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The Pabst Theater Group will unveil the new look of its The Fitzgerald events venue at an open house slated for Wednesday, April 5.
The concert group purchased the 1874 home-cum-venue at 1119 N. Marshall St. last summer. It had been operating as a wedding venue for nearly 20 years as the Villa Filomena.
The open house/grand reveal event is free and open to all, on Wednesday, April 5 from 4 to 8 p.m. There will be food from All Occasions Catering and music by Milwaukee Airwaves, as well as a drawing for a comprehensive Wedding Day Giveaway valued at over $12,000 including free room rental, a $5,000 credit toward a catering package and $1,000 credit toward a DJ package.
You can see inside the venue as it looked at that time and read a history of the house, designed by Edward Townsend Mix, in this Urban Spelunking article.
Recent updates to the venue, which PTG renamed The Fitzgerald last year, include refinished hardwood floors, new flooring, remodeled bathrooms, new dressing room suites, a kitchen renovation, refreshed bars with brass countertops and, outside, a new roof, among other work.
“We’ve had the opportunity to put our signature on an already beautiful space and we can’t wait to show it off,” said Pabst Theater Group Director of Private Events Ann Lennart.
“The renovations are gorgeous and completely transform the space, and there will be more to come."
PTG has also inked deals with All Occasions Catering and Milwaukee Airwaves Added to serve as in-house caterer and DJ service, respectively.
“With the addition of our exclusive partners, planning a wedding or special event at our space couldn’t be easier. We’re proud to offer elegant ambiance, top-tier amenities and a unique event experience that only the Pabst Theater Group can provide,” said Lennart.
“We are looking forward to this partnership, providing All Occasions Catering a chance to have a greater presence in the heart of Milwaukee,” said Mark Anderson, president of All Occasions Catering. “It’s a really exciting opportunity to connect with the history and culture that makes Milwaukee such a great place. I’m optimistic to see what the future holds.”
Ramsey Renno, owner and founder of Milwaukee Airwaves added, “We are excited to share our brand of customer service and curated entertainment with The Fitzgerald through this partnership. We look forward to bringing Fitzgerald clients the Airwaves experience and are grateful that the Pabst Theater Group has trusted us with the opportunity to perform in their newest venue.”
Find The Fitzgerald online here.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
