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Jennifer Uphoff Gray is the Artistic Director of Forward Theatre, a not-for-profit professional theater company based in Madison, Wisconsin.

In this episode Jennifer talks us through her self-designed training, from her “lightbulb” moment to Broadway. We learn how Jennifer collaborated with other artists to form a new thriving arts organization, one that allows her to maintain her family legacy of community engagement and social justice. We also discuss day-to-day-life as an artistic director, and her belief that personal suffering is not required for creative expression.

Jen’s “Three Things:”

• Watching an aspiring director learn, apprentice and now direct theatre professionally

• Excellent new dramatic art available on entertainment streaming services, which allow unusual and experimental storytelling

• The passionate dedication of her colleague, Julia Nicholas, Forward Theatre’s Development Director