-“Recommended?” Yes to Premiere Play

by Warren Francke

by Warren Francke

Recommended Reading for Girls completes a remarkable pairing on the two stages of the Omaha Community Playhouse. While another world premiere, the screwball comedy A Night with the Family, continues on the main stage, Omahan Ellen Struve’s original play runs in the more intimate Howard Drew.

It’s a tribute to the confidence of the Playhouse leadership that they booked two unproven plays,...

Artists running with opportunity to go to the next level

by Leo Adam Biga

The inaugural resident artists at the Carver Bank cultural center couldn't be more unalike in some ways and more congruent in others. 

Carver is the new Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts and Rebuild Foundation endeavor at 2416 Lake Street that houses a Big Mama's Sandwich Shop, a gallery- performance space and artist studios. Artist and urban planner Theaster Gates of Chicago is the facilitator-instigator of...

Pick: Retox

by Chris Aponick

May 9
Retox w/ Flesh-Eating Skin Disease and Video Ranger
Brothers Lounge, 3812 Farnam St.
9 p.m., $5 at the door

Retox members were all in other bands just like many other bands. Does it matter that they used to play in bands like the Locust, Head Wound City and Cattle Decapitation? If you ask Retox, the answer would be a resounding no. The same goes for any attempt to classify the band's punchy, menacing...

Pick: J.D. McPherson

by Chris Aponick

May 3
J.D. McPherson w/ the Black Lilies
The Bourbon Theatre, 1415 O St. in Lincoln
9 p.m., $15 in advance/$18 day-of-show, bourbontheatre.com

J.D. McPherson's excellent debut album Signs and Signifiers wears its retro heart on its sleeve, but McPherson and company deliver these 1950s-rooted rock 'n' roll gems with such verve and passion that its hard not to get swept up in it. These tunes feel like they've...

Rose’s New Season and Struve’s New Play Bring Excitement

by William Grennan

Children’s theatre, regrettably, often doesn’t receive the press that other productions around town get. Sometimes its the limited appeal, sometimes its the daytime performances, sometimes the plays performed are simply nothing to write home about. But special attention needs to be paid toward The Rose Theater and new Artistic Director Matt Gutschick.

One look at the new season announced at The Rose for 2013/14...

Of Common Ground: New Work by Teresa Schmidt - Larry Roots

by Mary Day

May 3, 2013
Of Common Ground:
New Work by Teresa Schmidt – Larry Roots
Opening Reception: 6 – 8 pm
Modern Arts Midtown
3615 Dodge Street
Hours: Tues – Sat 11 am - 6 pm
402.502.8737, http://www.modernartsmidtown.com/

Abstract painter Teresa Schmidt’s penchant for life’s extremes manifests in work containing strong contrasts of line, tone, and motion. The Kansas State art professor finds inspiration in...

A Girl Named Sue:

by Cheril Lee

It all started with a flat tire and a curious paleontologist named Sue Hendrickson.

In the summer of 1990, Hendrickson was working on a commercial fossil hunting expedition outside of Faith, South Dakota. One day the team woke up to find their truck had a flat tire. So while the rest of the team went to town to fix the flat, Sue used the time to look for dinosaur fossils in some cliffs a few miles away.

“As...