Category: Theater

People who work from home say they’re working, and numerous objective studies show that’s true. But many managers are still worried that they aren’t.

in a new study by Microsoft, nearly 90 percent of office workers reported being productive at work, and objective measures — increased hours worked, meetings taken, and amount and quality of work completed — prove them out. Meanwhile, 85 percent of bosses say hybrid work makes it hard to be confident that employees are being productive.

That uncertainty, coupled with a looming recession and many companies moving back to more time in the office, is prompting workers to increase show that they’re working — which is decidedly not the same as actually working. Rather, it’s what some have called “productivity theater.”

Productivity theater is when workers frequently update their status on Slack or toggle their mouse to make sure the status light in Microsoft Teams

Associated Bank announced a $10 million sponsorship agreement Thursday with the Milwaukee Repertory Theater for the theater’s new home, which will be named Associated Bank Theater Center through 2042.

Milwaukee Rep plans to build a new theater complex at its current site downtown on East Wells Street, completely redoing two of its three theaters as well as expanding its facilities into some little-used loading dock space.

The Associated Bank agreement is a significant plank in the Rep’s $75 million campaign to build the new theater complex. A substantial amount has already been raised, Milwaukee Rep Executive Director Chad Bauman said during a Zoom interview. He promised that an update on the campaign plus detailed information on building plans would be made public in November or December.

The Rep structure, which it owns, is attached to the Associated Bank River Center. An Associated affiliate bought the 28-story, 373,000-square-foot office tower formerly

Artistry, which began as the Bloomington Civic Theater in 1955 and for 60-plus years has been an entertainment mainstay in the south metro, finds itself at an existential crossroad.

Executive director Kevin Ramach abruptly resigned Sept. 7 for reasons that only now are becoming public: The theater company is freighted with debt, and its relationships with key stakeholders have been ruptured. It announced Wednesday that it has postponed its latest production, “Godspell,” until next year. Also, future productions are on hold, and artists have not been paid.

“We have past due bills that without pausing some programming and clearing those, we wouldn’t have been able to move forward as an organization,” said Kelli Foster Warder, Artistry’s producing consultant.

“We were selling tickets and engaging our audience, but poor financial management meant we had no buffer and no runway to build forward.”

Before the pandemic, Artistry had a $2 million annual

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OFFERING MORE THAN AN ON-SCREEN SHOW. FOR DECADES, DRIVING THE THEATERS HAVE OFFERED FAMILIES MEMORABLE MOVIEGOING EXPERIENCES. TEEDO DECIDED TO TAKE THINGS FURTHER. WHY WILL WE DO THINGS DIFFERENT? JC: HE IS CO-OWNER OF MOONRISE CINEMAS IN PLYMOUTH. WITH A BACKGROUND IN EVENT PRODUCTION, HE KNEW HE COULD BRING A NEW SPIN TO THE CLASSIC DRIVE-IN. IN 2020, AN IDEA WAS BORN. HAVING AN OUTDOOR SPACE WHERE MOM AND DAD CAN ACTUALLY RELAX WAS IMPORTANT TO US. SHAYNA: WE ARE TALKING FOOD, MUSIC AND GAMES. WE HAVE MEET AND GREETS WITH CHARACTERS WHO HAVE TO DO WITH THE MOVIE. WE HAVE LIVE CONCERTS. JUST LOOKING FOR SOMETHING TO DO