The Pabst Theater is an indoor performance and concert venue and landmark of

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, United States. Colloquially known as "the Pabst", the theater hosts about 100 events per year. Built in 1895, it is the fourth-oldest continuously operating theater in the United States, and has presented such notables as pianist

Sergei Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one o ...

, actor

Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier (; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, was one of a trio of male actors who dominated the Theatre of the U ...

, and ballerina

Anna Pavlova Anna Pavlovna Pavlova ( , rus, Анна Павловна Павлова ), born Anna Matveyevna Pavlova ( rus, Анна Матвеевна Павлова; – 23 January 1931), was a Russian prima ballerina of the late 19th and the early 20th ...

, as well as various current big-name musical acts. The Pabst is known for its opulence as well as its role in German-American culture in Milwaukee. It is officially designated a City of Milwaukee Landmark and a State of Wisconsin Historical Site, and was also designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 1991. It is sometimes called the "Grande Olde Lady", being the oldest theater in Milwaukee's theater district. The Pabst is a traditional

proscenium A proscenium ( grc-gre, προσκήνιον, ) is the metaphorical vertical plane of space in a theatre, usually surrounded on the top and sides by a physical proscenium arch (whether or not truly "arched") and on the bottom by the stage floor ...

stage theater with two balconies, With for a total capacity of 1,300 people. It hosts approximately 100 events per year, including music, comedy, dance, opera, and theater events. The theater also has a hydraulic

orchestra pit An orchestra pit is the area in a theater (usually located in a lowered area in front of the stage) in which musicians perform. Orchestral pits are utilized in forms of theatre that require music (such as opera and ballet) or in cases when incide ...

, adding to its suitability for virtually any performing arts event. The auditorium itself is drum-shaped and is decorated in reds and maroons with gold and silver accents. A large, 2-ton Austrian

crystal A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macros ...

chandelier A chandelier (; also known as girandole, candelabra lamp, or least commonly suspended lights) is a branched ornamental light fixture designed to be mounted on ceilings or walls. Chandeliers are often ornate, and normally use incandescent li ...

hangs over the auditorium. The theater also boasts a staircase crafted from white Italian Carrara marble and a

proscenium arch A proscenium ( grc-gre, προσκήνιον, ) is the metaphorical vertical plane of space in a theatre, usually surrounded on the top and sides by a physical proscenium arch (whether or not truly "arched") and on the bottom by the stage floor ...

highlighted in

gold leaf Gold leaf is gold that has been hammered into thin sheets (usually around 0.1 µm thick) by goldbeating and is often used for gilding. Gold leaf is available in a wide variety of karats and shades. The most commonly used gold is 22-kara ...

, which frames the stage. The theater features a historic

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

, which once provided accompaniment for

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

s. The instrument is a 4 manuals; 20 ranks opus of

M.P. Moller Mathias Peter Møller, commonly known as M.P. Möller or Moeller (29 September 1854 – 13 April 1937), was a prolific pipe-organ builder and businessman. A native of the Danish island of Bornholm, he emigrated to the United States in 1872 and f ...

History

Brewer Frederick Pabst purchased the Nunnemacher Grand Opera House in 1890 from

Jacob Nunnemacher Jacob "Jake" Nunnemacher (1819–ca. 1876), was a prominent businessman from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He is known for the Nunnemacher Grand Opera House and also for the Nunnemacher Distillery which operated from 1842 to 1862. Background Nunnemacher ...

and his son, Hermann, and renamed it ''Das Neue Deutsche Stadt-Theater'' (The New German City Theater). The structure was damaged by arson in 1893, and subsequently completely destroyed by fire in January 1895. Pabst ordered it rebuilt at once, and it reopened as The Pabst Theater later in 1895. The Pabst was designed by architect

Otto Strack Otto Strack (died 1935) was an architect in the United States. Several buildings he designed are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Strack was born in Germany, where he learned carpentry, masonry and blacksmithing. Then he studie ...

in the tradition of European

opera houses An opera house is a theatre building used for performances of opera. It usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and building sets. While some venues are constructed specifically for ...

and the

German Renaissance The German Renaissance, part of the Northern Renaissance, was a cultural and artistic movement that spread among Germany, German thinkers in the 15th and 16th centuries, which developed from the Italian Renaissance. Many areas of the arts and ...

