Photo Courtesy UW-MIlwaukee
It was not quite a year ago when, on Saturday, April 8 2017, UW-Milwaukee’s Peck School of the Arts Mainstage Theatre was the site of a building fire. Water and smoke damage basically turned the theater’s 488 seats, scene shop and lighting system—in addition to backstage and below-stage areas—into charred, soaked trash. Total cost of the fire, smoke and water damage was estimated at $6 million. But all that will soon be forgotten as, rising from the ashes, soot, smoke and water damage is a newly rebuilt and refurbished Mainstage Theatre.
UWM’s Mainstage Theatre will reopen to the public on Wednesday, March 7. Local media will be previewing the reopening the day before. “Creative problem-solving and teamwork are hallmarks of an arts education,” said Peck School Dean Scott Emmons. “People in the school worked many, many hours to define what the renovated facility should look like, maximize replacement dollars for new lighting and improved sound and fix other problems of the building that pre-dated the fire.”
Indeed, the fire proved to be the spark to renovation and upgrading the existing facility. It will now boast improved acoustics, new ceilings, rebuilt and exposed catwalks (so that audience members might see technicians and stagehands at work during performances), energy-efficient lighting equipment and a new CNC router (computer-controlled cutting machine) with safety enhancements so that aspiring and experienced stagehands can design and build sets. In addition, the audience space has become more user-friendly to modern-day theater-goers and also will now comply with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accommodations and standards.
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Asked for comment on the momentous reopening (and refurbishing) of the Mainstage Theatre, Rebecca Ottman, director of marketing for UWM’s Peck School of the Arts, said: “We pride ourselves on offering students the unique opportunity to gain professional experience while earning their degrees—while either working or performing with all of Milwaukee’s leading arts organizations.
“When our students train in professional facilities, they earn access to marketable, cutting-edge technologies and practices. However, now with the upgrades made to the Mainstage Theatre and the upcoming transformation of our contemporary artist space (the Jan Serr Studio), we will be able to offer these professional learning experiences directly at UW-Milwaukee to better train the next generation of artists who will fuel Milwaukee’s creative future.
“Alternatively, our partnerships within Milwaukee are strengthened by the collaborative function of these spaces, to serve not only our students, but also the greater arts community.” The UWM Mainstage Theatre, risen from the ashes of great damage, will help the university’s arts program accomplish its invaluable mission.
