Platte River Bard Podcast

Join us for a lovely conversation with Quinn Corbin, Manager of the Great Plains Theatre Commons.  GPTC has been known for many years for their annual Conference and Playwrighting Festival, but did you know they also have Season Productions?   Quinn tells us about all of their programs, and how GPTC supports local and national playwrights and shares about their unique theatre model that provides free admission to their performances.

Open Conference Auditions for the PlayLab are still open virtually until Friday, March 22nd at 11:59pm Central! These are paid roles.  

More of a Heart, a play developed as a PlayLab during the 2023 GPTC New Play Conference will be performed April 17th at BLUEBARN Theatre. 

The New Play Conference will be held May 26-June 1st at MCC's Fort Omaha Campus at Yates Illuminates at 3260 Davenport.  The full production during the conference will be May 29th.

Find about all of these fantastic opportunities and more during our discussion with Quinn during this podcast!

GREAT PLAINS THEATRE COMMONS CONTACT INFO:

Tickets & Website:  https://www.gptcplays.com/

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/GreatPlainsTheatreConference/photos/?ref=page_internal

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/gptcnebraska 

Office:  2707 North 48th Street, Omaha, NE 68104

email:  [email protected]

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What a pleasure to talk to Don Keelan-White and BevVan Phillips, who are in the dramatic and memorable production On Golden Pond at Chanticleer Community Theater at PACE (Pottawattamie Arts Culture & Entertainment) at the Hoff Fmily Arts and Culture Center in Council Bluffs.  

These two lovely Creatives have such a great perspective of their roles in this meaningful play.  Find out how they came to these roles and how they have been able to develop them!  

BevVan is a promising newcomer to the stage, and Don is a seasoned veteran whom you have seen for the last 12 years in Christmas Carol at OCP, mostly as Jacob Marley.  However, Don spent a lot of time at the Yorkshire Playhouse in York, NE.

On Golden Pond opens March 14-17 and 21-24th, and be sure to check with the Theatre Arts Guild Omaha Facebook Page and PACE's Facebook page for TAG night out this week on March 13th.  A $5 donation goes to TAG Omaha.

CHANTICLEER COMMUNITY THEATER AT the Hoff Family Arts and Culture Center at PACE:

Tickets and Website: https://www.paceartsiowa.org/theater/chanticleer-community-theater 

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/chanticleertheater 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paceartsia/?hl=en 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/PACEartsiowa 

Chanticleer Community Theatre / Pace Arts Iowa 1001 S 6th Street, Council Bluffs, IA

The Omaha Fringe Festival is gearing up for 2024, and to kick it off, they had an in-person lottery draw of 20 Artists plus 6 Alternate Artists on Saturday, March 3rd.  We joined them prior to the lottery, and were able to talk separately with Nic Jansen, President of the Board, and Lara Marsh, former Board Member and current Artistic Director. 

Fringe will be held August 8th through 11th, and their button art contest is open now until April 1st so there's still time to submit your Art!  You can get involved, volunteer and see 20 innovative Artists at the 2024 Omaha Fringe Fest!

#omahafringe2024

OMAHA FRINGE FESTIVAL CONTACT INFO:

Button Contest Info

Volunteer Form

Tickets and Website

Button Contest Entry Form

Facebook: @omahafringefest

Instagram

X / Twitter

Friends, Romans, Party People!  What a perfectly delightful conversation with the talented Jay Hayden, Actor and Co-Conspirator of Old School Shakespeare Omaha's production of "Julius Caesar." OSSO productions consist of serious actors, no director and one rehearsal.  One!  OSSO brings Shakespeare to life in a new time for us to enjoy.  Jay gives us all of the details of this fun, and a little zany, production! 

Look for OSSO's troupe of serious and joyful Actors at a venue near you: 

February 29th at Benson Theatre in Benson

March 2nd at the Lucky Bucket Brewing in LaVista

March 14th at Site-1 Brewing, Omaha

March 17th at Zen Coffee Co - West Location, Omaha

All ages are welcome for all performances.  Performances are free with a suggested donation of $20.  

