Shows & Tickets
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Student Matinees

An integral part of our in-school programming, student matinees give students an opportunity to experience live professional theater. The experience may be enhanced through Rep Immersion Days, workshops with actors, TalkBacks and Backstage Tours.

Milwaukee Rep offers a diverse range of shows each season that appeal across ages and school subjects. For every show we offer behind-the-scenes videos and a PlayGuide, which provides context to the show, dynamic discussion questions and curriculum suggestions. After every 10:30am Student Matinee (with the exception of A Christmas Carol) we offer a TalkBack with the actors. For select performances, schools have the option of booking a full Rep Immersion Day experience which includes behind-the-scenes demonstrations. Workshops and Backstage Tours are also available as add-on options.

Student Matinee Pricing

  • Student Matinee tickets range in price from $7.50-$15, with the exception of:
    – 1:30pm Wednesday matinees, which are $22.
    A Christmas Carol, which ranges in price from $7.50-$20.
  • A free chaperone ticket is provided for every 20 student tickets purchased, except A Christmas Carol which is $1 per chaperone.
  • Rep Immersion Days are an additional $10 per ticket, which includes behind-the-scenes demonstrations (available for select performances only).

How to Book a Matinee
Simply choose your productions and be ready to pay a 20% down payment within 48 hours of reserving tickets. Payment can be in the form of a Purchase Order, Check, Cash, or Credit Card. Final headcount and final payment are due no later than one month prior to your performance. Failure to complete one or both payments in a timely manner will result in your seats being released for sale again.

To book student matinee tickets please contact:
Groups at groups@milwaukeerep.com or 414-290-5340.

Guidelines for attending a show at Milwaukee Rep will be sent to all teachers who reserve tickets.

2024/25 Season Student Matinees

Prelude to a Kiss, The Musical

Description: This hit romantic comedy soars to new heights in a World Premiere musical that refreshes and elevates its fairy tale love story with a breathtaking score that gives the phrase “for better or worse” new meaning.

Themes: love, fear, trust, relationships, ageing, loving someone for who they are, life is short/time is precious, wanting what you don’t have

For Which Audiences? Recommended for ages 13+

Content Warnings:

  • Drinking/alcohol consumption throughout
  • Several non-graphic mentions/references to sex

Student Matinee Date:
Tuesday, September 24, 2024 – 10:30am 

Marie and Rosetta

Description: Unearth the unsung roots of the “Godmother of Rock ’n’ Roll” and her wide-eyed protégée as they become one of the most influential teams in music history.

Themes: music, legacy, sisterhood, rock ’n’ roll history, success, women of rock, religious differences, daring to be yourself, music influencers, Black women musicians in a male-dominated pre-Civil Rights era 

For Which Audiences? Recommended for ages 12+

Content Advisory:

  • The play takes place inside a funeral home with multiple empty caskets
  • Mentions of death
  • Use of the n-word
  • Mentions of domestic violence
  • Mentions of children dying in a house fire
  • Discussions of racism and discrimination
  • Adult language (damn, ass)

Student Matinee Dates:
Tuesday, November 12, 2024 – 10:00am (Immersion Day)  

Thursday, November 14, 2024 – 10:30am

Tuesday, December 3, 2024 – 10:00am (Immersion Day) 

A Christmas Carol

Description:  A Christmas Carol is one of the best-known and well-loved stories in the English language. During the course of one memorable Christmas Eve, the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future help Ebenezer Scrooge discover that it is never too late to change his miserly ways. Milwaukee Rep favorite Matt Daniels returns to play Scrooge, as enchanting music, dance, costumes, scenery and special effects will once again fill the theater to tell this timeless tale of love, hope and redemption.

For Which Audiences?  Recommended for ages 6+

Student Matinee Dates:
Thursday, December 5, 2024 - 10:30am
Thursday, December 12, 2024 - 10:30am 
Tuesday, December 17, 2024 - 10:30am 

The Woman in Black

Description: Direct from London’s West End comes the chilling and electrifying theatrical event that has kept audiences on the edge of their seats for over 30 years.

Themes: Horror, loss, secrets, hauntings, grief, storytelling, theater as healing

For Which Audiences? Recommended for ages 13+

Content Advisory:

  • Multiple instances of horror elements and intense scary surprises throughout
  • Characters experience several instances of physical danger and acute psychological distress
  • Discussion of the death of multiple children

Student Matinee Dates:
Thursday, February 6, 2025 – 10:00am [Immersion Day]
Thursday, February 13, 2025 – 10:30am
Tuesday, February 18, 2025 – 10:30am

Romeo & Juliet

Description: Experience a brand new production of Shakespeare’s famed love story, grounded in live original music that evokes the bright, blue-collar sounds of bluegrass and folk-rock. 

