The records of the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre document the problems that beset a regional theater while building an audience, maintaining good relations with the community, achieving financial solvency, and attaining administrative and artistic stability. A separate series of PHOTOGRAPHS is listed after the other materials and comprises the 48 oversize boxes. Among the primarily non-photographic materials, some records on the ESTABLISHMENT OF THE THEATER AND GENERAL RECORDS are listed at the beginning of the contents list below, and some OTHER PRODUCTION FILES, MISCELLANEOUS SKETCHES, and FUNDRAISING DRIVES are listed at the end. The bulk of the non-photographic materials, however, are arranged chronologically by season, beginning with the first in 1953-1954; each season ran from July 1 to June 30. Within each season most papers have been organized in the following categories:
- Contracts
- Correspondence
- General Records (sometimes grouped with Correspondence)
- Financial and Fundraising Records
- Insurance Records
- Legal Records
- Operations
- Personnel Records
- Photographs
- Promotion and Publicity
- Publications
- Royalties, Rental Fees, and Performing Rights
- Scripts
- Technical Production Information
- Ticket Sales and Box Office Records
- Unions
Records of individual productions are limited to financial records, programs, reviews, scripts, and photographs. The records from 1969 to 1978 consist mostly of technical information relating to productions at the Performing Arts Center in Milwaukee, and at the smaller experimental theater at Court Street, as well as special productions performed at festivals or on tour. There is also information on the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre's move from the Fred Miller Theatre to the Todd Wehr Theatre in the new Performing Arts Center in the 1969-1970 season.
The categories correspondence and general records of Drama, Incorporated, the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, and various groups associated with them, concern all aspects of the theatre's operation. Excluded from this category is correspondence with actors equity and concerning royalties. Minutes and policy statements of the various organizations and general information such as season schedules and membership lists are also located in this category.
Financial records include bank statements, ledgers and balance sheets, information about the theatre's tax-exempt status, yearly financial reports, concession receipts, program advertising contracts, papers concerning the rental of the building and the petty cash fund, and a sampling of invoices taken from approximately 20 linear feat of unprocessed invoices. The invoices are summarized in the ledgers. Other financial records of the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre including its journals, 1955-1968, are listed with the GENERAL RECORDS at the beginning of the collection.
Fundraising records in the GENERAL RECORDS document the initial fundraising for the Theatre. Within the season by season records are other files on fundraising, lists of season ticket holders, statements of printers and ticket agencies, and records of various student programs. Insurance records pertain to the insurance for the theater building, and unemployment compensation and hospitalization plans for employees. Legal records refer to infrequent suits in which the theatre was involved. Royalties, rental fees, and performing rights concern securing and releasing rights to perform plays and royalties paid for them.
The files on unions include material on the Theatre's relationship with the actors' equity association, the Milwaukee Theatrical Stage Employees, the Association of Theatrical Press Agents and Managers (ATPAM), the League of Resident Theatres (LORT), and others. Contracts were negotiated between the theatre management and all those employed by the theatre.
Scripts are present infrequently until the 1963-1964 season. Personnel records include photographs, Résumés, applications and, from the earlier seasons, audition materials of cast and staff members. Technical production materials are, for the most part, limited to information about props and costumes. Operational records include permits and other papers relating to the physical operation of the theater. Included with the photographs are those of productions and staff members. Promotion records consist of press releases, radio and television announcements, and papers regarding speaking engagements and guest appearances of staff members and actors. Publications include pamphlets of theatrical organizations in Milwaukee and the United States.
The records of the Fred Miller Theatre League are in the season files from 1955 to 1963 and include minutes, corporate records, correspondence, membership lists, and production material for Fanfare, the league's annual fundraising show. Records of the School of Professional Arts include student records, grades, examinations, and routine correspondence from 1955 to 1959.
An extensive run of PHOTOGRAPHS of performers, productions, and playwrights are available in Boxes 152-199. They were organized in 1995 as part of an internship at the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre and added to the collection. They are organized in four sub-series:
- Individual actors and actresses, arranged alphabetically by name (Boxes 152-163)
- Group photographs, arranged alphabetically by name of one of those included in the group (Boxes 164-166)
- Productions and playwrights, arranged alphabetically by play title (Boxes 167-195)
- Miscellaneous and unidentified (Boxes 196-199)