CONTACT INFO FOR OLD SCHOOL SHAKESPEARE OMAHA

Facebook:  OSSO Shakespeare Omaha 

Instagram: OSSO Old School Shakespeare Omaha on Instagram

What happens in an old movie house with a 35 mm projector with three misfit employees?  You'll find out in The Flick by Annie Baker.  This play has a small cast of four UNL Theatre Students:  Mekhi Mitchell plays Avery, Luke Stursma plays Sam, Sofia Drelizharz plays Rose, and Jackson Wells plays Skylar/The Dreaming Man.  Today, we speak with Mekhi, and their Director, and Associate Professor of Theatre at UNL, Jamie Bullins.  Find out about this fun movie, it's relationship to the film "Pulp Fiction" and how these three employees who seemingly have nothing in common, find connection with each other.  

Mekhi Mitchell is a Senior at UNL Johnny Carson School of Theatre.  

Jamie Bullins is an Associate Professor of Theatre with a concentration in Costume Design for the Johnny School of Theatre and Film.  He came to Nebraska in 2017 after 17 years at Kennesaw State University.  He has an MFA in theatrical design and scenography from the University of North Carolina Greensboro.  He has been teaching for 25 years.  You will also see Jamie directing at other Lincoln area theatres.  He leads the Angels Theatre Company Playwrighting Collective, which if you see our other podcast with Jamie, you will hear all about their playwriting program.  He was a design consultant in the book "How Theatre Designers Make Connections Between Scripts and Images" by Rosemary Ingham.

The Flick opens February 29th and runs through March 6th, 2024 at the Nebraska Repertory Theatre!

NEBRASKA REPERTORY THEATRE CONTACT INFO:

For Tickets & Website: https://nebraskarep.org/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nebraskarep

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nebraskarep/

Box Office phone number 402-472-2567.

301 N 12th St, Lincoln, NE 68508

OmniArts Nebraska is gearing up to open their first production of the year, and their 12th season in 2024.  This production isn't holding anything back and we spoke to two of the talented individuals involved in this play: Christian Novotny, Director - and Reed Westerhoff, who plays the main character, John.

This play, though visually simplistic in design and execution, is complex in story.  John finds himself torn between his steady relationship with his boyfriend, and suddenly finds himself in love with a woman. There are only four actors performing in this play, along with Reed Westerhoff, the other actors are Stephen Buhler, Anthony Delaney, and Francoise Traxler.  Costume design is by Sandra Zulkoski, Amelia Roth is stage manager, and technical direction is by Dustin Witte.

We had a lovely conversation with Christian and Reed about this play at The Mill at Innovation Campus, so join us in this podcast to learn more about them and this dramatic play.  COCK won a Laurence Olivier Award in 2010 for an Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre.

COCK opens February 22nd and runs through the 25th at the Johnny Carson Theater at the Lied Center for Performing Arts.  It does contain adult themes and sexually explicit dialogue.

OmniArts Nebraska CONTACT INFO:

Tickets: Available at the Lied Center for Performing Arts:  www.liedcenter.or or call 402-472-4747.

Website: https://www.omniartsnebraska.org/

We spoke with Moira Mangiameli, Director of "Boy" at Snap Productions at the Ghost Light Theatre, and Actor Jey Nelson, who plays Samantha and Adam as the lead role in Boy, which is opening February 2nd. 

Moiria and Jey talk to us about this complex play written by Anna Zeigler.  The play is based on a true story of a person who was born male and due to a tragic accident during his circumcision, was raised female.  The well-intentioned plan came from the doctor, who believed gender was based on how a person is nurtured, rather than on purely nature. As the main character grows up, unaware of all of the facts about their past, they battle emotionally with their feelings about themselves and try to reconcile with the information they have been told.

Performance dates for “Boy” are February 2nd through the 4th, 9th through the 12th, (the 12th is a Monday performance for the convenience of people in the industry), and 16th through the 18th. 

