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Boulevard Studio's artistic director Mark Bucher
A $21 million-dollar devil of success is being evicted from its New York City home. Beetlejuice (not to be confused with the rapidly dimming, and possibly explosive, celestial night star, Betelgeuse), a hit musical from Michael Keaton’s 1988 film about an impish demon, is being exorcised from Broadway’s Winter Garden Theater in June by the Shubert Organization, which owns the prestigious theater. Despite initial critical pans and sluggish sales, the show now earns more than $1 million a week in ticket sales and enjoys advance sales exceeding $8 million.
But this now-thriving tale of the undead is simultaneously on notice to vacate the valuable theater space it inhabits while it futilely searches for scarce available Broadway theater space. It seems the looming powerhouse success of actor Hugh Jackman’s revival of The Music Man is a main cause of this artistic expulsion, as the Winter Garden Theatre is coveted by that revival’s producers.
On Broadway, big money talks. Thank heavens that Milwaukee’s theater scene is exempt from such dramatic displacements, power plays regarding uses of theaters and devils of spatial displacement. Or is it?
Local umbrella funding and promotional organizations, such as the United Performing Arts Fund and the recently birthed IMAGINEMKE, celebrate the abundance of Milwaukee’s theatrical riches. But to shoplift a Dickensian literary motif: The Ghost Of Theatre Past testifies that—over the years—a galaxy of local theaters have closed, such as Dramatists, Splinter, In Tandem, Theatre X, Uprooted, Youngblood, Soulstice, Tesseract, Next Generation, African American Children’s Theatre, Friends Mime/Milwaukee Public Theatre, Modjeska Youth Theatre, Bialystock & Bloom, Alverno Presents, Music Under The Stars, St. Kate Hotel’s ARC Theatre Company and so many others that may have sadly escaped memory.
With nearly two dozen (mostly smaller to moderate sized) artistic organizations closed, it might seem that Milwaukee’s theatrical bounty is in jeopardy, at least as it pertains to the second-tier/paraprofessional level of independent theaters. The larger, more expansively funded theaters seem to be more than holding their own in every manner of meaning. Can there still be a “place at the table” for Milwaukee’s remaining smaller-to-moderate-size arts organizations in 2020?
The Ghost Of Theatre Present hints at that answer, as rentable performance venues have either closed or no longer offer rental opportunities, including Bay View’s Alchemist Theatre, the East Side’s Lincoln Center for the Arts, Saint Francis’ Marian Center and Soulstice Theatre, the Milwaukee Central Library’s Centennial Hall, Downtown Milwaukee’s In Tandem Theatre space, the various locations of Bucketworks, the Gay Arts Center in Walker’s Point, the Brady Street Pharmacy, Mitchell Street’s Modjeska Theatre space and the cessation of rentals at the pre-renovated Avalon movie theater, The Rep’s Stiemke space (initially created as a venue for local community offerings), the Pabst Theater (which hosted the once-formidable Milwaukee Players and the long-forgotten Milwaukee Theatre Festival) and the UW-Milwaukee Fine Arts Theatre’s lower-level studio theater (that had been open to local groups, such as the defunct Theatre Tesseract).
Also gone are artistic outliers, such as the Whitefish Bay Players and the Shorewood Players, which offered acting and rental opportunities to the local community. The former Vogel Hall and Alverno College also rented out to local producers. These last examples may still be utilized by local artists, but not nearly to the degree that they once were. So, while there may indeed be a place at Milwaukee’s performance table, it seems to be a short-lived one for more alternative companies.
Fully ‘Legitimate?’
While not all of these artistic endings can be traced solely to spatial challenges (a lack of adequate, affordable spaces for rehearsals and performances), surely some companies might still exist if their ticket sales and funding drives had been dramatically more successful. The inability of smaller theaters to be seen as fully “legitimate” (hence, worthy of support and funding) can rightfully be traced to the lack of appropriate space for rehearsing and performing, as well as to the challenges of occupying locations that patrons may hesitate to patronize.
