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A Brief History of Milwaukee Repertory Theater
Now in its 55th season, Milwaukee Repertory Theater is dedicated to providing the highest level of professional theater to Milwaukee and Wisconsin. It all began in 1954, when Milwaukee native Mary Widrig John forged a plan to create a professional theater for the city. The result was the Fred Miller Theatre on Oakland Avenue [now home to the Miramar Theatre], so named after the head of Miller Brewing Company and chair of the theater’s fundraising campaign who died in a plane crash before the project was completed. The Fred Miller Theatre produced a standard repertoire of Broadway’s current hits. To draw initial audiences, the company used the star system and featured well-known performers in lead roles. In the early 1960s, the company re-organized by creating a resident acting company and expanding its repertoire to include classics and premieres of new works. The name Milwaukee Repertory Theater was chosen in 1963 to reflect this new philosophy.

In 1968, The Rep moved into the 504-seat Todd Wehr Theater in the new Performing Arts Center in the heart of downtown Milwaukee. The move spurred attendance and helped The Rep establish a firm operating base and a large pool of subscribers. In 1974, The Rep converted a small warehouse space into an additional 99-seat theater called the Court Street Theater. This space became a home for artistic exploration; the development of new work and specific plays more suited to an intimate setting. The Rep moved to its current home across from Milwaukee’s City Hall in 1987. 

A cleverly converted power generation plant, the Patty and Jay Baker Theater Complex houses three theaters, the Quadracci Powerhouse Theater, the Stiemke Theater and the Stackner Cabaret. Considered The Rep’s mainstage, the Quadracci Powerhouse seats 720 patrons. The 218-seat Stiemke Theater is an intimate performance space. The Stackner Cabaret is a full-service, smoke-free restaurant and bar and presents smaller, mainly music-based pieces for audiences in its 118-seat theater. Together, these spaces provide The Rep with a variety of staging options and allow us to offer our audiences a wide range of dramatic fare. The Patty and Jay Baker Theater Complex also houses all of The Rep’s rehearsal facilities, production shops and administrative offices.

While having a state-of-the-art theatrical facility has been a central component to the work of The Rep, the longevity of this prestigious theater company can be largely attributed to the leadership efforts of several key individuals. Nagle Jackson served as The Rep’s Artistic Director for much of the 1970s. During his tenure, Jackson emphasized new play development and instituted The Rep’s holiday tradition of producing Dickens’ classic A CHRISTMAS CAROL in the adjacent historic Pabst Theater. John Dillon became Artistic Director in 1977 and continued a dedication to new play development, particularly pieces focused on this region. Dillon was a strong supporter of playwright Larry Shue, then a member of The Rep’s Resident Acting Company. His plays THE NERD, WENCESLAS SQUARE and THE FOREIGNER premiered at The Rep in the early 1980s. Beginning with the 1993/94 season, Joseph Hanreddy took over the company’s artistic leadership and strengthened The Rep’s commitment to a resident company of artists. This season he will take his final bow after an amazing 16 years and pass the reins onto Mark Clements who will begin serving as Artistic Director in the 2009/10 Season. As an award-winning international director Mark brings a new dynamic energy and a passion for community-wide collaboration to The Rep.

One of the founding members of the Fred Miller Theatre and later Managing Director of Milwaukee Rep, Charles Ray McCallum faithfully served the company for 20 years. Many credit The Rep’s early growth to McCallum’s tenacity and dedication. Sara O’Connor served as The Rep’s Managing Director from 1974 through 1995 and was responsible for guiding the process of building Milwaukee Rep’s home, the Patty & Jay Baker Theater Complex, located inside the Milwaukee Center. Dan Fallon became Managing Director in 1995, while O’Connor stayed on to spearhead a $10 million Endowment Campaign. Tim Shields was appointed Managing Director in 1998. He began a process to modernize The Rep’s administrative, marketing and fundraising systems that led to sharp increases in both earned and contributed income. In 2009, after a brief interim period with consultant William P. Prenevost, Dawn J. Helsing took over as Managing Director. Most recently she served as Executive Director of Chicago's Court Theatre where her efforts helped build the theater’s profile, nurturing fruitful collaborative relationships locally and nationally.

