directly speaking
Dear Friends,
When I joined Milwaukee Rep in 2013, I was recently married and looking forward to taking the next step in my career by leading my first theater. I was encouraged by how a wellrespected executive recruiter described Milwaukee Rep: "Of all of the theaters that I've worked with in my career, Milwaukee Rep has by far the best board and the best community support."
When I arrived in Milwaukee, the theater was going through significant changes. Mark had joined the theater a couple of years before me as Artistic Director and while he had an exciting vision, resources were short resulting in several deficits. We needed a sustainable way to support his vision.
Complicating matters, our Patty and Jay Baker Theater Complex was sinking into the Milwaukee River. In the brief time that elapsed between my interviewing for the position and arriving in Milwaukee, the situation had gone from worrisome to dire requiring an immediate multi-million-dollar repair.
Fortunately, everything I had been told about Milwaukee Rep was true.
With the support of the Board and the community, we raised the resources to stabilize the sinking building and achieved an operating surplus my first year, which we have had for all 11 years since. This stability gave us the opportunity to imagine a new future for the theater. In 2015, we launched a campaign to create a new A Christmas Carol, created the John (Jack) D. Lewis New Play Development Program, and bolstered our endowment. By the time the 2018/19 Season began, we were firing on all cylinders.
However, our perspective soon changed. That year, we had a freight elevator fire and a piece of the building façade hanging over Wells Street fell off. Our home was approaching 40 years old and we concluded that to continue to grow and serve our community, we needed a new home.
That's when we brought our team together and approved plans for what would become the Associated Bank Theater Center. We announced our decision in February 2020 when the Milwaukee Business Journal ran an article about our campaign for a future home. Four weeks later, we were forced to shut down because of the pandemic.
Our goal then became keeping the company alive and everybody employed. We kept moving towards the future, returning to safe, live performances as quickly as possible. When we emerged from the pandemic, we knew we needed to re-launch our capital campaign.
Campaigns of this size ordinarily take five to six years to complete, but we didn’t have that. We had lost time in the pandemic, inflation was at an all-time high and our facility was on its last legs. Every day that went by brought more risk. So, we marshalled all our resources and went to work. Dozens of staff, trustees, former board presidents and volunteers worked tirelessly towards our bold, new vision. Now here we are, having raised $80 million in just two-and-a-half years.
In the last decade, we shored up a sinking building, survived a global pandemic, re-launched the theater, designed our new home, and completed a record-breaking capital campaign – all while producing 120 productions and serving tens of thousands of students with our educational programs. We are now one year away from opening our new theater complex. It's been an extraordinary journey and a testament to what we can do together.
For me, the past eleven years have flown by. This is not simply because we have created one of the best professional theaters in the country. It's because Milwaukee Rep is located in a city that offers a remarkable quality of life where I can build a family with my husband. I'm proud to be part of the leadership team at the Milwaukee Rep and I'm very proud to call myself a Milwaukeean.
Chad Bauman Executive Director
on the mark
Dear Friends,
When I first came to Milwaukee Rep in the 2010/11 Season, I had a lot of ideas about my vision for the artistic programming here. During my tenure, we’ve added musicals to our annual repertoire, expanded the diversity of artists and productions on our stages, and created the John (Jack) D. Lewis New Play Development Program to invest more in the creation of new works.
I firmly believe that the difference between a good theater and a great theater is the development of new work. Long before my arrival, Milwaukee Rep already had a history of creating new works and collaborating with theaters around the country and around the world, and I was excited to continue building on that legacy. Over the years, I’ve had the pleasure of working with incredibly talented and visionary artists who have helped to expand all that Milwaukee Rep has to offer.
This company has always been an interesting place to create artistic programming because of the very broad nature of our three performance spaces (four, if you include our annual production of A Christmas Carol in the Pabst Theater, which we rent every year). In our Powerhouse, we make sure that there is something for everyone. We start with a musical, followed by a more “commercial” play that the whole family can enjoy over the holidays. In the spring, we ensure we have a classic, a new play, and a play that highlights experiences from our own community. In the Studio Theater, we focus on newer, more experimental works or what I refer to as “big little productions” such as The Coast Starlight or even smaller scale musicals like Hedwig and the Angry Inch. The Stackner Cabaret features more musically-oriented fare that is easy to watch with a dessert and a cocktail. We have also tried to produce a new work in all three spaces each season.
When we open the Checota Powerhouse Theater next fall, we will continue to provide a wide range of musicals, classics, dramas, and new works. It’ll take time to re-orient ourselves, especially now that the Checota Powerhouse’s stage will be convertible between a thrust and a proscenium, effectively making it two distinct performance spaces. And while I’ve had the great pleasure of getting to know Milwaukee audiences better over the years, sometimes you still surprise me in your responses to our productions.