Snap! is holding valuable talkbacks after the February 2nd and 9th performances.

The ASL performance will be February 9th.

CONTACT INFORMATION FOR SNAP! PRODUCTIONS

Snap Productions at Ghost Light Theatre is located at 2221 Thurston Circle, Bellevue, Nebraska.

Tickets can be purchased at: https://www.snapproductions.com/

Don't shoot your eye out, or lick an icy pole, or get in a fight with the Bumpuses!  Instead, come to see A Christmas Story, The Musical at Chanticleer Community Theater at PACE in the Hoff Family Arts Center.  We talked with Lara Marsh, Director of this festive and nostalgic production and she gives us some great insight on how it's come together!  

"A Christmas Story, The Musical" opens December 7th and continues it’s performances on December 8th, 9th, 10th, 14th, 15th, 16th and 17th. 

For Tickets: https://paceartsiowa.org.  

CHANTICLEER COMMUNITY THEATER AT the Hoff Family Arts and Culture Center at PACE:

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/chanticleertheater 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paceartsia/?hl=en 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/PACEartsiowa 

Chanticleer Community Theatre / Pace Arts Iowa 1001 S 6th Street, Council Bluffs, IA

We Wish You A Merry Christmas, credited to: https://pixabay.com/users/playsound-24686998/

Find out all about the upcoming "Holiday Lites:  Winter's Wonderful Gifts", which is another creative collaboration between Brigit Saint Brigit Theatre Company and Benson Theatre!  Playwright Actor, and Director, Murphy Scott Wulfgar puts some new touches in this holiday play from last year. Maddie Radcliff, Deputy Director at the Benson Theatre, and Playwright, also flexes her Actor and musical muscle in this production.  Holiday Lights tells stories which range all the way from poetry, to comedy and touching tales, to music which celebrate the holiday in other cultures, legends, and belief systems.  This production promises to warm your heart and lift your spirits this holiday season!  

The stories include:  Poetry and music about "A Visit From St. Nicholas," Krampus Returns in "God Jule, Shalom";  A bittersweet story about a loved one's decline in "Old Sy Lange";  Poetry about Ol' St. Nick in "The Nights of Midwinter";  Beloved Christmas characters from our childhood in "A Very Merry, Happy....Whatever..." ; and lastly, music and a reimaged tale of Ebenezah Scrooge in "These Old Haunts."

This is not your regular holiday show and a unique production you won't want to miss.  Find out all about it here! 

For Tickets:  https://bensontheatre.org/event/holiday-lites-2023/  or www.bsbtheatre.com/lights23atre.com 

CONTACT INFO FOR BENSON THEATRE:

Website: https://bensontheatre.org/ 

6054 Maple Street · Omaha, NE 68104

402.991.4333

CONTACT INFO FOR BRIGIT SAINT BRIGIT THEATRE CO.:

Website:  https://www.bsbtheatre.com/ 

Credit to https://pixabay.com/users/music_for_videos-26992513/

We talk with Maddie Radcliff, Deputy Director, and Beaufield Berry, Marketing Manager at Benson Theatre about their fun events coming up this week!

On November 10th, Benson celebrates the "42nd Asbury Short Film Concert."  This is New York City’s longest running short film exhibition & touring show and you will be treated to a line-up of the best short films in comedy, drama and animation. And on November 11th, commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the Benson Theatre Building at their Inaugural Benefit, "The Benalto Ball".  Wear your sharpest party outfit and enjoy the music of local talent, The Novak and Haar Jazz Trio, and the versatile voice of Camille Metoyer Moten.   

Join in the fun of short films one night and the next, enjoy incredible performances and food while supporting Benson Theatre.  Find all about these events here!

BENSON THEATRE CONTACT INFO:

Tickets and Website: https://bensontheatre.org/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BensonTheatre 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bensontheatre/ 

X:  https://twitter.com/BensonTheatre 

6054 Maple Street, Omaha, NE 

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