Every Friday, Stuff We Missed looks to other Milwaukee publications (and beyond) for, well, stuff we missed throughout the week. This week: the Pabst Theater Group booking and operating the Miller High Life Theatre.
• Days after the Pabst Theater Group-booked Mitski show at Miller High Life Theatre, news has dropped that PTG will be booking all Miller High Life Theatre shows. For at least five years, that is.
On Friday, the Wisconsin Center District board unanimously approved a five-year agreement that will make PTG the exclusive booker and operator for public, ticketed events at the downtown theater. Along with the 4,087-seat Miller High Life Theatre, PTG operates The Pabst Theater, Riverside Theater, Turner Hall Ballroom, and The Back Room @ Colectivo.
“The purpose of this agreement is to align with an entity that delivers best-in-class guest experiences and promoter partnerships; showcases a dedication to the city of Milwaukee; and increases the activity of the Miller High Life Theatre without compromising the Wisconsin Center District’s ability to maximize the space for our core meetings and conventions business,” said Marty Brooks, president and CEO of the Wisconsin Center District, in a statement. “Our goal for the Miller High Life Theatre is to maximize activity. We have been talking with a variety of promoters for years, and now is the right time as demand for live-events ramps up and we focus on the continued progress of convention center expansion, set for completion in early 2024.”
“When our industry was abruptly and completely shut down by the pandemic, it showed us and everyone else just how important live entertainment is not only to its fans, but also to the economic health and imaging of our city,” said Gary Witt, president and CEO of the Pabst Theater Group, in a statement. “Part of our mission as an almost 20-year-old Milwaukee company is to make sure that the city around us thrives. And with that, the common goal in our agreement with our friends at the Wisconsin Center District is as we have in the past with each of the venues that are now part of the Pabst Theater Group, to reawaken and to help to give a soul and identity to another historic and beautiful venue, the Miller High Life Theatre.” [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
• Evergreen headline: “New Brewery Coming To Third Ward.” This time, it’s the Copper Turtle Brewery and Taverne coming to 330 E. Menomonee St., a.k.a. the space currently occupied by Bavette La Boucherie. (Bavette La Boucherie is moving to a bigger space one block away.) [Urban Milwaukee]
• Speaking of Bavette La Boucherie, three Milwaukee chefs will duke it out in the James Beard Awards’ prestigious Best Chef Midwest category: Dane Baldwin (The Diplomat), Karen Bell (Bavette La Boucherie), and Gregory Leon (Amilinda). [OnMilwaukee]
• And speaking of duking it out, it’s down to Milwaukee and Nashville in the battle for hosting the 2024 Republican National Convention! And remember: even though Republicans have spent the last two years lying about “voter fraud” in Milwaukee, and even though Republicans have been doing everything they can to illegally “decertify” our votes, and even though Republicans are definitely going to do everything they can to “decertify” our votes in 2024, the politics don’t matter! [Urban Milwaukee]
I agree that politics don’t matter, but you gotta be shitting me if you consider what this party has been trying to do for the past two years to be “politics”
— Matt Wild (@ByMattWild) March 17, 2022
• Got $3-$4 million? The Milwaukee Bucks are looking for someone to buy exclusive naming rights to Fiserv Forum’s popular Deer District. [Milwaukee Business Journal]
• Did you like the immersive “Beyond Van Gogh” exhibit? Then buckle up for the immersive “Beyond Monet” exhibit, coming to the Wisconsin Center sometime this fall. [OnMilwaukee]
• Did the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors approve $45 million for Milwaukee Public Museum’s new museum that won’t be called Milwaukee Public Museum? Yep! [Milwaukee Business Journal]
• Summer rollerskating at Red Arrow Park? Maybe! [Urban Milwaukee]
• And finally, RIP Milwaukee philanthropist Michael Cudahy. Have a peaceful and productive weekend, Milwaukee.
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