When folks saw video of water rushing through Wauwatosa Village during last weekend's flooding, many asked what all the colorful debris in the water was.
It turned out that some of it was from the Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s new state-of-the-art, 30,000-sq.-ft. production center, located at 1300 Glenview Pl., next to the railroad tracks, near the Little Red Store.
The building, which the Rep had occupied not long before was severely damaged by flooding caused by what some meteorologists called "a 1,000-year flood event," after record-setting rainfall led the nearby Menominee River to rise from less than 2 feet to over 14 feet in just six hours early Sunday morning.
On Thursday, the Rep's Ellen & Joe Checota Executive Director Chad Bauman offered this update:
"Over the past few days, we’ve been able to more accurately assess the full extent of the damage.
"Unfortunately, it appears that the majority of the building’s contents are a total loss. This includes more than 75,000 unique props, costumes, and set pieces, along with thousands of pieces of sound, lighting, rigging, welding, automation, projection, and paint equipment.
"The loss also includes vehicles, musical instruments, office and drafting equipment, lifts, power tools, and archives. Additionally, the set for our current production of 'A Christmas Carol,' which was in storage, was destroyed.
"The estimated value of the losses will likely exceed $5 million, which is the limit of our flood insurance policy. This disaster has struck at a particularly challenging time, as much of our equipment from the Downtown theater complex was being stored in the production facility while we continue construction on the Associated Bank Theater Center.
"To ensure that we stay on track for the scheduled opening of the Associated Bank Theater Center and can still produce our upcoming fall and winter productions –including 'A Christmas Carol' –we have begun setting up a temporary production shop at another location.
"We are also partnering with commercial production shops in the U.S. and Canada to assist in our recovery efforts. We anticipate completing the remediation and rebuilding of our permanent production facility by early 2026.
"If you would like to help with our recovery, tax-deductible donations can be made to Milwaukee Repertory Theater. Subscriptions and individual tickets for our inaugural season are also available for purchase.
"Milwaukee Repertory Theater remains resilient and creative in the face of these daunting challenges. With the support of our community of patrons, both local and from across the country, we look forward to celebrating the opening of our new facility in just nine weeks and welcoming you back for a season of world-class theater."
You can find more information, video and photographs of the flooding and damage at MilwaukeeRep.com/Flood.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press. A fifth collects Urban Spelunking articles about breweries and maltsters.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has been heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
