Music Theatre of Madison Artist Fund

What. A. Year. 

Last year, when we raised money for our Artist and Dream Fund, none of us could have guessed that the 2020 season would take a totally different turn than what we'd expected. 

And yet, because of the support we received for our Artist Fund, we kept going. We presented our dream production, Paula Vogel's INDECENT, bringing together 35 artists from the Madison and Milwaukee communities to tell a story of how truth inspires, love triumphs over hate, and art endures. Less than a month after that production closed, everything changed.  Still, we remember the words of Paula Vogel's character Lemml: "The play belongs to the people who labor in it, and the audience, who takes the time to be there in person." 

The people who labor in it are the artists. Even after the pandemic, we worked with and compensated 79 professional Wisconsin artists in 2020, the vast majority of whom were from right here in Madison. And our audience proved ever-generous as we pivoted. Even though you couldn't be there in person, we felt your presence.  We created a podcast version of the workshop of our new musical, including a virtually-recorded version of the entire musical in its current draft. We safely and sanitarily created a film version of a concert of original songs about inspiring womxn.  And we made sure we could keep going.

Now, we move on to 2021. It's our fifteenth anniversary season. And it's going to be the most challenging we've ever seen. But we're also getting back to the heart of our mission: Amplifying new voices and telling new stories in musical theatre. We're dealing with our place in America's reckoning with racial disparities and making our spaces safe and accessible for all. We're using this time to improve. The future is uncertain, but we are preparing to continue celebrating our mission. 

We need your help. We know it's an incredibly difficult time for many right now. We are grateful for whatever you can contribute to help us launch into 2021. Our artist fund ensures that we can keep working with and compensating local artists, including the Wisconsin artists who write the material in our first full season of original works. 



Every dollar truly counts. Best of all, your contribution is matched dollar for dollar.

We can't keep going without you. We hope you'll make a donation to our special fund for the artists we celebrate, in honor of everything they do to lift our spirits and help us examine our souls in these unprecedented times. 


We wish you safety, health, and love, and thank you for sticking by us. We hope you can help us launch 2021 ready to tackle whatever comes our way.