The History of Melody Top Theatre
(Taken from the 21st season souvenir program, with edits and updates by the webmaster.)
The corner of 76th Street and Good Hope Road in Milwaukee was only meadowland in the late 1950s, but in 1962 a group of Chicago businessmen petitioned the Common Council for permission to build a tent theatre on this location and soon after Melody Top Theatre was born. When the original inventors went bankrupt in 1965, William Luff, owner of the Good Hope Road property, bought the theatre and together with a group of local business men, opened the 1966 season with THE KING AND I. In 1978, a permanent wooden dome was constructed, but the recognizable atmosphere of the tent was retained by keeping the canvas sidewalls and surrounding concession tents.
Bill Rach, Charles Comiskey and Joseph Vaughn produced Melody Top's first three seasons. When William Luff's organization took over the operation in 1966, Elmer Regner was employed as executive producer for the next five seasons. After serving as general manager during 1969 and 1970, Martin Wiviott was engaged as producer from 1971 through 1978, when the permanent wooden dome was erected. After the 16th season, Wiviott departed Wisconsin for California and is currently, in 2012, general manager of Broadway/L.A. and the Pantages Theatre. In January of 1979, Guy S. Little, Jr. was engaged as producer-general manager and remained through the 1985 season. The last season, in 1986, was assembled by Tom Marks (artistic director), Michael Wilson (associate producer) and Philip Proctor (producer-general manager).
After analyzing over 4,000 ballots from audience members, the new producers announced an intriguing 1987 season of eight shows: HELLO, DOLLY!, THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE, THE KING AND I, BABY, THE MUSIC MAN, SUGAR BABIES, BRIGADOON and what would have been the theatre's first opera, CARMEN. In October of 1986, the board of directors announced the closing of Melody Top Theatre. This sad announcement made front-page news in the daily newspapers. Poor box office figures from the truncated 1986 season (which featured talented performers from Milwaukee and Chicago, rather than well-known headliners) were cited as the main reason. Many believe the passing of William Luff, "Melody Top’s best friend," on July 9, 1984, was the beginning of the end for this beloved institution. A loving and honorable tribute to Mr. Luff was published in programs for the rest of the season.
Changing tastes in live theatre probably contributed to closing the financially troubled Melody Top. Most theatregoers at the time were interested in seeing extravagant spectacles from London's West End as opposed to classic shows from Broadway's Golden Age. The performing rights to hit musicals from New York were harder to obtain because productions toured the country for longer periods of time in the 1970s and 1980s. Competition from the growing downtown theatre scene was very strong.
On the afternoon of Thursday, September 19, 1991, a two-alarm fire gutted the theatre building. Brothers Dale and Glen Poniewaz hoped to open an ambitious $12-15 million entertainment complex on the grounds, called Melody Gardens, but these plans never materialized. Melody Top Theatre, like so many similar venues, was finished.
Melody Top’s old parking lot is still used by patrons of Uihlein Soccer Park, located next door to the theatre's former grounds. All of the Melody Top buildings have been razed, and a metal fence prohibits entrance. The site is once again a meadowland.
The graphic on this page is of the seating plan at Melody Top Theatre. According to Tim Kraetsch, the final count of seats in the auditorium was 2,156. The theatre had a capacity of entertaining approximately 241,472 patrons each summer (8 shows a week x 14 weeks a year x 2,156 seats = 241,472 patrons). The orchestra pit is located to the right (west) of the stage in front of section E.