Photo via Milwaukee Theater District
Milwaukee Theater District
Downtown Milwaukee is growing and evolving, particularly when it comes to theater and live entertainment venues. On Wednesday, another component of the city’s entertainment growth took shape, as the formation of the Milwaukee Theater District was announced. The new entity looks to position Milwaukee as one of the best live entertainment scenes in the country.
The organization has nine venue members at the time of formation, led by the Pabst Theater Group music venues (Pabst Theater, Riverside Theater, Turner Hall Ballroom and Miller High Life Theater.) The partnership also includes the Bradley Symphony Center, Marcus Performing Arts Center, Wisconsin Center District, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Sunstone Theater, and The ARC Theatre at Saint Kate – The Arts Hotel. Performance groups affiliated with the Theater District are First Stage and the Florentine Opera, as well as both the Milwaukee Ballet and Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. Many of these organizations had worked previously with one another in some capacity, but the new entity formalizes a partnership between all of the member groups. The new Theater District is supported by Downtown Business Improvement District 21, the United Performing Arts Fund (UPAF,) and VISIT Milwaukee.
In a release on Wednesday, the Milwaukee Theater District cited the pandemic as a leading cause to unite, as performing arts groups in particular were hit hard by a lack of live shows and a long timetable to return to normalcy. The group also looks to raise awareness of the city’s performing arts scene and promoting events across the nine member venues. An increased collaborative nature should in theory cross-promote the mixture of live music and comedy with theater, the symphony and dance to ultimately develop a more vibrant arts scene.
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It should be noted that the Theater District’s formation is the latest development in an ongoing competitive battle amongst the city’s live music venues, as new developments from both the Pabst Theater Group and Madison-based Frank Productions are slated for construction within the coming years.
The formation of the Milwaukee Theater District certainly benefits patrons of the member venues, and amongst the new developments is the introduction of a Milwaukee Theater District Pass, which launched along with Wednesday’s announcement. The new pass will be available for patrons to receive bonus incentives for attending events at the participating venues, as well as additional benefits from the Milwaukee Admirals, restaurants like Tua Pasta and East Town Kitchen, Bublr Bikes and more. More information about the new Milwaukee Theater District pass can be found on the Visit Milwaukee website.
The live entertainment scene looks to be more robust than ever before, and Wednesday’s announcement is surely not the last addition to the city’s entertainment landscape in the coming months. For more information about the Milwaukee Theater District, click here.
