Quick and easy cultural references for Milwaukee include Harley-Davidson, founded here and with a museum to its name, Arthur “The Fonz” Fonzarelli from Happy Days, memorialized downtown with his own life-size bronze statue, and the bottle-capping Laverne and Shirley, doing it their way. To explore Milwaukee and its suburbs, however, is to find a city where emerging talent thrives and where cultural experiences and the performing arts are a way of life.
Following are five options that showcase the metro area’s creative diversity.
Home to the nationally recognized Milwaukee Ballet, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Florentine Opera and First Stage Children’s Theater, the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts (414.273.7121; www.marcuscenter.org) hosts functions and events for between 25 and 2,300 guests in a number of elegant performance spaces and meeting rooms.
Featuring a 360-degree view of downtown Milwaukee and the shoreline from its circular Pilot House, Discovery World (414.765.9966; www.discoveryworld.org) is a 120,000-square-foot facility that includes interactive science, technology and freshwater exhibits, learning labs, theaters, television and audio studios, and freshwater and saltwater aquariums. In addition to rentable indoor and outdoor space, groups of up to 50 can arrange private sailing events aboard the historic S/V Denis Sullivan schooner.
Built in 1895 by brewing magnate Captain Frederick Pabst and designed in the tradition of the great European opera houses, the Pabst Theatre (414.286.3663; www.pabsttheater.org) in downtown Milwaukee is the crown jewel of the city’s renowned theater district. Designated a City of Milwaukee Landmark, a State of Wisconsin Historical Site and a National Historic Landmark, the Pabst, with rentable space, is the fourth-oldest continuously operating theater in the nation.
Located in the heart of Brookfield’s Mitchell Park, the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts (262.781.9470; www.wilson-center.com) is renowned for its performing arts series of dance, jazz and classical music, and vocal artists. The striking facility also offers a number of evocative spaces for meetings and functions, including its elegant Grand Hall and spacious Harris Theater.
Depicting life on the 1800s Western frontier, Old World Wisconsin (262.594.6301; www.oldworldwisconsin.wisconsinhistory.org) is the nation’s largest outdoor living history museum. Open from May to October, the Waukesha County facility can be rented for a farming experience with interpreters reenacting rural life of the 19th century. The octagonal Clausing Barn is a popular choice for dinners and social gatherings, and the sheltered Norwegian Picnic Pavilion has space for 400.
