Bradley Symphony Center

When the memorable 1,200-seat Butterfly Theatre (it has its own page on Cinema Treasures) of 1911 was demolished in 1930 along with two other buildings, it was to make way for what would become the fanciest theatre in Milwaukee and one of the most beautiful in the nation.

The Warner Brothers chain was looking for a first class opening in the city and spent $2.5 million to build this 2,431-seat movie palace which opened May 1, 1931 with Joe E. Brown in “Sit Tight”. It is part of a 12-story office building veneered in marble and bronze spandrels and ornamented throughout in monel silver metal in Art Deco style design. The lobby is a three story high dazzler in towering etched mirrors that were framed in deep maroon draperies with fringeless tassels (drops) in silver silk and fringe.

An overview from the balcony grande staircase landing originally held a baby grand piano and a duet of violins to entertain the waiting throng on the patterned terrazzo floor below (fully carpeted not long after opening). This almost pure Art Deco style space is illuminated by two giant chandeliers of concentric sheaths of etched glass, with matching five-foot-tall sconces on the marbled piers under the silver-leafed plaster of the geometrically moulded ceiling.

On entering the auditorium one sees a vista in Louis XIV garnished with some lines and details from the Art Deco French. This room is not the reserved silver and maroon of the lobby, but an exuberant gold and wine with accents in antique verde and teal. Both side walls have three murals “after Fragonard” with scenes of courtly capers and above each is a gilded sunburst patterned grille back lighted by hidden cove lights above, in three colors.

Carrying the eye downward, the flanking organ screens are unusual in being free-standing arches within an arched bay that is also topped with another lighted grille, and the back of the archway is covered in draped velvets and a glittered scrim adorned with jewelled star shapes in aluminum.

Centering the bottom of the arch is a five-foot tall golden amphora on pedestal with a back lit stained glass mural on its front of the Muses at play. Just as the top rear of the archway is graced with a stylized sunburst (Louis the XIV was the ‘Sun King’ and the sunburst motif was a signature of architects Rapp & Rapp) in gold leafed stylized rays, the chandeliers fronting the screens are also a stylized sunburst with etched glass ‘rays’ bejewelled with stained glass roundels, even though the wall sconces were hybrid designs having etched glass panels fronted by chains of glass beads with pendeloques.

The proscenium arch took up that entire wall, but the rectangular arch was relieved by clever enrichments in a central cartouche flanked by cornucopias and volutes and even a mask or two to break up the gilded lines. Half the arch was filled by the enormous Grand Drapery, a combination of five swags of maroon velour fringed in gold upon a lambrequin of crushed honey velvet, the whole adorned with four, eight-foot-tall pendants of padded silver silk fronted with a pattern of small squares of mirrors set into tiny brass frames, and this in addition to 15, 2-foot-long tassels and 18 similar fringeless drops of three moulds each.

When the grilled dome above and the proscenium cove lights turned on with the footlights, this all took on a wonderful glow, as the 3 manual, 28 rank Kimball theatre pipe organ rose upon its lift to begin the overture. With only an 18-foot-deep stage, the theatre was not really designed for stage shows, but mostly for film.

The blueprints show that provision was made for a motorized orchestra pit elevator, but along with other amenities, it was omitted as a cost conservation as the Great Depression made itself felt.

They did find money, however, for a display fountain in the basement lounge
as well as on the next three levels above. The foregoing is a description of the former Warner at opening and is not entirely reflective of the state of affairs as of 2002.

The Kimball organ was removed from the Warner Grand Theatre in 1973 when the theatre was split into two and became the Center Cinemas 1 & 2. In 1991 the Kimball organ was installed into Milwaukee’s Oriental Theatre. In 1982 the Center 1 & 2 was renamed the Grand Cinemas 1 & 2 (in honor of the Grand Avenue Mall then opening across the street) until it closed in 1995.

Acoustic tests have declared the undivided theatre to be excellent, and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra was encouraged to purchase. In December, 2017, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra acquired the Grand Warner Theatre for its new performance center. Having raised $93.5 million of a $120 million campaign to buy, design and renovate the theatre and fund an endowment for the orchestra. Steve & Greg Marcus of the Marcus Corporation donated their ownership of the Grand Warner Theatre to the campaign. In May 2020 a replica of the original huge Warner Grand vertical sign was installed on the façade of the building. Local architectural firm Kahler Slater were in charge of the restoration. The stage house was expanded with the depth of the stage increased from 18ft to 35ft when the original Terra Cotta rear wall of the stage was moved. An additional lobby was built including a glass pavilion with a center staircase that was inspired by the shape of a harp and crowned by a skylight. It reopened as the 1,750-seat Bradley Symphony Center in fall of 2021.

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