I hope to continue producing work which challenges, resonates with, and entertains you, our faithful supporters. I am honored to live in Milwaukee and to work alongside a strong, talented, and visionary team, and can’t wait for you to see all we have in store for the future.
Mark Clements
Artistic Director
Associated Bank Theater Center Milwaukee Rep's begins to take shape
After three years of intense planning, construction is finally underway to build our new home, the Associated Bank Theater Center! Over the next 15 months, we will transform the Powerhouse Theater and Studio Theater to create a more enjoyable theater-going experience and better support the art on our stages. The new Haack Lobby will connect all three performance spaces and include more restrooms, enhanced amenities, and the brand new Lubar Donor Lounge. And we are reimagining our Scenic and Paint shops to create first floor dressing rooms for artists and the new Herzfeld Foundation Education and Engagement Center.
Catch a sneak peak at the demolition process and the progress that has been made as of September 2024. Be sure to follow us on social media to see more progress photos in real time!
“The impact construction has had on the season has trickled down to how our Emerging Professional Residents spend their time. Since the overlap of productions is more staggered, they’ve found ways to create independent projects in spaces all over Milwaukee Rep including prop closets and rehearsal halls. ” – Jeffrey Mosser, Artistic Producer - Training and Audience Engagement
The most visible portion of the demolition is the transformation of the Powerhouse Lobby into the new Haack Lobby along Wells Street.
Crews demolished the bridges connecting the Powerhouse Lobby to the Theater. These will be rebuilt and the space surrounding them will be enclosed as part of the new Haack Lobby.
“The demolition of the old Ticket Office has provided quite a bit of excitement for our Ticket Office staff! We have split the team into two locations, one in the Stiemke Studio and one in a call center lodged amongst our fifth-floor offices. We’ve developed strategies to work around the noise from the construction, like muting ourselves while we’re not actively speaking on the phone and shifting to other locations when the noise and vibrations get especially intrusive.” – Jasper Farin, Ticket Operations Director
The Powerhouse Lobby is being torn down and rebuilt as the Haack Lobby. These photos show the progression of construction as viewed from the Wells St end of the lobby facing the entrance.
Our crews worked tirelessly to remove everything from inside the Powerhouse Theater as the first step of our renovations, including those uncomfortable seats! The entire seating bowl is being rebuilt to include wider, more comfortable seats with better sightlines, and we’re installing a new stage that can be converted from a thrust configuration to a proscenium configuration.
Our old Ticket Office has been demolished to make way for a new centralized entrance to the Haack Lobby. From here, you will be able to access the Checota Powerhouse Theater, Herro-Franke Studio Theater, Stackner Cabaret, and the Herzfeld Foundation Education and Engagement Center.
Next Narrative™ Monologue Competition Milwaukee competitor wins prestigious national
In May 2024, two Milwaukee students traveled to New York City to compete in the national Next Narrative™ Monologue Competition (NNMC). One of them made history as the first ever Milwaukee student to win first place in the competition.
Raichel West, then a senior at Milwaukee Marshall High School, first came to Milwaukee Rep as a member of our Teen Council, a student-driven leadership program for and by Milwaukee teens. She had a keen interest in theater and acting but her school did not offer a theater program. When she heard about NNMC she decided to audition, opening the door to a plethora of life changing opportunities. Following her successful audition, Raichel attended workshops at First Stage and received coaching from professional artists and Milwaukee Rep staff.
Last February, Raichel and nine others competed in the Milwaukee Regionals. Raichel took first place, much to her surprise. “I completely bombed the lines,” she shared. Competitors are judged in part on the accuracy of their delivery from the original text, and any mistakes are deducted from their final score.
Raichel and the Milwaukee Regionals second place winner, Dayanara Sanchez of Dominican High School, went on to receive further coaching from Milwaukee Rep staff, guest coaches, and an Atlanta-based acting coach before competing at the Apollo Theater in New York City. Raichel beat out 13 other competitors to win first place and a $3,000 prize. Milwaukee Rep covered the costs for both Raichel and Dayanara to travel to New York City, including tickets to a Broadway show.
Preparation is now underway for the next group of NNMC competitors. Raichel, who has since graduated high school and is attending classes at MATC, will join us as an advisor to this year’s competitors and will serve as the Emcee of this season’s Milwaukee Regional competition on March 10, 2025 in the Stiemke Studio. For more information about the program or to sign up for auditions, scan the QR code below or visit:
www.MilwaukeeRep.com/engage-learn/schools/nextnarrative-monologue-competition/.
