The Milwaukee Theatre was opened as the Milwaukee Auditorium in 1909 and since then the most popular acts, bands and productions of each era have played there. It has also played host to speeches from some of the most important American politicians of the 20th century with Teddy Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson and Martin Luther King all speaking there. Roosevelt spoke shortly after being shot in a failed assasination attempt. It was refurbished and rebranded the Milwaukee Theatre in 2003 and the last two decades have seen more and more concerts take place. The old auditorium could hold crowds of over 13,000 but since its transformation the capacity is 4,086.