ALLIS@WORK - THE MILWAUKEE REPERTORY THEATER - MARCH 14, 2013

Thanks to the Rep’s PR Director, Cindy Moran, the fifth installment of Allis@Work comes to you from the Milwaukee Repertory Theater. The theater was carved out of the old Oneida Street Power Plant located at Water and Wells behind the Pabst Theater in 1987.  An amazing example of architectural reuse that puts The Rep ahead of most theater companies by housing all components of the organization under one roof.  As Cindy said you never know who or what you are going to run into on the building’s lone elevator. Beyond amusement though, the opportunities for collaboration abound.

I spent the majority of my workday in “The Hub.” The Hub is a multi-tiered open area common environment, where employees eat lunch, work on projects, take a break, hold a meeting, etc. It’s airiness and porcelain brick covered walls lends itself to creativity whether it is the black velvet Elvis Pope shrine, chili cook-off, penny wars, or the plethora of chandeliers that hang from the ceiling. Of course the stage managers have their offices on the highest perch overlooking it all.

My workday travels brought me to The Rep’s paint shop, costume shop, and prop shop, as well as the 720 seat Quadracci Power House Theater. I visited on the eve of A Raisin In the Sun’s opening night. The set was absolutely amazing and I can’t wait to get back to catch one of the performances. A Raisin In the Sun will be playing through April 14, 2013. 

Throughout my workday I met many creative people who not only work creatively at The Rep but are also involved in other artistic projects outside of work. One of them is Grace DeWolff, who is currently acting in Intandem’s Beast On The Moon. Stay tuned for my brief chat with her, as well as interviews with The Rep’s Interim Director of Development, Marina Krejci, and Education Associate Neil Easterling (Tumblr will only let us upload one audio post a day). While you are waiting for them, you can listen to my conversation with Cindy below.  Thanks again to Cindy and The Rep for hosting me!

Katie’s Last Day

Yesterday was Katie Shorts last day with us. Katie was our Events Manager and she is moving on to work for the big kahuna down on the lakefront. Katie will certainly be missed and we wish her well. We are also confident that our in-house team of Whitney and Bethany will carry on what Katie has left in place.  What follows is a recap of Katie’s year in 2012, in Katie’s own words (written at first for our annual report), and provides a glimpse at what Whitney and Bethany are getting themselves into.

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This year I’m not going to bore you with the number of rentals at the museums for 2012. Rather, I am taking a look back on the year as a rollercoaster ride, so strap in and visit the highs and lows with me…

January got off to a very rough start with a pipe bursting in the Villa basement and soaking the phone/internet junction boxes, completely destroying them. My office is located at the Villa, so I had to camp out at the Allis where we improvised with a system of message taking corresponding with renters via email. Everything has been replaced and it was back to business as usual within a few weeks.

February and March are always slow with events, but it was filled with a whirlwind of phone calls, emails, appointments, and meetings in regards to rentals for the busy season.

April was a race against the clock with the reconstruction of the Terrace at the Villa and our first wedding to take place outdoors on said Terrace. It was completed just in time. Many renters noticed the improvements and were delighted with the results.

May faced a challenge with the Villa’s neighbor as the 2012 Wisconsin Breast Cancer Show House needing to tent Ivanhoe and Terrace for their kick-off gala hosting hundreds of people. There were many discussions and logistics to figure out how our wedding parties and guests of the museum would be able to access the Villa. With constant and thorough communication, there were no problems and all involved seem happy with the outcome.

June was very full of activity as one of the most popular months for private events and museum programming. We extended our public hours to be open at the same time as the 2012 Wisconsin Breast Cancer Show House. The attendance was lower than hoped for, but still worth the exposure to visitors of the WBCSH.

July was excellent. Several brides had emailed me shortly after their weddings to express their thanks for the staff’s service. These messages are always passed on to the appropriate staff members. The event staff’s attention to detail, care, and overall customer service is so important.

August was faced with the challenge of the Milwaukee Air Show during the second weekend (it never falls on the same date or weekend). This event takes place right in our backyard and creates traffic congestion, limited parking, and a lot of noise. With plenty of notice, we were able to alert our renters that weekend so that all timing and logistics could be figured out well in advance.

September had a media theme for the rental department. I met with the writers of the blog Married in Milwaukee. They wrote and posted these articles on their blog: http://www.marriedinmilwaukee.com/villa-terrace-wedding and http://www.marriedinmilwaukee.com/charles-allis-weddings

The second media happening was a styled photo shoot put together by photographer Jenna Leigh. This was a fun day, despite the rain and you can see the outcome here: http://photosbyjennaleigh.com/blog/villa-terrace-styled-wedding-shoot/ And also a video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lkxovbah9vE

October was officially the last month in our busy rental season. With the absence of our larger summer Event Staff, we were a little short-handed so I stepped in and worked the first 3 Saturdays. It reminded me of how much our Event Supervisors do. They are the face of the museums and the glue that holds these events together.

November is officially the start of the slow season, but was anything but slow. We had events every single weekend and a lot of people in the buildings during the week. There were a few repeat events from customers who host annual events. I consider repeat private rentals to be a great gauge for how we are doing. If they come back, then we must be doing something right!

