Wisconsin Center hires Bradley Center’s booker
‘I am ... excited to bring local, regional and national promoters’
Doug Johnson helped turned around the BMO Harris Bradley Center’s slumping concert business. Now he’s been tasked to try to do the same thing for the long underperforming Miller High Life Theatre.
Johnson, the Bradley’s senior director of booking, has been hired as vice president of entertainment and sports for the Wisconsin Center District. Beginning April 16, Johnson will oversee booking for the district’s three Milwaukee venues: the Wisconsin Center, the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena and the Miller High Life Theatre.
It’s the district’s second major hire since December, when Marty Brooks was appointed president and CEO. Brooks is the former senior vice president and general manager of America’s Center, operated by the St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission. He also worked more than 20 years as an executive for Madison Square Garden in New York.
The theater will be a key focus for Johnson. It has performed below initial projections nearly every year since it opened as the Milwaukee Theatre in 2003. Remodeled from the rundown Milwaukee Auditorium for about $42 million, it was renamed the Miller High Life Theatre last year as part of a $1.75 million sponsorship deal.
“A building as beautiful and versatile as the Miller High Life Theatre cannot go underutilized,” Brooks said in a statement Tuesday. “It seemed to me that we needed the right person with the right relationships to book the space. I created this new position, and we were lucky to find that person just down the road. The future of entertainment for the WCD is very exciting.”
After 14 years as a talent buyer for Summerfest, Johnson was hired by the Bradley Center in 2014, following its weakest concert year since 1989.
With Johnson overseeing booking, the Bradley stepped up its concert offerings in recent years. A Fleetwood Mac show in 2015 was the venue’s highest-grossing concert in 10 years. A-listers including Bruce Springsteen, Katy Perry and Garth Brooks have since played the venue.
The Bradley Center’s final six months of concerts have included Guns N’ Roses’ first Milwaukee-area show in 26 years, a special Bon Iver 10th anniversary concert and the first night of Lorde’s North American tour.
Little Big Town and Bon Jovi will headline the arena’s final concerts next month. Demolition will begin in July, ahead of the opening of a new, $524 million arena in late August or early September.
“The WCD facilities and administrative staff are in a great position to take entertainment to the next level for the people of Wisconsin,” Johnson said in a statement. “I am really excited to bring local, regional and national promoters into the superb properties of the Wisconsin Center District.”
The live music industry has had six consecutive years of record growth, according to trade publication Pollstar, but there’s also plenty of competition for tours.
And the new arena — currently being constructed with $250 million in public money — is benefiting from a honeymoon period, with nine shows announced so far, including concerts with Metallica, Foo Fighters and the Eagles across three consecutive nights in October. General manager Raj Saha is also head of programming for the forthcoming arena.
The Wisconsin Center District will own the arena, but it will be operated by the Milwaukee Bucks.