Miller High Life Theatre (previously Milwaukee Theatre and originally Milwaukee Auditorium) is a

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

located in

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 ...

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 ...

. The building was extensively renovated between 2001 and 2003, at which point its name changed to the Milwaukee Theatre. A naming rights deal changed its name in 2017 to the Miller High Life Theatre. It seats 4,086 people and can be configured into a more intimate venue that seats 2,500. It is located at 500 W. Kilbourn Avenue in downtown Milwaukee.

Milwaukee Auditorium

The Milwaukee Auditorium was built in 1909, in a place formerly occupied by the Milwaukee Industrial Exposition Building, which had been destroyed by fire in 1905. The Milwaukee Auditorium held 13,520 people, and had of exhibition space. The cornerstone was laid on August 1, 1908, and the building was dedicated on September 21, 1909.http://www.mkedcd.org/Planning/hpc/studyreports/MilwaukeeAuditorium2000.pdf Elizabeth Plankinton donated a pipe organ. Historical uses included concerts, circuses, political rallies and sports events. For decades the Milwaukee Auditorium boasted its own orchestra, and hosted touring concerts from such historic notables as John Philip Sousa and Enrico Caruso to contemporary stars like Barry Manilow, Nirvana, Marilyn Manson, ABBA, the Carpenters, and Prince. Sitting Presidents from Taft to Clinton delivered important policy addresses in the Auditorium. On October 14, 1912, former president and then current presidential candidate

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

delivered a speech at the Milwaukee Auditorium shortly after a failed assassination attempt on him across the street from the Auditorium at the Gilpatrick Hotel, by a saloonkeeper named

John Flammang Schrank On October 14, 1912, former saloonkeeper John Flammang Schrank (1876–1943) attempted to assassinate former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt while he was campaigning for the presidency in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Schrank's bullet lodged in Roos ...

. Schrank shot Roosevelt, but the bullet lodged in Roosevelt's chest only after hitting both his steel eyeglass case and a 50-page text of his campaign speech titled "

Progressive Cause Greater Than Any Individual Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...

", folded over twice in Roosevelt's breast pocket. Schrank was immediately disarmed, captured and might have been lynched had Roosevelt not shouted for Schrank to remain unharmed. Roosevelt assured the crowd he was all right, then ordered police to take charge of Schrank and to make sure no violence was done to him. Roosevelt, as an experienced hunter and anatomist, correctly concluded that since he was not coughing blood, the bullet had not reached his lung, and he declined to go to the hospital immediately. Instead, he delivered his scheduled speech with blood seeping into his shirt. He spoke for 90 minutes before completing his speech and accepting medical attention. His opening comments to the gathered crowd were, "Ladies and gentlemen, I don't know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot, but it takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose." Afterwards, probes and an x-ray showed that the bullet had lodged in Roosevelt's chest muscle, but did not penetrate the

pleura The pulmonary pleurae (''sing.'' pleura) are the two opposing layers of serous membrane overlying the lungs and the inside of the surrounding chest walls. The inner pleura, called the visceral pleura, covers the surface of each lung and dips b ...

. Doctors concluded that it would be less dangerous to leave it in place than to attempt to remove it, and Roosevelt carried the bullet with him for the rest of his life. Structural and cosmetic improvements were made throughout the Auditorium's life, both before and after a major 1978 renovation brought in modern heating and air conditioning, restored architectural details and overall physical upgrades. However, by the time it was acquired by the new Wisconsin Center District in 1995, the Auditorium's continued viability was questioned – until a 20-day run of Riverdance, in 1999, shattered sales records and indicated that a market existed for a venue of its size.

Milwaukee Theatre

Beginning in October 2001, the Auditorium was converted into a theater. The project, which cost $41.9 million, was completed on November 7, 2003. In January 2016, the

MillerCoors MillerCoors was a beer brewing company in the United States. MillerCoors was formed in 2008 as a joint venture between SABMiller and Molson Coors to combine their brewing, marketing and sales operations in the United States. The company was acqui ...