Milwaukee Repertory Theater currently offers 13 productions each season, six in the Quadracci Powerhouse, three in the Stiemke, four in the Stackner Cabaret, its annual revival of A CHRISTMAS CAROL in the 1,300-plus seat Pabst Theater next door and occasional seasonal tours.

The Rep remains committed to producing new works for the stage. A relationship between The Rep and playwright Steven Dietz has produced two world premieres written with The Rep’s Resident Acting Company in mind. FORCE OF NATURE premiered at The Rep in 1999; PARAGON SPRINGS premiered in April of 2000. In the fall of 2000, The Rep premiered WORK SONG, a critically acclaimed, successful play about Frank Lloyd Wright by Eric Simonson and Jeffrey Hatcher. The play has subsequently been performed around the country. In the fall of 2002, The Rep premiered Simonson’s visceral adaptation of Herman Melville’s MOBY DICK, which Time magazine named one of its top ten theater productions in the nation for 2002. For the 2007/08 Quadracci Powerhouse season, Charles Randolph-Wright’s THE NIGHT IS A CHILD and Jeffrey Hatcher’s ARMADALE were both world premiere productions. 

The Rep also has a history of international collaboration with Japanese and Russian theater companies. Rep productions toured Japan in 1981, 1983, 1995 and 1998, and Russia in 1992. In 1999, The Rep hired guest artists from Italy to mount Carlo Goldoni’s SERVANT OF TWO MASTERS in authentic commedia dell’arte style.

Currently, The Rep supports a Resident Acting Company of 10 members whose work in large and small roles helps assure strong productions on our stages. Having the company allows The Rep to develop complex and ambitious productions, such as RICHARD III and MARY STUART (2003/04 season), A MONTH IN THE COUNTRY and SHERLOCK HOLMES: THE FINAL ADVENTURE (2005/06) and TARTUFFE (2006/07). Members of the prestigious 2008/09 Rep Resident Acting Company include: Jonathan Gillard Daly, Lee E. Ernst, Laura Gordon, Torrey Hanson, Gerard Neugent, James Pickering, Rose Pickering, Peter Silbert, Deborah Staples and Brian Vaughn.

The Rep is also home to one of the oldest artistic internship programs in regional theater. Each season The Rep welcomes acting and directing interns who join the company full time in order to gain valuable experience in professional theater. Additionally, there are interns each season throughout the production, marketing and development departments.

The Rep maintains a wide variety of programs to serve the community. Our education programs serve over 20,000 students annually, by offering student matinees, facility tours and a variety of residencies and in-school workshops. The Rep also contributes hundreds of complimentary tickets to Milwaukee area non-profit fundraisers. The Rep conducts adult acting classes, pre-show “The Rep In Depth” presentations in the Quadracci Powerhouse and Stiemke Theaters and audience talkbacks. Still other patron features include “Pay-What-You-Can” performances, $15 select tickets for patrons under the age of 40 for Quadracci Powerhouse Theater performances, access services including audio-described performances, American Sign Language-interpreted performances and Captioned Theater performances. In 2008 The Rep introduced Entourage Events to encourage younger audience attendance. The Friends of The Rep is The Rep’s official volunteer organization. They are an extremely enthusiastic corp of volunteers who are considered an integral part of The Rep family. Through their continued effort and support, The Rep is able to continue to produce some of the best live theater available in the state of Wisconsin.

A talented and dedicated Board of Trustees comprised of over 30 business and community leaders governs Milwaukee Repertory Theater. The Rep Board’s main attention is focused on strategic and long-range planning, fundraising, as well as overall care and stewardship for The Rep. The Board is committed to maintaining The Rep as an important community asset and help it fulfill its mission: “The Rep plays a vital role in the cultural life of our region through: creating theatrical productions of the highest standard which explore and illuminate the human condition; providing an artistic home for a diverse company of theater professionals, including a Resident Acting Company; and providing a variety of educational programs for all ages.”

To learn more about The Rep or any of our special programs, please call our Administrative Office at 414-224-1761 or visit our website at: milwaukeerep.com.