Inside the Grand Oshkosh opera house in Oshkosh, October 11, 2017. PC: Fox 11 Online
OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — As the old adage says, “The show must go on” — and a new partnership between a pair of Oshkosh institutions is ensuring just that.
On Thursday, UW-Oshkosh and The Grand Oshkosh hosted a joint news conference to announce the historic opera house will move its performances to the university’s Theatre Arts Center during its upcoming $16 million renovation.
“There’s an interesting dilemma in a project like this, and that’s what do you do with your shows when you’re closed? Many theaters simply shutter, do the work and come back with their shows when it’s done. That didn’t seem like a good option to us at any time,” said Joseph Ferlo, president/CEO of The Grand Oshkosh.
The venue opened back in 1883, with updates made in 1982-86 and 2009-10. The Grand, which is owned by the city of Oshkosh, currently seats 550 people and hosts more than 100 performances each year.
Starting this summer, The Grand will relocate its operations and box office to UWO for approximately 12-16 months. The Theatre Arts Center, located only minutes from downtown Oshkosh, will host a wide range of performances, including music, theatre, dance and community events.
“The art — the dreams, if you would — is just like little seedlings popping up into sunlight and becoming beautiful flowers, and then those flowers then get planted too in actual theater performances,” said Chancellor Manohar Singh. “I do believe that your coming from The Grand Oshkosh to this university is going to make this nursery a better place, a more nurturing place for the souls and the hearts and the brains and the minds of our students.”
According to officials, the collaboration was designed to allow The Grand to maintain its full performance schedule but cause no interruptions to UW-Oshkosh’s academic programming. UWO and The Grand added this deal guarantees continuity for arts programming in Oshkosh while creating new opportunities for campus activity and community engagement.
Details regarding the 2026-27 performance schedule and ticketing will be announced in the coming months.
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