Perhaps all the world’s a stage, as Shakespeare wrote.

But Milwaukee could use another one, particularly for smaller theater companies, according to Amanda Hull and Cole Heinrich.

The couple just opened The Brick House, a former Riverwest hair salon converted to a small performing arts venue. The space also is available for baby showers, wedding rehearsal dinners and other private events.

The Brick House, 504 E. Center St., can accommodate up to 49 people. It has a city tavern license but doesn’t operate as a conventional bar.

Instead, Hull and Heinrich market the space primarily to theater companies, musicians and others to use for auditions, rehearsals and performances.

“There’s a lack of that right now,” said Hull.

Along with such downtown mainstays as Marcus Performing Arts Center and Bradley Symphony Center, Milwaukee has medium-sized performance venues, which include Broadway Theatre Center, in the Historic Third Ward, and Next Act Theatre, in nearby Walker’s Point.

But smaller arts venues are harder to find, Hull said.

Sunstone Studios MKE, 127 E. Wells St., has announced it will close at the end of November.

Underground Collaborative, which operated on the lower level of the Plankinton Building at The Avenue, 161 W. Wisconsin Ave., shut down in 2020. 

Meanwhile, Quasimondo Physical Theatre, which owns rehearsal, classroom and storage space at the former North Milwaukee Fire Station and Village Hall, 5151 N. 35th St., is trying to raise $3.1 million to install an elevator and make other improvements so it can be used for performances.

Mitchell Street Arts, featuring artist studios, a work shop and private event space with a bar, opened in August at 710 W. Historic Michell St. The center is open to hosting performing artists, Director Rew Gordon said.

Also, Interchange Theater Co-Op opened in 2021 at 628 N. 10th St. That 99-seat downtown theater, in the basement of Calvary Presbyterian Church, for 12 years was home to In Tandem Theatre.

Milwaukee “is in dire need of affordable communal rehearsal and performance space” and “The Brick House is a small step towards addressing that spatial shortfall,” said Mark Bucher, artistic director and founder of Milwaukee’s Boulevard Theatre.

The Boulevard stages performances at Sugar Maple Tavern, 411 E. Lincoln Ave. The theater company sold its venue, 2252 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., in 2014 due to financial pressures, a lack of parking, and increased noise from expanding nearby bars and restaurants, Bucher said.

Small performance spaces face challenges due to such factors as less “media exposure for smaller arts groups and venues, shrinking corporate and philanthropic support for alternative creative organizations, and the decline in our city’s commitment to arts education,” he said.

The Brick House can succeed if it receives support from such larger arts organizations as United Performing Arts Fund, Imagine MKE, Milwaukee Theatre District and Visit Milwaukee, as well as patronage from smaller arts groups, Bucher said.

The Brick House launched its marketing efforts with a Nov. 18 open house attended by dozens of people.

“We’ve had a really good response from the neighborhood and the arts community,” Hull said.

The couple’s investment company, 504 E. Center St. LLC, bought the two-story, 2,200-square-foot building a year ago for $235,000, according to city assessment records. It previously housed Tangled, a hair salon.

They’ve spent around $40,000 to $50,000 on renovations, Heinrich said.

The couple initially hoped to open by February. But there were delays due to the city Department of Neighborhood Services being short staffed for building inspections, Heinrich said, as well as supply chain issues.

Department staffers, along with city officials such as Ald. Milele Coggs, whose district includes The Brick House, have been helpful and encouraging, Hull and Heinrich said.

Meanwhile, the building is generating revenue from the upstairs apartment.

Hull, who graduated from high school in Burlington, and Heinrich, who grew up in the Minneapolis area, met at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee − where they each earned a bachelor’s in fine arts degree.

Hull earned her degree in musical theater performance and Heinrich earned a degree in music performance.

Heinrich’s day job is working as a mortgage loan originator at CMG Financial. He plays guitar in The Flood, a band that performs at street festivals, Riverwest bars, farmer’s markets and other venues.

Hull is a theater director and actor. She also teaches costume design at Shorewood High School.

Tom Daykin can be emailed at [email protected] and followed on Instagram, X and Facebook.