In February 2020, Milwaukee Repertory Theater announced plans to build one of the largest new theater complexes in the United States. Four weeks later, the theater shut down due to COVID-19. Over the course of developing the $80 million, 155,000-square-foot project, Milwaukee Rep confronted a global pandemic, record-high inflation, supply chain disruptions, labor shortages, tariffs, and even a 1,000-year flood that destroyed its production center. Despite these unprecedented challenges, the Associated Bank Theater Center opened on time, under budget, and fully funded. Bauman will share lessons learned from leading a regional theater through extreme uncertainty, drawing on insights from an organization recently profiled by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and the Chicago Tribune as one of the most successful in the country.
