The Admiral Theatre is located at 2234 South 13th Street in the Little Bohemia neighborhood of South Omaha, Nebraska. It is a local icon for its historical context, as well as modern musical performances for rock and country music. It has a maximum capacity of 1,500. It was originally known as the Sokol Auditorium from 1926 to 2021.
Sokol Auditorium was built in 1926 at the corner of South 13th Street and Martha Street to house many of Omaha's Czech community’s social activities. Sokols ("falcons" in Czech) were fraternal (and sororal) organizations founded in Bohemia to promote equality, harmony, and fraternity. As one of four in Omaha, the Sokol Auditorium was utilized for meetings by twenty-five Bohemian lodges as well as ethnic Italians and American groups. The hall also offered recreation classes for its members. [1]
The Sokol Auditorium in Omaha was one of many such buildings built as part of the Sokol movement. In 1862, a highly educated young intellectual, Dr. Miroslav Tyrš (1832-1884) founded Sokol. His goal was to develop physically strong and mentally alert citizens, and to instill in them a deep love for national freedom from volunteer exercise and discipline.
Sokols have been prominent in the Olympic Games for many years. Sokol Omaha sent Phil Cahoy and James Hartung as members of the 1980 Olympic team; Hartung competed again in 1984.
In 2021, the venue was purchased by 1% Productions, which arranged for a comprehensive renovation. The venue is now called The Admiral Theatre, named after the defunct Omaha movie theater of the same name.
The Sokol Auditorium has been mentioned specifically in a number of songs from the last twenty years. The Faint mentions the Sokol in the song, "Amorous in Bauhaus Fashion," from the album Media. They Might Be Giants wrote the song, "Sokol Auditorium," about the venue. Neva Dinova's music video for "Yellow Datsun," was filmed at the Auditorium, and Johnny Rioux of the Street Dogs collapsed on stage on February 27, 2007 of an apparent seizure while his band was opening for Flogging Molly.
The Music of Nebraska has included a variety of country, jazz, blues, ragtime, rock, and alternative rock musicians. Though many cities and towns across the state have active musical scenes, artists from Omaha and Lincoln have a particularly important musical legacy.
Sokol most commonly refers to the Sokol movement, a Pan-Slavic physical education movement, and its various incarnations:
Morrison Stadium is a 6,000-seat soccer-specific stadium located between 17th and 19th Streets to the north of Cass Street, on the east side of the Creighton University campus in the NoDo neighborhood of Omaha, Nebraska. The main entrance and ticket window is located on the west side, at the intersection of California and Florence Blvd..
Technical High School (Tech) was a public high school that was located at 3215 Cuming Street in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Opened in 1923, it was said to be the largest high school west of Chicago and the largest in the Omaha area before it was closed in 1984. Today the building serves as the headquarters of Omaha Public Schools.
The Near North Side of Omaha, Nebraska is the neighborhood immediately north of downtown. It forms the nucleus of the city's historic African-American community, and its name is often synonymous with the entire North Omaha area. Originally established immediately after Omaha was founded in 1854, the Near North Side was once confined to the area around Dodge Street and North 7th Street. Eventually, it gravitated west and north, and today it is bordered by Cuming Street on the south, 30th on the west, 16th on the east, and Locust Street to the north. Countless momentous events in Omaha's African American community happened in the Near North Side, including the 1865 establishment of the first Black church in Omaha, St. John's AME; the 1892 election of the first African American state legislator, Dr. Matthew Ricketts; the 1897 hiring of the first Black teacher in Omaha, Ms. Lucy Gamble, the 1910 Jack Johnson riots, the Omaha race riot of 1919 that almost demolished the neighborhood and many other events.
Theatre in Omaha has existed since the founding of the city in 1856. Nationally notable actors have come from the city. There are active community theatres, and some theatres and acting companies have reached national prominence.
Music in Omaha, Nebraska, has been a diverse and important influence in the culture of the city. Long a home to jazz, blues, funk and rock, today Omaha has dozens of subgenres represented, including Latin, alternative rock and hip hop. Omaha's historical music contributions include being the home of a thriving African American music scene from the 1920s. More recently, it is home to indie rock's "Omaha Sound" and the birthplace of one of pop music's most successful producers, Terry Lewis.
The culture of Omaha, Nebraska, has been partially defined by music and college sports, and by local cuisine and community theatre. The city has a long history of improving and expanding on its cultural offerings. In the 1920s, the Omaha Bee newspaper wrote, "The cultural future of Omaha seems as certain of greatness as the commercial future... The symphony orchestra, the Art institute, the Community Playhouse and other organizations are on firm foundations and Omaha is destined to be not only a bigger, but a better city, both financially and culturally." Reviewing Omaha's contemporary arts scene in 2007, the New York Times hailed the city as having "a kind of cultural awakening".
