MILWAUKEE — The front rows of the splendiferously reborn Milwaukee Repertory Theater are the theatrical equivalent of business-class seats on a domestic airplane: wide girth, individual armrests and cupholders. In front of them sit four more seats that, although they don’t recline, easily qualify as first-class perches. Upstairs can be found a space reminiscent of a Chase Sapphire Lounge found in an airport. Elsewhere is a plush private dining room with seating for eight.

The new Milwaukee Rep, an eye-popping, $80-million project opening next month in the heart of downtown Milwaukee, is indicative of two ways in which this atypical regional theater, led by the media-savvy, longtime team of artistic director Mark Clements and executive director Chad Bauman, has swum hard against a rising t

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