Professional theater company Renaissance Theaterworks will move its performances from its home at Broadway Theatre Center in Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward to the Next Act Theater building in Walker’s Point for its 2020-21 season.
After its 15-year residency at 158 N. Broadway, the theater company said it has outgrown the space.
“We’ve grown beyond the capacity of the 99-seat Studio Theatre at the Broadway Theatre Center and we are excited to seize this moment and embrace the demand for more opportunities for the community to experience RTW,” said Lisa Rasmussen, managing director of Renaissance Theaterworks. “This bold move will allow us to continue on a positive trajectory for many years to come.”
Renaissance Theaterworks, which is in its 27th season, will perform all of its 2019-20 productions at the Broadway Theatre Center and open its next season at the Next Act Theatre building, 255 S. Water St., in fall 2020. The theater company’s administrative offices will remain on the fifth floor of the Broadway Theatre Center.
Renaissance Theaterworks, which was founded in 1993, is Milwaukee’s only women-founded, women-run professional theater company.
“The Broadway Theatre Center has been the perfect incubator for our art, allowing us to grow over the years. We are grateful for our 15-year residency we’ve had there. It has been marked by camaraderie, cooperation, and artistic partnership with Skylight Music Theatre, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, and more recently, Joseph Property Development,” said Suzan Fete, RTW co-founder and artistic director. “We look forward to collaborating with them in new ways in the future.”
In February 2018, Skylight Music Theatre sold the Broadway Theatre Center to developer Robert Joseph and entered into a 50-year leaseback deal with him.
Next Act Theatre opened its home at 255 S. Water St. in 2011. The building is owned and managed by David Winograd and LCM Funds.
The theater features a recently-installed state-of-the-art hearing loop system, handicapped parking and an accessible ground-level layout, RTW said in a news release.
“Next Act Theatre has designed an intimate, accessible theater that will open up more possibilities for production and technical needs for RTW while remaining a close-knit and intimate atmosphere, a quality that Renaissance patrons will be happy to know will not be lost in this move,” Fete said.
