Memphis Mama: Change Not Easy

by Warren Francke

Memphis, the city, means Beale Street, blues and soul food. Memphis the musical means white deejay airs black music and breaks the racial barrier.

And all that’s pre-Elvis, so you can see why Julie Johnson makes an impact every time she sings, “Change Don’t Come Easy.” She plays the mama of Huey, who visits the Beale Street underground, falls for a young black singer and the music performed there, and makes it...

Big Stage News in 2012 Hits Later

by Warren Francke

Both on stage and in the wings, 2012 was well-booked with big news and memorable performances. The best news? One dire prediction that didn’t come true.

I worried that the year’s most ironic moment would come if Chanticleer’s Happy Days musical turned out to be the unhappy end of the Council Bluffs theater’s long history. Fortunately, good citizens, including the Iowa West Foundation, came through for the...

It Takes a Team of Billy Elliots

by Warren Francke

“I’ve trained about 14 Billies ,” the interviewee says, and the number alone hints at the singularity of Billy Elliot the Musical  which opens at the Orpheum Theater Nov. 27.

So does Steven Minning’s title: supervising resident creative director. All shows have directors and many have traveling resident directors, but few require someone back in New York City while the company tours.

Right now, he’s training...

Longe Is Artist Rothko in Much-Honored Play

by Warren Francke

Someone says “sizzling” and you half expect porn. Hear “thrilling” and you think of cliffhanger action.

But, when they’re modified by “intellectually,” you’re in for an evening of theater powerful enough to sweep all the drama awards just two seasons ago. More than one reviewer saw Red, the story of abstract expressionist Mark Rothko as he battles for his artistic soul with a devil of a big commission, and found...

Omaha’s Andy Now in New Normal

by Warren Francke

Now that we’re seeing Andy Rannells daily in promos for The New Normal, don’t be a johnny-come-lately and say, “Yeah, he’s the Creighton Prep grad who starred in that big Broadway hit, Book of Mormon.”

Maybe you saw him first during the London Olympics as NBC began pushing the new television sitcom. A clip showed Andy as Bryan Buckley with his male partner as both volunteered when asked, “Who is going to be the...

Taste Big Maggie, Guinness at Brigit

by Warren Francke

The Brigit St. Brigit Theatre company opens its latest Irish play to start their 20^th anniversary season with historic momentum, not to mention a free Guinness tasting this weekend.

Big Maggie not only brings Delaney Driscoll back in the title role, but follows growing development of support staff to aid artistic director Cathy Kurz and executive director Scott Kurz in their mission of producing classics and...

A New Start

by Leo Adam Biga

John Beasley got tired of being tired.

You’ve likely learned the John Beasley Theater & Workshop’s urgent appeal for funds to relieve its financial distress has been answered, and the once-endangered 2011-2012 season saved.

But you probably don’t know the back story, or why founding namesake and president John Beasley is willing to share the details, the better to make a case for the theater’s continued...