The Milwaukee Auditorium opened in 1909[1] at 500 W. Kilbourn Ave., replacing the Exposition Building.[2] Operating under a public-private partnership,[3] it became Milwaukee’s major public spectator facility.[4] The main hall originally accommodated more than 8,000 people. It served as a venue for events including religious revivals, the arts, sport, and sociability.[5] In 1912, after a failed assassination attempt on Theodore Roosevelt, the Auditorium hosted the former president’s campaign rally before he sought medical treatment.[6] In 2001 the Auditorium closed for renovations.[7] It reopened as the Milwaukee Theatre in 2003, with its original murals portraying local history intact.[8] Now seating an audience of 4,086,[9] it continues to host a variety of events, from a Radio City Music Hall show[10] to political rallies.[11] In 2017, the Milwaukee Theatre was renamed the Miller High Life Theatre.[12]
Footnotes [+]
- ^ “Milwaukee’s Auditorium Is a Town Hall of Real Democracy,” The Milwaukee Journal, September 10, 1922, accessed December 28, 2013; Tom Strini, “Curtain Going Up,” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, November 6, 2003, accessed January 3, 2014; John Gurda, Cream City Chronicles: Stories of Milwaukee’s Past (Madison, WI: Wisconsin Historical Society, 2007), 157.
- ^ “Milwaukee Auditorium Headache,” The Milwaukee Journal, February 19, 1936, accessed December 28, 2014.
- ^ “Milwaukee Auditorium Headache.”
- ^ Gurda, Cream City Chronicles, 157.
- ^ “Milwaukee Auditorium is a Town Hall of Real Democracy.”
- ^ William J. Foley, M.D., “Theodore Roosevelt and the Assassin’s Bullet,” The Milwaukee Journal, May 19, 1972, accessed January 3, 2014; “Roosevelt Shot at Hotel in Milwaukee,” Gettysburg Times, October 15, 1912, accessed January 3, 2014; The Wisconsin Center District, “WCD Facilities Have a 100-Year History of Events,” The Wisconsin Center District, accessed December 28, 2013.
- ^ The Wisconsin Center District, “WCD Facilities”; Strini, “Curtain Going Up.”
- ^ Strini, “Curtain Going Up.”
- ^ The Wisconsin Center District, “WCD Facilities.”
- ^ Strini, “Curtain Going Up.”
- ^ The Wisconsin Center District, “WCD Facilities.”
- ^ Rich Kirchen, “Miller High Life Theatre Signs Installed at Former Milwaukee Theatre,” Milwaukee Business Journal, April 27, 2017, last accessed March 6, 2018.
For Further Reading
Bruce, William George. A Detailed Description of the Auditorium Building and a Brief Historic Review of the Labors and Incidents Leading to the Erection of the Same. Milwaukee: Auditorium Governing Board, 1909.
Strini, Tom. “Curtain Going Up.” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. November 6, 2003. Accessed January 3, 2014.
The Wisconsin Center District. “WCD Facilities Have a 100-Year History of Events.” The Wisconsin Center District. 2014. Accessed December 28, 2013.
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