FOUNDER & CEO
MILWAUKEE, WI

Ms. Dodge (she/her) is a children’s theatre director, teaching artist, theatre producer and author. For over 20 years, she has worked with public and private schools, community centers, youth theaters, summer camp programs and park districts to create quality theatre education programs for students of all ages. 

Brenda is also a professional actress who has worked in theatre, commercials and television throughout the Midwest and Southern California.

She is the proud founder of Character Kids, a children's theatre company that provides after school theatre classes to elementary schools and advocates for arts in education. Brenda has worked in close collaboration with classroom teachers, administrators and parents in dozens of school districts throughout the country. She also co-founded Forte Theatre Company, a professional theatre company in Milwaukee’s Southwest suburbs, alongside her husband.

Brenda has a degree in Theatre, with a minor in mass communication, from Illinois State University. She resides in Franklin, WI with her husband and two children.

EDUCATION MANAGER
TWIN CITIES, MN

Dana (she/her) has loved theatre since she was 6 years old. Since then she has become a director, actor, and theater teaching artist. She has also worked in artistic administration at the Glimmerglass Festival, an opera festival in upstate New York, as well as at Sunset Playhouse, a community theatre in the suburbs of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Since graduating with a comprehensive degree in theatre from the University of WI - Eau Claire, she has worked with various theatre companies in and around Milwaukee and the Twin Cities area. She has also worked as a Producer and 1st Assistant Director on multiple award winning films shot throughout the Midwest. Heralding from Wauwatosa, WI, Dana now resides in Minneapolis, MN, where she manages the Twin Cities branch of Character Kids theater programs.

She loves working with children and seeing their confidence grow through the theater arts! When Dana’s not in the classroom, you can find her out on a hike, crocheting, or snuggling with her cat, Gizmo.

EDUCATION COORDINATOR
MADISON, WI

Molly (she/her) is an actor, director, choreographer, and educator based in the Milwaukee and Madison areas. As a teaching artist, she has directed and choreographed many children’s shows with Character Kids, Forte Theatre Company, and Studio Dansu.

Molly also worked in public education as a dedicated building substitute teacher in which she covered various classes from kindergarten to AP Spanish and from Theatre to Physics.

As a professional actor, Molly has worked on commercials and short films and on stage with several companies around Wisconsin including Forward Theatre Company, Children’s Theatre of Madison, and Forte Theatre Company where she is an Associate Artist.

In her free time, she loves to do aerial silks and cook!

EDUCATION COORDINATOR
CHICAGO, IL

Diana (she/they) is a theatre/ commercial actor, teaching artist, and arts administrator based in Chicago. A Midwest import originally from New Jersey, she graduated from Columbia College Chicago with a degree in Musical Theatre and Music Business.

Her work as a teaching artist began in the New York area, running theatre classes, camps, and workshops for kids of many different ages. As an arts administrator, Diana also works with Chicago's Lookingglass Theatre as a member of their Audience Services team.

As an actor, she has worked with theatres all over the Chicago area including Drury Lane Theatre, Porchlight Music Theatre, Young People's Theatre of Chicago, and Music Theater Works. You may have also spotted her face in commercials for companies like CAVA, Rakuten, and the Chicago Cubs!

She has a passion for creating Theatre for Young Audiences, and loves to celebrate young theatre-makers—helping them find joy and comfort in self-expression both on and offstage.

In her downtime, you can find her sleuthing her way out of escape rooms and learning electric bass!