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.

Josh Schmidt
Josh Schmidt is a composer, sound designer and musician splitting his time between Wisconsin and New York. His work has now been heard in concert and in conjunction with theatre and dance companies in venues including Ford's Theatre (Washington DC); Steppenwolf Theatre, Northlight Theatre, Writer’s Theatre in Glencoe, Northlight Theatre and Seanachai Theatre Company (Chicago); American Players Theatre (Spring Green), Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Chamber Theatre, First Stage Milwaukee, Next Act Theatre, Renaissance Theatreworks, Bialystock and Bloom, Theatre X, Milwaukee Shakespeare Company, UW-Milwaukee Professional Theatre Training Program, Foothold Dance Performance, Wild Space Dance Company, UW-Milwaukee Dance (Milwaukee); Madison Repertory Theatre and UW-Madison Department of Theatre and Dance (Madison) and Genesius Theatre Guild (NYC). He received two Joseph Jefferson Award nominations and one Jeff Award in November 2003 for his composition and design work in Chicago Theatre. As a recitalist of new music, he has performed at Kunstverein Genthiner 11 and Rumnisches Kulturinstitut in Berlin, Germany; University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; University of Mississippi-Oxford; and throughout his home state of Wisconsin. He is a recipient of the 2003-2005 NEA/TCG Career Development Program Award and was named one of nine emerging designers in Entertainment/Design Magazine in 2004.

The New York Times recently acknowledged Mr. Schmidt, writing, “Its [The Adding Machine] uncompromising artistry and imaginative scope suggest that Mr. Schmidt is a composer to watch.

Patrick DeMoon
Mr. DeMoon is an attorney, licensed to practice law in both Wisconsin and Illinois, who lives in the Lake Geneva area with his wife, Laura Nicholas DeMoon. Before leaving Illinois, Mr. DeMoon was appointed as an Assistant Attorney General in the Illinois Office of the Attorney General. He then served as the Senior Regulatory Attorney at the Chicago Stock Exchange. Mr. DeMoon holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Northwestern University, and earned his Juris Doctor from DePaul University’s College of Law.