vanguard’s All is Calm and Hamlet. Other credits include Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, Emma (Door Shakespeare), Titanic (Milwaukee Rep), A Christmas Carol (Milwaukee Rep), As You Like It (Milwaukee Rep), Ride the Cyclone (The Contemporary Theatre of Ohio), Much Ado About Nothing, Macbeth (Summit Players Theatre). George is a Co-Founder of Vanguard Productions and has served as Executive Producer on all of Vanguard’s Projects.

 

George also serves as Development Director of Summit Players Theatre and is a teaching artist with Milwaukee Repertory Theatre. His education includes The College of Wooster, the Atlantic Acting School, and Milwaukee Repertory Theatre’s Emerging Professional Resident Program.

 

Liv Mauseth - Stage Manager, Production Manager
Liv Mauseth (they/he/she) is a Milwaukee based stage manager, actor, and adamant supporter of the arts. They have previously worked at First Stage, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Milwaukee Chamber Theater, Horlick High School, the Bristol Renaissance Faire, the Janesville Renaissance Faire, Vanguard Productions, Sunstone Studios, and Bard and Bourbon. Some specific shows they stage managed are: Antigone, All is Calm: the Christmas Truce of 1914 (Vanguard Productions); Toil and Trouble (Sunstone Studios); Julius Caesar, Richard III, and Midsummer Night's Dream (Bard and Bourbon); and a virtual reading of Love and Information in partnership with the Girl Scouts of America. They were the assistant stage manager for the staged reading of LE/LA by Liz Shipe at Milwaukee Chamber Theater, and in 2017, the regional International Championship of High School A Cappella competition, hosted at South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center.

 

Josh Pohja - Director

Josh Pohja (he/him/jp) is co-founder and Producing Artistic Director at Vanguard Productions. He is a graduate of the Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama, Los Angeles County High School of the Arts, and is an alumnus of the Saratoga International Theatre Institute (SITI) at Skidmore College studying Composition, Viewpoints & Suzuki Method under the guidance of Anne Bogart. For Vanguard, JP most recently directed Antigone starring Gregory Linington and Chantae Miller, as well as Vanguard's annual production of All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914. Other Vanguard directing credits include Vanguard APEX staged reading series of Hamlet with Max Pink & Laura Gordon, and Endgame with Jonathan Wainwright & Jim Pickering. His other professional credits include co-producing and directing Milwaukee Chamber Theatre’s 2023 Young Playwright’s Festival, as well as, assistant directing its critically acclaimed production of Great Expectations directed by Molly Rhode. His additional local directing credits include An Enemy of the People, Hamlet, The Skin of Our Teeth, Blue Stockings, and Much Ado About Nothing for First Stage Young Company and Company Class. JP served five years as Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s Education Programs Coordinator and Teaching Artist, during which he met George Lorimer, leading to Vanguard’s creative alignment. As an actor, Pohja has performed nationally with notable companies including The Guthrie Theater, Acting Company, Old Globe, and Alley Theatre. For more information visit joshpohja.com.

 

Caitlyn Nettesheim - Rachel Corrie U/S
Caitlyn Nettesheim (she/her) is an actor, director, choreographer, and theater educator based in Southeast Wisconsin. Recent credits include Bizarre Intrusive Thoughts (Intrusion 3) with Pink Umbrella Theater, Urinetown (Choreographer) with Lake Country Playhouse's Performing Arts Academy, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever: The Musical (Betty U/S) at First Stage, Spring Awakening (Director/Choreographer) with First Stage's Theater Academy, and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Movement Director) at Whitefish Bay High School. This is Caitlyn's first production with Vanguard Productions and she is honored to be a part of sharing Rachel's story. She would like to extend her deepest gratitude to the ordinary people working towards extraordinary change.