It can be difficult to develop premium performance experiences when rehearsing in public meeting rooms, cold basements and cramped attics. And the cost of rehearsal space can tempt paraprofessional companies to reduce rental periods for rehearsals to bare minimums, resulting in tenuous, under-rehearsed shows. This impaired quality of shows can result in subpar theater, and that can result in less-than-stellar sales. Obviously, diminished profits shorten theaters’ lifespans.
And local audiences are notorious for attending shows late in the run—“when the show is better!” Opening weeks are often flooded with comp (free) tickets or heavily discounted admissions, in desperation to attract warm bodies for performances. Meanwhile, the final week is often oversold, as everyone (now!) wants to see the show before it closes. At these final shows, theaters can end up turning away potential customers, who may not return again, further impacting fiscal health.
Grassroot theaters limit runs of shows to as little as one (or two) weeks to further reduce expenses. The ability to benefit from patrons’ positive word-of-mouth (which can take many weeks to bolster a show’s sales) is affected. It also becomes harder to woo potential funders when they can’t (won’t?) attend the smaller theater’s half-dozen performances. Longer runs—at affordable spaces—allow for shows to build attendance momentum, which expands profit margins and the theater’s community profile.
And established funding organizations (and their gatekeepers) often prefer “real theater” spaces with lobbies, plush, upholstered seats and ample donor lounges. Vibrant theatrical productions occurring in dusty storefronts, church basements or crumbling college auditoriums, while artistically impressive, may get edged out from grants and corporate underwriting in favor of theater companies that perform in visually lusher, standard spaces. A Rembrandt van Rijn painting is a masterpiece, but some critics and select funders cannot appreciate the art without the surrounding golden frame.
Finally, the endless, maddening scavenger hunts for obtainable spaces with reasonable rates, flexible availability and accessibility for both performers and patrons absorb vital resources and negatively affects the entire artistic process. But, if Milwaukee somehow had adequate, affordable space at accessible locations for alternative theaters and paraprofessional companies, the overall quality of local offerings would be boosted, and artistic burnout would be eliminated or, at least, minimized.
What if Michelangelo had been told that, “You have a month to get the chapel and the whole ceiling painted!”? Could Mount Rushmore have been carved out in three months? Alternative theaters are expected to meet, create, rehearse and perform under restrictions that would sever even Mother Theresa’s last nerve. The shortage of theatrical performance space contributes to lowered ticket revenues, reduced community awareness and impaired fiscal and artistic success, resulting in premature burials for local performance organizations.
Chicago (and don’t we so want to be just like Chicago?) once boasted of the (now-closed) Theatre Building Chicago that hosted three moderately sized, separate spaces that were rented to experienced and fledgling companies. It was a theatrical boarding house, of sorts, that in its lifetime of 35 years (according to online sources): “...hosted more than 800 plays, 9,000 events, 500 theater companies, 1,078,000 audience members, 29,400 actors, designers, directors and other theater artists appearing in more than 25,000 performances.”
No such wise civic planning has ever been attempted in Milwaukee, as government, corporate and philanthropic funders evidently believe theater belongs only in oversize venues, or that theater is served by the construction of clumsy, multi-purpose spaces that, like the servant of too many masters, fail to be effective and purposeful for any creative venture. When was the last time a 99-seat performance space, with ample backstage space and technical capacities, was built in Milwaukee? Who was president? Richard Nixon?
Short on Resources
There are valiant attempts to combat Milwaukee’s crippling gap of viable theatrical space, including Downtown’s Underground Collaborative, Riverwest’s 53212 Presents, Concordia’s Brumder Mansion, West Allis’ Inspiration Studios and other spunky venues. These spaces certainly are hopeful stars on Milwaukee’s skyline, as they can supply rehearsal and performance spaces at fairly reasonable costs, and they’ve established impressive track records of presenting theater, comedy, readings, dance, classes and workshops. But there are limitations to these grassroots venues. They may be short on technical resources or lack backstage space necessary for multiple sets, and they may face perceptions that parking is challenging or that its neighborhood is possibly somewhat… dicey?
