All the city’s a stage

Theater around the Omaha area

Teresa Prince

The orchestra tunes one last time before the overture, the techies mentally check that every prop and light is in order, the director paces the back of the auditorium, and the actors wait nervously in character; a show is about to begin. This is not uncommon in the Midwest. Omaha and its surrounding communities have much to offer for those interested in theater.

Omaha.com list 20 local theaters each with a full season of shows. The Dundee Dinner Theater performs a musical comedy called Pageant, Sept. 11-Oct. 8. It’s a show featuring a ludicrous beauty contest with six contestants including “Miss Great Plains” and “Miss Bible Belt;” they’re pitted against each other in a ridiculous talent contest with a bizarre host and random transvestites.

The Omaha Community Playhouse is performing a drama called Misery Oct 17 through Nov 9. (Will research more about show later)

Downtown at the Millennium Theater, Oct. 2-Nov. 9, Stages of Omaha is producing Bat Boy: The Musical and this Halloween they’ll be performing the outrageous cult classic Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Orpheum.

If a trip to Lincoln is on the agenda for Halloween weekend, take notice that the UNL Lied Center performs Kiss Me, Kate, a musical comedy based on Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew.

The typical show starts around 7:00 in the evening and tickets cost anywhere from $5-$15 for students. Show details are on Omaha.com under the Going Out – Arts – Theater section. Also The Reader magazine and The Omaha Theater Arts Guild sends out a newsletter of all current shows; this information is available on their website at http://theatreartsguild.com.

Another exciting option in Omaha is high school theater. Almost every school puts on a play or musical this year. Marian is performing Meet Me in St. Louis, a musical about a St. Louis family in the early 1900s who are excited about the upcoming World’s Fair and meanwhile scheming to get their four daughters married.

Prep is putting on a Western called West of Pecos Oct. 16-19. Mount Michael will be performing a 1980s New York rendition of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Nov. 8-9. Gross is performing Adrift in New York over Halloween weekend says Paul Sim a sophomore at Gross. Katie Davies a junior at Mercy says that Mercy is performing Cinderella Oct. 24-26 and Rose Ecabert, Central High senior, reports the Central is also performing Cinderella Nov. 7-9. Burke is performing a comedic play called Rumors Oct.23-25.

Many of these shows contain Marian girls as actresses. Marian’s musical has 48 girls in the cast. Sophomore Tara Vaughan is one of these girls. She’s excited to be a member of the chorus again this year. “I auditioned because I like being on the stage and it’s a good way to get involved,” said Vaughan.

Prep’s play contains many girls as well. Freshmen Marge Kennedy, Juniors, Katie Powers, Beth Stralely, Lexi Venteicher, Jenn Sidel, Aminatu Rubango, Jill Weber, and seniors Kate Neuhaus, Bethany Widman, and Christine Sebby. Stralely is playing Zerelda, fiancée of the hero Orin. “I auditioned there because ever since freshmen year, I’ve been in all of their shows and I like the director and the style he has, the style of the shows… this will be my fifth,” said Stralely.

This year is a first for Mt. Michael as they have seven Marian girls in there show: freshmen Jordan Venteicher, Mallory Freilich, seniors Magann Venteicher, Steph Purcell, Teresa Prince, and Mary Huerter. Senior Beth Worthington is the lead, “Helena, she is a stalker girl who’s in love with one boy (Demetrius) and stalks him a lot and ends up getting him by the end of the show. I auditioned for it because one of my friends had done it and loved it a lot.”

Venturing downtown to the Rose Theater, senior Colleen O’Doherty is had a role in the Teen’s in Theater play. The show is called “Frogs and it played Sept 18-21. It’s a Greek comedy by Aristophanes and it talks about the god Dionysus and his servant Xanthias, that’s me, and they go to the underworld to bring back Euripiedes, a Greek writer,” says O’Doherty.

Getting involved in community theater is not hard. Auditions for high school shows are over for the fall but when winter rolls around listen for announcements and look for posters containing audition information about Marian’s winter play, Prep’s spring play and Mt. Michael’s winter musical, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

Erin O’Keefe, a senior at Duchesne, is an intern at the Rose and participates in many shows. If girls want to get into shows she advises, “They can call the Rose box office, 345-4849, and they can ask to be put on the mailing list; we have about six shows a season that have open auditions, anyone can come to them they don’t cost anything, Also a good place to find auditions is in the Theater Art Guild of Omaha, the monthly newsletter or you can go to their website, “TAG Online” http://theatreartsguild.com. Another good source of audition information is the Omaha World Herald. Sundays look in the Arts and Entertainment Section for upcoming auditions.”

Despite being a small Midwestern city Omaha has plenty of opportunities to enjoy theater. Marian girls have great chances to partake in theater as well either by attending great shows, or having a starring, or extra, role. Go out and make the stage come alive!