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In early 2022, Peck School of the Arts students Ethan Hightire and Nahjee Robinson sat in Milwaukee’s Next Act Theater, immersed in Dominque Morisseau’s critical-acclaimed play Pipeline. Both were astonished by what they saw. Hightire recognized that the character Omari was a role he was born to play. 

Hightire and Robinson immediately went to Katie Avila Loughmiller (Lecturer, Theatre) insisting that Pipeline was a show she had to see. Their intention? Advocate for an eventual 51���� production of the piece.�� 

Two years in the making, Pipeline opens at PSOA’s Kenilworth Five-0-Eight. 

The play follows Nya and her son Omari, as Nya seeks the best for her son despite an education system that actively works against him. For Hightire, the themes of oppression and “Black silent rage” are of the utmost importance. 

“I saw that I too could give myself permission to tell the stories of every Black boy that suffers with inherited rage through this role, including my own,” said Hightire. “Imagine how it feels to watch it come together after all these years of wanting, waiting, and work.” 

Hightire found comfort in telling Omari’s story, which he sees as an opportunity to shed light on the ways Black students must fight for opportunity compared to others. 

“So often, your work as a Black person is ignored, minimized, misidentified, or stolen,” said Hightire. “That’s why Black excellence is so significant. Not because there is a ‘colored version’ of excellence, but that the amount of effort it takes to be recognized as such requires so much more of us than our contemporaries.” 

Loughmiller, who is directing Pipeline, noted how her love for the piece and desire to see it brought to life was multi-faceted, describing a connection with Nya as an educator and a person of color.  

With a 17-month-old son of her own, Loughmiller felt a renewed connection to the story since Hightire and Robinson introduced her to the show. Her main motivating force is to showcase the work and sacrifices mothers make. 

“The heart of this show is about a parent’s love, more specifically, a mother’s love,” says Loughmiller in the program’s director’s notes. “When I first watched this play, I was just starting to wrap my mind around the idea that I would have the same fears, worries, and love that mothers do.” 

Despite challenging topics, she is confident that audiences will enjoy the show. 

“This isn’t a lighthearted play, but it’s an important one,” said Loughmiller. “I really hope as many people come see my wildly talented cast tell this relevant and impactful story.” 

Pipeline runs April 3-7. You can purchase tickets on the PSOA events calendar. 

Story by Jason McCullum ’25

Musical theatre major Aidan Black’s interest in American Sign Language was sparked in high school. So when he was choosing a language credit at 51����, he signed up for an ASL course in 51����’s School of Education.

Now ASL is an integral part of his role in the Skylight Music Theatre’s production of “Spring Awakening,” which incorporates deaf and hearing actors. The Tony-award winning rock musical is based on an earlier play about teen angst and sexual awakening in the 19^th century. It opens March 1 and runs through March 17 at Skylight, 158 N. Broadway in Milwaukee.

, one of the students at the center of the play’s action.

After he began taking ASL classes, Black became intrigued, and ended up making ASL Studies his minor. He found it also helped with his acting.

“Before I started studying ASL, I had trouble with my facial expressions. That’s a strong component of ASL since different signs mean different things depending on what your face is doing. That’s helped me be aware of what my face is doing.”

Being able to use his skills in the play, his debut with Skylight, is important to Black.

“It’s something I’m very passionate about,” he said. “I always want to bridge my interests with what I’m working on.”

51���� a good fit

Black, a senior, decided to major in musical theater when he was in high school in Portage, Wisconsin. 51���� was on his short list of universities. “I toured 51���� first, and I was like, oh wow, I really like this.”

He auditioned for the role in “Spring Awakening” over the summer and got the callback this fall. Coincidentally, he was using ASL in another play, “Peter and the Starcatcher,” a prequel to Peter Pan that incorporated deaf and hearing actors.

The Skylight production is based on a version of the play developed by Deaf West Theatre in California, which used deaf and hearing actors. “The difference is that our production has taken a specific look at the English-to-ASL translations as well as the signing presentation to make the production even more accessible,” he said.  “It’s fine tuning the use of language so everyone can understand.”

A mix of actors

The Skylight version incorporates seven deaf or hard of hearing actors, a few actors with some signing experience as well as some who have never signed before.

“It’s really crazy how well it works,” Black said. “It’s the same dialogue, the same script, but through a deaf perspective. The whole production is accessible for hearing and deaf audiences.”

Black, who also teaches children’s classes at First Stage, hopes to keep up with his ASL as he continues his acting career after graduating in May. Creating a bridge between theater and Deaf culture is important to him, he said.

Building those bridges is one of the reasons the Skylight’s production is significant, Black said. “Hearing people don’t have a lot of experience or understanding of deaf people. This is a very good introduction and a start to their journey with Deaf culture.”

Skylight is offering 51���� students a special ticket price of $26 to see any “Spring Awakening” show. They can use the promo code SASTUDENT to receive up to two tickets at a discount .

This story originally appeared on 51���� Report.