What The **** Was That? A Musical Bloodbath Of Course!

by William Grennan

A few years ago, the last thing you would see on an Omaha Playhouse stage would be f-bombs, gore, body parts, and more blood than a American Red Cross drive. But this season in the Howard Drew Theatre has been anything but typical. Evil Dead: The Musical, opening this weekend and running through March 17th, is a prime example of the new direction that the nation’s largest community theatre is taking with their...

Shelterbelt Showing the Love

by William Grennan

Love can be many things. It can be forced, it can be natural, it can surprise, it can comfort, it can harm, it can make you question yourself, it can be ridiculous, it can be inexperienced, it can be sophisticated, it can make you cry tears of joy and sorrow, it can be mutual, it can be unrequited, at times it can be boring, but at others it can be exhilarating. These are all aspects that describe From Shelterbelt...

Karaoke Kicks Off New Year

by William Grennan

The Live Broadway Karaoke event for the Omaha Playhouse’s 21 & Over programming, now in its third year, has become the unofficial theatre kick-off for the new year. After having their fill of family dinners, office parties, and new year’s celebrations, the theatre community shakes off the snow and comes back together to enjoy the dulcet tones of local performers and, above all, the hilarious quips of the...

The Play’s the Thing in the New Year

by William Grennan

If one of your resolutions for the new year was to read more, give the Drama Book Club at the Omaha Playhouse a try. If you are a theatre lover, there is no reason for you to not read all the scripts available to you. An actor can find his/her next great audition piece, directors can find their next unexpected hit, and theatre-goers can get a chance to experience shows that otherwise wouldn’t or couldn’t be...

Francke Passes Column Baton to Grennan

by Warren Francke

If column-writing was a relay, I’d be passing the Cold Cream baton to Bill Grennan and wishing him as long a run as I’ve had—roughly six decades and countless other columns, long before this one.

Few in the theater community need to be told about Bill’s credentials: drama degrees from both Creighton and the University of Nebraska at Omaha plus praised performances on their stages and most of the others in the...

Small Town in Small World: Joy and Horror

by Warren Francke

The joy of the rock musical Beehive and the horror that came to Newtown, Connecticut, left me contemplating our small town in a small world.

Omaha seems a small town when we find The Waiting Room lounge nearly full a few minutes before the 1 p.m. performance of the rock revival, and the management finds us two seats at a tiny table occupied by two women. One asks, “Are you Warren Francke?,” and reveals she’s the...

Belle, Beast Score Big Numbers

by Warren Francke

Publicists like to list all sorts of numbers when touting big Broadway shows, but they’re usually resistable. Not this time. Somehow, the “facts and figures” on Disney’s Beauty and the Beast grabbed me, despite the usual resistance compounded by the added irritation of having to include the Disney name in the official title.

Fans of Belle, the Beast and Gaston know the story of the enchanted prince who can only...