, a joint venture between the

Molson family The Molson family of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, was founded by John Molson, who immigrated to Canada in 1782 from his home in Lincolnshire, England. They are considered to be one of Canada's most prominent business families with a combined net w ...

through their MolsonCoors Beverage Company and South African Breweries, purchased naming rights from the Wisconsin Center District for $1.85 million. On April 25, 2017, the name officially changed from the Milwaukee Theatre to the Miller High Life Theatre, which then had become controlled by Molson following its acquisition of the Miller brands after InBev acquired South African Breweries. Since opening, The Miller High Life Theatre has hosted a wide range of convention, corporate, religious and political assemblies as well as Broadway musicals and other entertainment.

Notable events

*President

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...

- October 27, 1911 *Former President and Presidential candidate

- October 14, 1912 (Roosevelt shot before speech) *President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

- January 31, 1916 * Enrico Caruso - May 13, 1919 *

John Philip Sousa John Philip Sousa ( ; November 6, 1854 – March 6, 1932) was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era known primarily for American military marches. He is known as "The March King" or the "American March King", to dis ...

- November 8, 1924 and September 21, 1929 *Premier of Lincolnshire Posy, an important composition for wind band by Percy Grainger performed at the American Bandmasters Association's 8th annual convention, March 7, 1937 *Milwaukee Auditorium Fire - December 24, 1937 *Presidential candidate Wendell Willkie - March 27, 1944 *West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, June 15, 1956 *Liberace - August 2, 1957 *Van Cliburn - January 30, 1959 *Presidential candidate John F. Kennedy - October 23, 1960 *Martin Luther King Jr. - April 27, 1964 *The Beach Boys - July 19, 1964, with The Kingsmen *Johnny Cash - August 1, 1964 and October 29, 1973 *The Beatles - September 4, 1964 *Ray Charles - October 11, 1964 *The Rolling Stones - November 11, 1964, with The Ladybirds *Louis Armstrong - November 13, 1964 *The Dave Clark Five - December 15, 1964, December 11, 1965, and July 5, 1966 *The Jimi Hendrix Experience - May 1, 1970, with Oz *The Carpenters - October 24, 1972 *Queen (band), Queen - March 1, 1976 and January 13, 1977, with Cheap Trick *Jackson Browne - November 7, 1976 *Kiss (band), Kiss - February 1 and 2, 1977 *Genesis (band), Genesis - February 10, 1977 *Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band - February 22, 1977 *Frank Zappa - September 27, 1977, November 25, 1980, and December 1, 1981 *ABBA - September 29, 1979 *The Grateful Dead - February 4, 1978 and May 30, 1980 *Bob Marley & The Wailers - November 12, 1979 *Presidential candidate Michael Dukakis - November 1, 1988 *WCW SuperBrawl II - February 29, 1992 *Presidential candidate George W. Bush - October 23, 2000 *Presidential candidate Ralph Nader - November 1, 2000 *Prince (musician), Prince & The New Power Generation - November 18, 2000 *Kenny Rogers - November 25, 2000 *Dolly Parton - October 30, 2005 *The Wiggles - November 3, 2007 (2 shows) *James Taylor - May 9, 2009 *The Milwaukee Blues Festival - March 13, 2010 and March 9, 2012 *Janet Jackson - August 14, 2011 *Mindless Behavior - The #1 Girl Tour - July 27, 2012 *The Republican Party presidential debates, 2016#November 10, 2015 – Milwaukee, Wisconsin, fourth 2016 Republican Party presidential debate sponsored by Fox Business Network and the ''Wall Street Journal'' - November 10, 2015 *Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016, Presidential candidate Donald Trump - April 4, 2016. *Michelle Obama - March 14, 2019 *YouTube personnel Dan Howell (danisnotonfire) and Phil Lester (AmazingPhil) for their theatrical show "The Amazing Tour is Not On Fire." - May 29, 2016 *Mariah Carey - March 15, 2019

References

Sources

External links

Miller High Life Theatre official website
{{Authority control Music venues in Wisconsin Theatres in Milwaukee Concert halls in the United States Theatres completed in 1909 1909 establishments in Wisconsin