The Notre Dame Academy and Convent is located at 3501 State Street in the Florence neighborhood on the north end of Omaha, Nebraska. It is significant for its ethnic association with the Czech population in Nebraska as the only school and convent of the Czechoslovakian School Sisters de Notre Dame in the United States. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998. The groups were home to a high school for girls from 1925 through 1974.
Little Italy is a neighborhood in Omaha, Nebraska which served as the historic home to Omahans of Italian ancestry. It was the source of many laborers for the Union Pacific railroad, much of Omaha's bootlegging during Prohibition and the Santa Lucia Procession, which started in 1924 and continues annually.
Little Bohemia, or Bohemian Town, is a historic neighborhood in Omaha, Nebraska. Starting in the 1880s, Czech immigrants settled in this highly concentrated area, also called "Praha" (Prague) or "Bohemian Town", bounded by South 10th Street on the east, South 16th Street on the west, Pierce Street on the north, and Martha Street on the south, with a commercial area went along South 13th and South 14th Streets, centered on William Street. It was located south of downtown, and directly west of Little Italy. A portion of the neighborhood along South 13th Street was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2020.
The Dahlman neighborhood is located south of downtown Omaha, Nebraska. One of the oldest neighborhoods in the city, it was originally platted in 1856. It was later named after "Cowboy" James Dahlman, an eight-term mayor of Omaha.
Slowdown is an entertainment venue located in the NoDo neighborhood of Omaha, Nebraska. A combination of a live music venue, shops, restaurants, and apartments, the venue was developed by Saddle Creek Records as a direct competitor to the Sokol Auditorium in Little Bohemia. Slowdown is said to be "unlike anything in Omaha - or the Midwest" because of its comprehensive, mixed-use design. The venue is named after the influential 1990s-era group Slowdown Virginia, who had a strong influence on the "Omaha Sound". Slowdown has shows three to four nights each week, as well as a weekly pub quiz. The venue is open one hour before each event and stays open until around 2am, often offering a post-show Happy Hour. Slowdown's shows are usually all ages unless otherwise specified, but on nights with no event, the venue functions as a bar. Slowdown bills itself as a place for "[r]ock shows, socializing, dancing, going to the bathroom, sitting, standing, walking, pool, video games, board games, some light reading, etc."
The Prague Hotel is located at 1402 South 13th Street on the southwest corner of South 13th and William Streets in the heart of the Little Bohemia neighborhood of Omaha, Nebraska. Designed by Joseph Guth and built−in 1898, this building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.
Czechs in Omaha, Nebraska have made significant contributions to the political, social and cultural development of the city since the first immigrants arrived in 1868.
The Orpheum Theater is a theater located in Omaha, Nebraska. The theater hosts programs best served by a more theatrical setting, including the Omaha Performing Arts Broadway Season, presented with Broadway Across America, and Opera Omaha's season. The theatre is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The main auditorium is a proscenium theater known as "Slosburg Hall". The theater has a theatre organ, made by Wurlitzer.
The Bohemian Cafe was located at 1406 South 13th Street in the historic Little Bohemia neighborhood of Omaha, Nebraska. Established in 1924, the cafe sat next to the Prague Hotel. Employees dressed in traditional Czech outfits since its early years, and a small cocktail lounge called the Bohemian Girl was adjoined to the restaurant; the interior decoration, similar to the rest of the building, included hand-painted folk-art pictures. Omaha native Conor Oberst, the lead singer of the rock act Bright Eyes, had been seen drinking at the bar before performing at the nearby Sokol Auditorium.
The Jewish Community Center in Omaha, Nebraska was established in 1926, and moved to its present location at 333 South 132nd Street in 1973. The original JCC was the site of important labor organizing in the city, and has continued to serve as an important center for financial support in Omaha's Jewish community throughout its history. Today the JCC is the site of a Holocaust memorial that is unique in the Midwestern United States. In 2008 teams from the United States Olympic Trials practiced at the JCC before partaking in the official trials in downtown Omaha.
The Gibson Bend of the Missouri River is a meander located in Pottawattamie County, Iowa and Douglas County, Nebraska, located at 41°11′15″N95°55′15″W. The Gibson neighborhood is a community area in Omaha, Nebraska abutting the Gibson Bend.
13th Street is a two-way street that runs south-north in Omaha, Nebraska. Historically significant areas along the street include Squatter's Row, Little Italy, Little Bohemia, and Mount Vernon Gardens.
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