Laura Nicholas DeMoon
Laura Nicholas DeMoon is our founding executive director.
She holds a Bachelor of Science in Performance Studies from Northwestern University and a Master of Fine Arts in Theater from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Professional Theater Training Program. She also studied at the British American Drama Academy in London. Ms. DeMoon became a member of Actor’s Equity and acted professionally while living in New York City, including two seasons at the New Jersey Shakespeare Festival. She also served as the Managing Director of PlayMarket, a professional playwright’s theater, in which capacity she produced and directed several producers’ readings at the Dramatist’s Guild. Upon deciding to pursue the creation of a regional theater, Ms. DeMoon went to work in the Development Department at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theater. During her time in Chicago, she directed several original pieces at Live Bait Theater and Victory Gardens Theater. Ms. DeMoon then moved to the Lake Geneva area and continues to work in Milwaukee as an actor and director. She is currently on staff as a lead teacher and Associate Academy Director at First Stage Children’s Theater.

John Maclay
Prior to moving to Milwaukee, Mr. Maclay worked as an actor, director, fight choreographer and teacher throughout the Midwest. In one form or another, his work has been seen at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, First Stage Children’s Theater, Skylight Opera Theatre, Milwaukee Shakespeare Company (which he co-founded in 2000), Bialystock & Bloom, Festival Theatre, Interlochen Arts Academy and many others. Currently, Mr. Maclay serves as Associate Artistic Director of First Stage, the state’s second largest theatre company. Mr. Maclay received his Bachelor of Arts from Lawrence University, studying Music and Theatre, and his Master of Fine Arts in Theatre from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. Mr. Maclay also serves as an adjunct member of the faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The Milwaukee Business Journal awarded him a place on their 2006 “Forty Under Forty” list of influential business leaders.

Scott Wirtz-Olsen
(Production Manager/Scenic and Lighting Designer)
Scott has been working professionally in the Milwaukee theatre community as both adesigner and in production for the last ten years. Past design work includes West Side Story for Opera Illinois, Werther for Bowen Park Opera, Spinning into Butter for Renaissance Theatreworks, Lies and Legends for Stepping Out Productions, Apt 3A, The Good Doctor, and HA for In Tandem Theatre, and no fewer than twenty productions for First Stage Children’s Theater and the First Stage Theater Academy. He is also owner of Workbench Designs, a design firm, specializing in theatrical design and construction. Scott is currently a faculty member at Carthage College.

Patrick S. DeMoon III
(Treasurer/Secretary)
Patrick S. DeMoon is an independent attorney dedicated to serving the businesses and residents of the Lake Geneva area. Prior to founding his own law firm, Mr. DeMoon was the Senior Regulatory Attorney for the Chicago Stock Exchange. He also served as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Illinois, representing the State and its elected officials on a number of high profile cases. Mr. DeMoon earned his B.A. from Northwestern University and his J.D. from DePaul University’s College of Law. In his spare time, Mr. DeMoon manages his family’s farm with his wife Laura and brothers, Anthony and Paul. Visit him at
www.lakegenevalaw.com.

Kim Instenes
(Costume Designer)
Kim Instenes is a freelance costume and make-up designer working for the Milwaukee/Chicago area. Kim has designed for productions at First Stage Children’s Theater, Milwaukee Shakespeare, the Milwaukee Reperatory Theater, Utah Shakepearean Festival, and the Racine Theatre Guild, just to name a few. She is also a professor and the costume shop supervisor at Carthage College.

Patrick G.H. Schley
(Box Office & House Manager)
Patrick is a student in the BFA Theatre Management program at The Theatre School at DePaul University in Chicago, where he assisted with marketing for URINETOWN this past March. Additionally, Patrick is a workshop coordinator for The Theatre School, providing production assistance for multitudes of workshop productions within the school throughout the year. Patrick is on staff at First Stage Children’s Theater, Bucketworks (the world’s first health club for the brain), and will be interning with the Tony award-winning Victory Gardens
Theatre this fall. Visit www.patrickschley.com.