Several of Milwaukee’s key performers, producers and theater groups were contacted for this article, including Milwaukee Entertainment Group’s associate producer and production manager Amanda Hull; Seat of Our Pants Readers Theatre Troupe’s artistic director L. Mark Flagg; Theatre Gigante’s co-artistic directors Isabelle Kralj and Mark Anderson; Acacia Theatre’s artistic director Janet Peterson; 53212 Presents’ managing director Kirk Thomsen; and Quasimondo Physical Theatre’s artistic director Brian Rott.
Of the thoughtful responses received, all echoed repeated motifs, such as desires for increased technical capabilities, patron parking and clean and accessible bathroom-dressing room facilities (changing in drafty halls or dingy toilets is déclassé!). Many specifically stated dreams for a modern 99-seat facility. Such a building could rent to several groups on a rotating basis. Other requests included sprung floors for dancers, storage space for costumes and sets, actual lighting grids, concession areas, bathrooms (again with the bathrooms!), the ability to build sets within the same venue, extra-wide entrances for easy movement of sets and technical materials (load-in doors), backstage lounges (green rooms) for offstage performers and suitable rehearsal areas.
Interestingly, respondents also cited the lack or ineffective use of the above elements in many of Milwaukee’s pricier, posher, newer spaces. Despite inexhaustible buckets of money showered onto these pedigreed palaces, the same challenges mentioned throughout this article appear at these costlier spaces. It might seem that, despite lacquered-on naming rights, costly looks and well-stocked bars, these venues are more often about being seen and less about serving a scene.
A Shared-space Theatrical Facility in Milwaukee?
This article’s jury of less-monied movers and fiscally shorn shakers actually possess riches of wisdom, per the persistent shortage of space and the existing alternate venues currently offering rental opportunities. As noted, these troublesome circumstances short-circuit true artistic growth for Milwaukee. Without functioning alternative spaces, the number of smaller independent theaters (with their more affordable tickets) decrease. Audience patrons who can’t afford the more elegant “temples of art” are short-changed in the long term, as they stop even trying to attend theater. They learn the implied lessons that theater is only for rare (and costly) occasions or simply that theater was not meant to include them.
If Milwaukee’s “farm team” theaters were asked to contribute their invaluable input to the corporate representatives, auto-selected appointees and civic czars that ostensibly make up the majority of the more powerful (societally approved) artistic organizations’ boards and committees, their feedback could assist in truly creative solutions to the spatial imbalance that hinders local arts groups and that hampers the general cultural health of the community.
And there are economic repercussions to the above deficiencies, as it’s estimated that arts and culture in the greater Milwaukee area have an economic impact of more than $250 million, including more than $33 million in state and local taxes. The impact of the local arts and culture industry also provides more than 4,000 jobs, engages 9,000 volunteers and reaches close to half-a-million children annually through tours and programming.
If just half of the theaters and theater companies cited at this article’s beginning still existed, the positive cultural and fiscal impact they could still be having on Milwaukee would be immeasurable. With community investment from engaged citizens, meaningful funding from local government and philanthropic organizations, and significant participation by caretaker umbrella organizations, a shared space theatrical facility (resembling the successful Theatre Building Chicago model) could—and should—be created to showcase Milwaukee’s independent, grassroot theaters, whose aggregate contributions to Milwaukee deserve such a creative solution to a persistent and unnecessary barrier to theatrical excellence.
The dimming of the lights for Broadway’s Beetlejuice will result in severe economic loss for those who invested in the show and unemployment for all the individuals associated with the production. And the astral entity Betelgeuse is one of the brightest stars in the night sky, but it’s fainter than it’s been in nearly a century, dimming by a factor of two since just October. Its aggressive dimming is a familiar pattern for stars that enter their last phase of life before they explode into a supernova—leading many scientists to believe Betelgeuse is about to go supernova as well.
With an amount of funding that would be less than 10% of the estimated final cost of The Hop streetcar, Milwaukee’s luminous alternative theater arts scene can be spatially ignited and burn with lustrous brightness... or it can be allowed to continue to dim.