Learn More or Sign Up:
Above: Raichel West and Dayanara Sanchez on the stage of the Apollo Theater in New York City.
Raichel West and Dayanara Sanchez meet NNMC creator Kenny Leon and other national finalists.
behind the scenes
Pulling Back the Curtain on Technical Rehearsals
It’s opening night. The audience has taken their seats. Pre-show conversation fades as the lights come up to reveal a new world that will soon transport both the actors and the audience on an emotional journey that will inspire, provoke, and entertain.
But how does a show actually get to be performance-ready? Do the actors magically commit their lines to memory? Do the stagehands automatically know when and where to move set pieces?
The truth is, putting on a stage production takes a village, and the process can be a long and arduous one. Months of preparation all culminate in what are known as technical rehearsals. Milwaukee Rep’s Production Manager Joel Kipper describes this process:
“A technical rehearsal, or 'tech', is where we marry the technical elements with the work that actors have done in the rehearsal room. The actors have been doing their own thing, while costumes, props, lighting and sound have been doing their own thing. Technical rehearsals are when everyone comes together in the theater and we put it all together.”
The first tech rehearsal is called a “cue-to-cue”, where the stage management team rehearses executing each technical cue one by one (lighting, sound, or other practical technical elements such as moving props in between scenes) in real time with the actors performing onstage.
“We start at the beginning of the show and we build the performance as it will be seen by an audience,” Kipper said. “We start adding costumes because up to this point, the actors have generally only rehearsed with shoes and hats. We use microphones in all of our shows, so now the actors are getting used to having a microphone on. We give the actors all of that –the things that have been missing in the rehearsal room.”
At Milwaukee Rep, the tech rehearsal process takes place over two weeks. Practicing the show with all the added technical elements takes up the entire first week. The second week is a combination of rehearsals during the day and preview performances in the evening to test the show in front of an audience for the first time. “[The production department] may give actors technical notes during the day, and then at nighttime, we run it for our preview audiences.” The process ends on Opening Night; at that point, no further changes can be made to the production.
Overall, the tech rehearsal process can be a long and taxing one.
“Our job is to make it look like we didn’t work very hard, but it’s very, very hard work to make sure that what the audience sees is as perfect as it can be,” Kipper said. “We work a lot of hours over a two-week period to make those things look like they just happened. It’s a very cool process, but it’s a lot of work. There’s a lot of people that it takes to make it work.”
Temporary work stations are placed in the audience of the Stiemke Studio while technicians practice lighting and sound cues during The Coast Starlight.
Technicians focus the projector in preparation for technical rehearsals for The Coast Starlight.
In Memory of
Trustee Dr. Jeanette Mitchell and
Former Trustee Cecilia Gilbert
We are deeply saddened by the passing of two of Milwaukee Rep’s closest supporters, Trustee Dr. Jeanette Mitchell and former Trustee Cecilia Gilbert.
Dr. Mitchell joined Milwaukee Rep’s Board of Trustees in 2022. Her passion for the arts and unwavering commitment to fostering inclusive dialogue enriched our organization and the wider Milwaukee community.
Cecilia Gilbert served as a valued trustee of Milwaukee Rep from 2013-2017. Her passion for community engagement left a lasting impact on our organization and the Milwaukee cultural landscape.
We extend our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of these two remarkable women whose impact on their community and on Milwaukee Rep will not be soon forgotten.
Dr. Jeanette Mitchell Cecilia Gilbert
You may name a seat to:
• Honor a loved one or your entire family
• Give a unique gift
• Commemorate a special occasion Choose from these options:
• Ellen & Joe Checota Powerhouse Theater
• $15,000 – VIP Circle
• $10,000 – Orchestra
• $5,000 – Balcony
• Herro-Franke Studio Theater - $5,000
• Stackner Cabaret - $5,000
Lynsey Gallagher Associate Director of Development, Events & Stewardship lgallagher@milwaukeerep.com Chuck Rozewicz Chief Development Officer crozewicz@milwaukeerep.com
Amy Dorman Director of Development adorman@milwaukeerep.com
Cassidy Skorija Director of Major and Planned Giving cskorija@milwaukeerep.com
Bill Walton Senior Gift Officer bwalton@milwaukeerep.com
Megan Newbanks Associate Director of Development, Institutional Giving mnewbanks@milwaukeerep.com
Amy McGuire Donor Services Manager amcguire@milwaukeerep.com
Maddy Wysocky Development Associate mwysocky@milwaukeerep.com
When Mary John Sullivan founded our theater company in 1954, it was originally incorporated as “Drama, Inc.”. In the 1960s, we changed our name to Milwaukee Repertory Theater. Through this publication, we pay homage to our original
and
to demonstrate how your support makes an extraordinary