Revival style. He made it one of the most fire-proof theaters of its day, as well as one of the most opulent. The Pabst played an important role in the German American culture of early 20th century Milwaukee, when the city was known as ''Deutsch Athen'' (German Athens). The venue was home to the German-language productions for many years, due to declining revenues began scheduling performances in English by 1918. The Pabst has undergone several renovations, the first of which occurred in 1928. In 1976, after a long decline, it was restored to its original style. In 1989, a

colonnade In classical architecture, a colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or curv ...

was added connecting the theater to the

Milwaukee Center The Associated Bank River Center is a 28-story, postmodern high-rise building in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The building, originally named the Milwaukee Center, was completed in 1988, during a small building boom in Milwaukee that also included 100 E ...

. The latest renovations took place in 2000 after the Pabst Theater Foundation purchased the facility. Michael Cudahy began the renovation fundraising by contributing $1 million. Work included adding two elevators, public restrooms, replacing some seats and upgrading the ventilation system. The theater also added Cudahy's Irish Pub in an expanded lobby space. As the Pabst Theater was designed after the best German Opera Houses, its acoustics are outstanding.

Technological innovations

Otto Strack employed many technological innovations when designing the theater, including one of the country's first

fire curtain A safety curtain (or fire curtain in America) is a fire safety precaution used in large proscenium theatres. It is usually a heavy fibreglass or iron curtain located immediately behind the proscenium arch. Asbestos-based materials were orig ...

s, all-electrical illumination, and a very early

air conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C or AC, is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior environment (sometimes referred to as 'comfort cooling') and in some cases also strictly controlling ...

system which employed fans and large amounts of ice. The theater also contained an electric

, an innovation at that time. The theater is believed the first to employ a

counterweight A counterweight is a weight that, by applying an opposite force, provides balance and stability of a mechanical system. The purpose of a counterweight is to make lifting the load faster and more efficient, which saves energy and causes less wear ...

system for hoisting scenery, which was installed after World War I and remains in use today.

Other uses

In 2016, the Aaron Biebert documentary, ''

A Billion Lives ''A Billion Lives'' is a 2016 documentary film directed and narrated by Aaron Biebert. The film stars "Winston Man" David Goerlitz, former president of the World Medical Association Dr. Delon Human, and former executive director at the World He ...

'', made its North American premiere at the Pabst and in 2017 the Pabst hosted the premiere of ''Batman & Jesus'' by Milwaukee native Jozef K. Richards.

Inscription

The Pabst Theater has the names of 15 notable artists inscribed about the

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

of the drum-shaped auditorium:

Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playw ...

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and world ...

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was insp ...

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...

Aeschylus Aeschylus (, ; grc-gre, Αἰσχύλος ; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian, and is often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek ...

Thespis Thespis (; grc-gre, Θέσπις; fl. 6th century BC) was an Ancient Greek poet. He was born in the ancient city of Icarius (present-day Dionysos, Greece). According to certain Ancient Greek sources and especially Aristotle, he was the first pe ...

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of works by Raphael, His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of ...

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

, Garrick,

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treat ...

, and renovator

Bernard O. Gruenke Bernard Otto Gruenke (February 17, 1913 – March 31, 2012) was an American stained glass artist who produced one of the first faceted (Dalle de Verre) glass windows in the United States in 1949. He was born in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Early life ...

of Conrad Schmitt Studios.

External links

*
Pictures of the PabstThe Pabst at the Wisconsin Historical SocietyThe Pabst at Cinema Treasures
by Bill Glauber, ''

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper. It is also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely distributed. It is currently o ...

'', Nov. 22, 2008

References