Deanie vallone
When in doubt, ask a dramaturg.
About me
Hi! Thanks for stopping by my website! I hope you stay a while and take a look around.
I’m Deanie (she/her), a dramaturg, producer, and writer with over a decade of experience in theater, specifically in new play development. For five years I was on the literary staff at Milwaukee Repertory Theater, and for two I oversaw their new play program as Literary Director. I’ve also worked with Baltimore Center Stage, Asolo Rep, Forward Theater, and NNPN/the Kennedy Center. I have collaborated with dozens of playwrights on new work, including Dael Orlandersmith, Ayad Akhtar, Idris Goodwin, Lloyd Suh, Eleanor Burgess, and Lauren Gunderson. For two years I served on the reading committee for the Yale Drama Prize under Judge Ayad Akhtar, and have been a reader for numerous organizations including the O’Neill, Great Plains Theater Conference, and the Playwrights Center. Most recently, I was on the Artistic Council for the 2024 National Playwrights Conference at the O’Neill.
Outside of theater I am an avid writer of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and now plays! My world premiere play, The Craic, opens at Milwaukee Rep in January 2025. Check out the “Writing” tab on my website to read some of my work. As a writer myself, I understand the need for trust, communication, and flexibility in collaborative creative work. Writing is personal, scary, and hard work–as a dramaturg, my job is to help champion, inspire, and support writers.
When not making art, I train birds of prey at a local nature center and brew beer (though not at the same time, for safety reasons). I’m a big lover of my plant babies, cooking Italian food to make my family proud, playing D&D with a bunch of other theater nerds, maintaining my 1100+ day streak on Duolingo, traveling the world, and reading as much as possible (I especially love fantasy and New Weird fiction).
I’m always game to collaborate on any work–from musicals to straight plays, from new work to classic texts. Some highly specific areas of interest are new plays focusing on feral girlhood, history/mythology/Shakespeare explored through a contemporary lens, plays that play with genre (sci fi, fantasy, and horror), and the intersection of theater and nature/the environment.
Recent & Upcoming Projects:
The Craic, commissioned by Milwaukee Rep, world premiere January 2025 (co-writing with Mark Clements)
Co-adjudicated the LMDA Elliott Hayes Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dramaturgy
Dramaturgy support on Forward Theater’s Wisconsin Wrights New Play Festival
My work
From new plays to well-loved musicals, from four day workshops to months-long production processes, I’ve had the pleasure of working on new and extant plays at theaters across the country. Below are a selection from over the years.
Erika Olson and the cast of Run Bambi Run, Milwaukee Rep
Photo by Michael Brosilow
The cast of Much Ado About Nothing, Milwaukee Rep
Photo: Michael Brosilow
The cast of The Chinese Lady, Milwaukee Rep
Photo: Michael Brosilow
The cast of Lost Girl, Milwaukee Rep
Photo: Michael Brosilow
Kelvin Roston Jr. in Twisted Melodies, Baltimore Center Stage
Photo: Richard Anderson
Gillian Williams & Brent Harris in Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Baltimore Center Stage
Photo: Richard Anderson
Mark Jacoby and AK Murtadha in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, Asolo Rep
Photo: John Revisky
Marvin Quijada and Amir Abdullah in Parental Advisory: a breakbeat play, Milwaukee Rep
Photo by Michael Brosilow
The cast of Junk, Milwaukee Rep
Photo: Michael Brosilow
Nathaniel Hackmann and Steve Pacek in Titanic: The Musical, Milwaukee Rep
Photo: Michael Brosilow
Heidi Armbruster and Bryce Gangel in Wife of a Salesman, Milwaukee Rep
Photo: Jenn Udoni
The cast of The White Snake, Baltimore Center Stage
Photo: Richard Anderson
The cast of All the Way, Asolo Repertory Theater
Photo: Cliff Roles
The cast of West Side Story, Asolo Rep
Photo: Cliff Roles
let’s collaborate!
If you’re interested in collaborating in any capacity, please feel free to reach out. I’ll respond as soon as possible!
“Deanie was such a central part of bringing my play into the world: encouraging the earliest seeds of my idea, helping me discover the play's correct structure and refine its themes, and providing the eyes, ears, and partnership I needed to help the play meet its ultimate potential. Deanie offers such a wonderful combination of insight, taste, and supportiveness that she makes cracking into a major rewrite a pleasure, because you know the play will be stronger on the other side of it.”
- Eleanor Burgess, playwright of The Niceties and Wife of a Salesman
With Milwaukee Rep Artistic Director Mark Clements (L) and playwright Ayad Akhtar (R) working on the script of Junk
Photo: Austin Bean
“During my more than three decades of working in theater, few dramaturgs I’ve worked with have impressed me as much as Deanie. No matter the circumstances, Deanie remains diligent, meticulous, curious, responsive, enthusiastic, and flexible. She’s as superbly capable helping to wrestle the initital faltering steps of a brand new script as she is in development workshops, in rehearsal, or in support of a full production. And throughout—best of all—Deanie is never anything less than a total delight to work with.”
- Gavin Witt, freelance dramaturg, former Director of Dramaturgy/Associate Artistic Director, Baltimore Center Stage