Meyer Theatre Green Bay Began as a 1930 Fox Palace

Look up from almost any seat and the ceiling is painted as a night sky, with cherubs, griffins and gargoyles along the walls, a hint that Meyer Theatre Green Bay audiences are sitting in a 1930 movie palace, not a purpose-built concert hall. It stands at 117 South Washington Street on the east bank of downtown, and it has been putting on shows since 1930.

This page covers the building's story, what it books now, how the box office works, where to park and what to know about access, plus dinner and a drink within a few blocks. The theater is one stop on a full downtown Green Bay evening along the river.

What is on at the Meyer Theatre?

The calendar this fall gives the feel: tribute bands for classic rock acts on Friday and Saturday nights, a touring folk songwriter, a family band, a comedy night, and the Let Me Be Frank season on a Sunday. Curtain times on the current calendar fall between 7 and 8 p.m.

When the act is bigger than a theater, the city's arena is the Resch Center by Lambeau Field.

How the Fox became the Meyer

The theater opened on February 14, 1930 as the Fox Theatre. Fox went bankrupt in 1932, the bank took over, and the building was later sold and renamed the Bay Theatre. In 1978 Standard Theatres split it into a three-screen cinema.

A community fundraising campaign started in 1998, the building joined the National Register of Historic Places in 2000, and it reopened on February 27, 2002 as the non-profit Robert T. Meyer Theatre, with a lead gift from the Robert T. and Betty Rose Meyer Foundation. The restoration cut the seating from 2,200 to 992; capacity today is 1,011.

Its organ is a Style 190 Mighty Wurlitzer with 572 pipes. A non-profit with a community board owns the theater, and PMI Entertainment Group of Green Bay manages and books it.

Inside an atmospheric theater

The Meyer was designed by architect Larry P. Larsen in the atmospheric style, a 1920s fashion for theaters dressed as an open-air courtyard under the sky. Historic Theatre Photos files it as a Spanish villa design, and Cinema Treasures calls it Spanish Renaissance, so expect tile-roof details, balconies and statuary rather than a plain box. Get to your seat early enough to look around before the lights go down.

NBC26 marked the theater's 95th year in 2025 with a walk through the building, and Frank Hermans of Let Me Be Frank Productions told the station there is a ghost here too.

Planning a night at the Meyer

A good Meyer evening runs in a loop on the east bank. Park in the Cherry Street Ramp after 6 p.m., eat at the chophouse a few blocks north, walk back for the show, and finish with a drink in the hotel pub.

If you are coming from out of town, the hotel and the theater are about 0.2 mile apart, so the car can stay put all night. On a cold night that matters more than any other detail on this page.

How do you buy Meyer Theatre tickets?

Tickets are sold through TicketStar, online or at its box office in the Resch Center lobby, phone (920) 494-3401. That box office is open Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. outside summer, and on event evenings from 10 a.m. until the event ends. On show days the Meyer's own lobby box office sells tickets from one hour before the curtain.

For a Saturday tribute show, buy early rather than counting on the door.

Where do you park for the Meyer Theatre?

The Cherry Street Ramp at 202 Cherry Street is directly across the street. The theater's parking page, last updated in April 2025, lists $1 an hour from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and free parking after 6 p.m. and all weekend, so check current rates before you go.

If Cherry Street is full, Downtown Green Bay lists the Pine Street Ramp about 0.3 mile away, the Broadway lot at 130 North Broadway about 0.4 mile away, and the Main Street Ramp about 0.5 mile away.

Is the Meyer Theatre accessible?

The far-left door of the main entrance is automatic, and accessible ticket holders are directed to the nearest elevator, with seat changes possible depending on the event. American Sign Language interpreters can be booked with at least three weeks' notice. Weapons are not allowed inside.

Where to eat and drink near the Meyer Theatre

Dinner before a Meyer show is a short walk on the east bank.

A block on, the restaurant and pub inside Hotel Northland, which dates to 1924, make the hotel a natural base for a theater weekend.

On a summer Wednesday, cross the river beforehand for the Farmers Market On Broadway, which runs from 3 to 8 p.m. from May through September, about 0.4 mile northwest.

For a nightcap after the show, the bars around Green Bay run from quiet pints downtown to game-day rooms by the stadium.

What is around the theater

The Meyer sits almost next door to the offices of Downtown Green Bay, Inc., the non-profit that promotes the district and points visitors to its murals, sculptures and monuments. A walk among the public art fills the gap between dinner and doors.

Across the river on Broadway, Gather on Broadway is an event hall with its own catering, about 0.4 mile northwest, which suits a group that wants a private dinner before the show. Book it as a private event rather than expecting a walk-in table.

The Meyer, the Weidner or the Resch?

Pick the Meyer for tribute bands, comedy and a night in a 1930 room, the Weidner Center on the UW-Green Bay campus for Broadway, ballet and orchestra in a 2,021-seat hall, and the arena when the act fills one.

All three fit into a longer trip built from Green Bay days from Lambeau Field to the bay shore.