Three-time Tony Award recipient and Golden Globe Award winner Bernadette Peters will headline a special concert as part of the grand opening celebration for the Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s Associated Bank Theater Center on Oct. 11.
Inside the new Ellen & Joe Checota Powerhouse Theater, Peters will perform selections of Rodgers and Hammerstein, Stephen Sondheim, Jerry Herman and others, the Milwaukee Rep announced on Tuesday. The Checota Powerhouse Theater is one of the Associated Bank Theater Center’s three performance spaces and has a stage that can convert from a thrust stage to a proscenium. This allows the Milwaukee Rep’s productions to more easily transfer to other stages like Broadway.
Tickets for the grand opening concert will first be made available to the more than 600 donors who contributed to the Powering Milwaukee capital campaign, which raised $80.1 million. The tickets will go on sale to the general public on May 5.
In September, the Rep announced it had reached its $78 million fundraising goal for the Associated Bank Theater Center project, which is a reconstruction of its downtown Milwaukee theater complex at 108 E. Wells St. The Wisconsin State Building Commission later approved an additional $1.9 million in state funding for the project.
“The opening of the Associated Bank Theater Center is a landmark moment for both Milwaukee Rep and our entire region,” said Mark Clements, artistic director at the Milwaukee Rep. “The Center is more than just a building; it embodies our community’s steadfast dedication to the arts and its power to inspire transformative change. Celebrating this occasion with a special concert featuring the incomparable Bernadette Peters is sure to make it a night to remember as we embark on this exciting new chapter.”
The Rep’s 2025-26 season will begin in the new theater center in November. There will be public events throughout the season to showcase the new space to the Milwaukee community. In June 2026, the Rep will host an Open House Block Party offering performances, speakers, facility tours, games and events.
Related stories:
- Milwaukee Rep reaches $78 million fundraising goal to rebuild theater complex
- Milwaukee Rep closing in on fundraising goal to rebuild downtown theater complex
- State Building Commission approves funding for Milwaukee Rep, other community projects
- Milwaukee Rep plans to build new $75 million theater complex