December: We rolled out our new wedding brochure! It’s so lovely and I am proud to present it to brides and grooms.

Phew!

If you know any newly engaged couples, corporate meeting planners, photo shoot scouts, tour groups and anyone else needing a space to host an event, send them my way!

Katie Shorts

ALLIS@WORK - SKYLIGHT MUSIC THEATRE - MARCH 6, 2013

Armed with a smart phone and a laptop computer, John Sterr, Marketing Manager of the Charles Allis and Villa Terrace Art Museum seeks out a WiFi connection and a desk at a location near you.  He will periodically work remotely from an undisclosed location around town, bringing you interviews and behind the scenes footage from area arts and culture organizations and businesses.

To be honest I don’t see a lot of theatre and am not the most familiar with the theatre scene here in Milwaukee. As such I went into my workday at the Skylight Music Theatre offices with some trepidation but mostly wonder at the world I was stepping into.  The Broadway Theatre complex, built by Skylight in 1993 serves as a hub not only for Skylight but other arts organizations as well, including: Renaissance Theatre Works, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Present Music, and Bel Canto Chorus. The complex is the embodiment of a dream the founders Clair Richardson and Sprague Vonier had for a permanent home for the company they founded in 1959. Beyond more space for productions, they felt it important that everyone working for Skylight should do so out of the same building. The former space off of Cathedral Square Park where Mikey’s is now was too small to accommodate everyone.  The new building is now a buzz of activity and collaboration between the different departments and arts organizations that call it home.

My day started getting settled at reception, and once I got the Wi-Fi going commenced with final edits to our annual report before attending Skylight’s regular staff meeting, held in the Salon.  What a great space for everyone to congregate and get updated on what everyone is doing (doughnuts were also provided). From there I continued working in the Bar & Bistro, before heading out for lunch at SWIG just down the street.

At the morning staff meeting I heard that a couple of famous pairs of pants were found in the back stock of the theatre’s costume shop, and I stopped by after lunch to take a look. There I met Barry Link, the shop manager. He was gracious to stop his work on building costumes for Skylight’s upcoming production of Porgy and Bess, to tell me the story of these pants. Clair Richardson, one of the founders of Skylight, went out to MGM in the seventies to buy costumes at a sale they were having. While most of these costumes are no longer part of the company, the two pairs of red embroidered pants shown in the slide show survive, and were worn by Abbot & Costello for the 1944 movie Lost in a Harem. Keep an eye out for them as the theatre has plans to display them to the public for a limited time.

From there I went over to the Prop Shop and talked with Lisa, Jennifer, Nikki and Andrew. Unfortunately I missed Lisa’s three-legged dog Hank, who is a welcome fixture of the Prop Shop. I got a brief tour of the theatre and the Scene Shop from Jennifer making stops at the Cabot Theatre, Richardson Room, and the shrine to founder Clair Richardson in the basement underneath the stage.  They are ready for the start of Pump Boys and Dinettes opening tonight, and the set looks amazing.

After the tour I concluded my day back at the sixth floor offices where I was able to talk briefly with Development Director Becca Kitelinger. She talks about Skylight’s new upcoming season with new Artistic Director Viswa Subbaraman. They will host a meet and greet reception and presentation in the Cabot Theatre Thursday March 14, starting at 5:30 p.m. The Skylight is offering readers of the CAVT blog free tickets. Contact Rose Hebein at roseh@skylightmusictheatre.org to secure your spot.

Thanks to Emily and Jen for offering me the opportunity to work from Skylight and to everyone there that invited me into their space and talked about what Skylight is all about.  It was great seeing everyone’s passion for the work you do!

ALLIS@WORK - HISTORIC MILWAUKEE INC. - FEBRUARY 28, 2013

Armed with a smart phone and a laptop computer, John Sterr, Marketing Manager of the Charles Allis and Villa Terrace Art Museum seeks out a WiFi connection and a desk at a location near you.  Each month, he will work remotely from an undisclosed location around town, bringing you interviews and behind the scenes footage from area arts and culture organizations and businesses.

It was a real treat to enter the Mitchell Building for work at HMI today. As one of Milwaukee’s iconic buildings, it was nice to get a peek inside.  HMI recently moved into offices on the 5^th floor of this renovated building. I enjoyed working among the bookshelves bursting with historic tomes about the comings and goings of Milwaukee over the ages, along with new books, some sponsored by HMI that continue the storytelling of our history to the present day.  The office exudes history from the ancient photos and artwork on the walls to the artifacts that rest in state from days gone by.  The office of four works well together and accomplishes a lot. The atmosphere reminded me of a college library where everyone conducts their business in a quiet and low-key manner, and yet music, podcasts, and laughter permeated the entire day. Thank You Anna, Grace, Jessie, and Bradley for allowing me into your space and allowing me to contribute my own laughter and noise to your workflow.

Please find below my meandering interview with Historic Milwaukee Inc.’s Executive Director Anna-Marie Opgenorth and Program Manager Grace Fuhr.