Themes: love, fate, hatred, tragedy, music, storytelling, relationships, children dealing with problems of parents, duty, family, loss, family strife, fight against inevitability, impact of wealth and income disparities, generational trauma/grudges, learning love from parents

For Which Audiences? Recommended for ages 12+

Content Advisory:

  • Depiction of teen suicide
  • Bawdiness and violence consistent with Shakespearean tragedies

Student Matinee Dates:
Tuesday, March 11, 2025 – 10:30am
Thursday, March 13, 2025 – 10:00am [Immersion Day]
Tuesday, March 18, 2025 – 10:00am [Immersion Day]
Thursday, March 20, 2025 – 10:30am
Tuesday, March 25, 2025 – 10:30am

2024/25 Season Non-Student Matinee Performances

The Coast Starlight

Description: Direct from Lincoln Center where it left both critics and audiences stunned, the intensely funny and resonant play pulls into Milwaukee.

Themes: journeys, missed connections, empathy, helping others, chances, choices, love, everyone you meet is on their own journey, mental health, military service

Content Warnings:

  • Adult language (“fucking,” etc.)
  • Discussion of suicide
  • Discussion of alcoholism
  • Discussion of heroin addiction and overdose

For Which Audiences?  Recommended for ages 16+

Public Matinee Dates:
Wednesday, September 18, 2024 -1:30pm
Wednesday, October 2, 2024 - 1:30pm

Espejos: Clean

Description: The lives of two women with vastly different lives intersect at a resort in Cancún. A bilingual play with Spanish and English supertitles, a potent look at isolation and the power of being seen.

Themes: trauma, grief, survival, abuse, facing the past, moving on, projecting on vs connecting with others, stereotypes, hospitality industry, language barriers, cultural tourism, societal expectations, family expectations/roles in the family, white saviorism, mirrored experiences

Content Advisory:

  • Adult language (fuck, shit, etc.)
  • Depictions/mentions of racist microaggressions
  • Depictions of intoxication/excessive drinking/alcoholism throughout
  • Depictions of dissociation and psychological distress throughout
  • Description of an imagined torture scene that includes abduction and torture by mutilation
  • Description of sex
  • Discussion of sexual abuse of both minors and adults
  • Discussion of domestic abuse
  • Discussion of death of a parent

For Which Audiences? Recommended for ages 16+

Public Matinee Date:
Wednesday, April 16, 2025 - 1:30pm 

Million Dollar Quartet

Description: Rock ‘n’ roll icons Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins are brought together by an extraordinary twist of fate on a December evening in 1956 that would become one of the greatest jam sessions of all time. 

Themes: music, success, rock history, rock ’n’ roll, once-in-a-lifetime moments, legacy, stardom

Content Advisory:

  • Adult language throughout (hell, damn, shitting, ass)
  • Characters consume alcohol
  • References to sex and alcohol consistent with classic rock’n’roll

For Which Audiences?  Recommended for ages 13+

Public Matinee Dates:
Wednesday, April 30, 2025 - 1:30pm
Wednesday, May 14, 2025 – 1:30pm

Beyond the Student Matinee

You can further enhance the Student Matinee experience with several opportunities such as Rep Immersion Days, Backstage Tours, Pre- and Post-Show Workshops in the classroom, or our highly successful Reading Residency program which directly teaches literacy skills using the text from the play.

Rep Immersion Days
A full day of fun and education as we give students an inside peek into the magic of creating live theater. Students arrive in the morning for a matinee performance followed by demonstrations of the technical side of the production and workshops with various staff members at Milwaukee Rep. The cost for Rep Immersion Days is $10 per person. The $10 does not include your ticket to see the production. Rep Immersion Days can be booked at the time of ticket purchase.

Pre- and Post-Show Workshops
Enhance your Student Matinee experience by bringing a professional actor or artist into your classroom! Pre-Show Workshops are designed to prepare students to see our productions. Students might get a glimpse into various design elements, participate in an activity based on the theme or learn more about the context of the show they are going to see. Post-Show Workshops give students the chance to discuss the production with an artist from the show, participate in a relevant activity, and reflect on their student matinee experience. Please note that availability for post-show workshops may vary based on schedule and production needs.

To book workshops and/or a Reading Residency, please email education@milwaukeerep.com or call 414-290-5393.

Backstage Tours
Unfortunately we will be unable to offer Backstage Tours during our upcoming 2024/25 Season while our new space, the Associated Bank Theater Center, is under construction. Tour will be available in the late fall of 2025.

Take a peek behind-the-scenes at the workings of Milwaukee Rep through a guided Backstage Tour. Groups will see theater at work in our production areas and hear the history of our theater and company. Tour routes will generally cover our props, costumes, carpentry, and paint shops, our administration offices, and our three theater spaces. Tours cost will be updated in the fall of 2025.

"The students really enjoyed [the tour] and had their eyes opened about lots of theatre things it's impossible for us to expose them to here. Many commented on the career connections that they'd never made in this field. I thought that was really interesting. We have lots of artistic kids, but I think many of them feel that won't benefit them in the workforce. They saw yesterday that there are jobs for people who love the arts."
– Teacher, Barneveld High School