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.
Omaha is home to the Omaha Community Playhouse. It is the largest, one of the most famous, and one of the best-endowed community theaters in the United States. [1] It produces its own season of plays and musicals. The city has a number of other long-standing theatres, including the Orpheum Theater and the Rose Theater. And The Sokol Auditorium are booked for dramatic performances or touring productions occasionally, as well. Other theatres in Omaha include the Blue Barn Theatre, Holland Performing Arts Center, Ralston Community Theatre, and Papillion-LaVista Community Theatre [2]
The Magic Theatre has provided a space for experimental theatre in the city for more than 30 years. The John Beasley Theater & Workshop produces contemporary plays as well as providing many aspects of theater training in the Near North Side community. The Chanticleer Community Theater in neighboring Council Bluffs, Iowa also serves the greater metropolitan area. The Grande Olde Players Theater Company has been performing throughout the city for some time, as well. The Shelterbelt Theatre focuses on the development of original theatrical works and provides practical theater education to playwrights, performers, creative and technical staff.
These are actors who were either born in Omaha or lived there for an extensive period of time.
Ginger Rogers was an American actress, dancer, and singer during the "Golden Age" of Hollywood and is often considered an American icon. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starring role in Kitty Foyle (1940), but is best remembered for performing during the 1930s in RKO's musical films with Fred Astaire. Her career continued on stage, radio and television throughout much of the 20th century.
Adele Astaire, was an American dancer, stage actress, and singer. After beginning work as a dancer and vaudeville performer at the age of nine, Astaire built a successful performance career with her younger brother, Fred Astaire.
In American theater, summer stock theatre is a theatre that presents stage productions only in the summer. The name combines the season with the tradition of staging shows by a resident company, reusing stock scenery and costumes. Summer stock theatres frequently take advantage of seasonal weather by having their productions outdoors or under tents set up temporarily for their use.
I Am My Own Wife is a play by Doug Wright based on his conversations with the German antiquarian Charlotte von Mahlsdorf. The one-man play premiered Off-Broadway in 2003 at Playwrights Horizons. It opened on Broadway later that year. The play was developed with Moisés Kaufman and his Tectonic Theater Project, and Kaufman also acted as director. Jefferson Mays starred in the Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, playing some forty roles. Wright received the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the work.
The Omaha Community Playhouse, located at 6915 Cass Street in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, is a nationally recognized community theater.
John Beasley is an American actor. He is known for his roles in the films Rudy (1993), The General's Daughter (1999), The Sum of All Fears (2002), Walking Tall (2004), The Purge: Anarchy (2014), and Sinister 2 (2015).
Film Streams is a nonprofit arts organization in Omaha, Nebraska that oversees two cinemas: the Ruth Sokolof Theater, in North Downtown Omaha, and the historic Dundee Theater, Omaha's longest surviving neighborhood cinema. It receives funding from corporate and individual donors, members, and the government.
John Doyle is a Scottish stage director of musicals and plays, as well as operas. He has served as artistic director at several regional theatres in the United Kingdom, where he has staged more than 200 professional productions during his career spanning over 40 years. For his 2005 Broadway production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, he won a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award.
Culture in North Omaha, Nebraska, the north end of Omaha, is defined by socioeconomic, racial, ethnic and political diversity among its residents. The neighborhood's culture is largely influenced by its predominantly African American community.
John Bolton is an American actor and Broadway regular. Bolton is best known for originating the role of "The Old Man" in the Broadway show A Christmas Story: The Musical. He portrayed Vlad Popov in the 2017 Broadway production of Anastasia.
The Canberra Theatre or officially the Canberra Theatre Centre, is the Australian Capital Territory’s central performing arts venue and Australia’s first performing arts centre, the first Australian Government initiated performing arts centre to be completed. It opened on 24 June 1965 with a gala performance by the Australian Ballet.
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 Joseph Jefferson Award, more commonly known informally as the Jeff Award, is given for theatre arts produced in the Chicago area. Founded in 1968, the awards are named in tribute to actor Joseph Jefferson, a 19th-century American theater star who, as a child, was a player in Chicago's first theater company. Two types of awards are given: "Equity" for work done under an Actors' Equity Association contract, and "Non-Equity" for non-union work. Award recipients are determined by a secret ballot.
The Shelterbelt Theatre is a nonprofit theater organization located in Midtown Omaha, Nebraska that specializes in producing original works for the stage. The theatre won best musical and nine more awards at the 2007 Omaha Metropolitan Area Theatre Arts Guild Awards, and won several categories in the 2007 Omaha World-Herald Entertainment and Arts Awards.
The Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts, located in Louisville and currently branded as The Kentucky Center, is a major performing arts center in Kentucky. It one of three venues owned by Kentucky Performing Arts. Tenants include Broadway Across America, Kentucky Opera, Louisville Ballet, Louisville Orchestra, and StageOne Family Theatre.
Theatre in Pittsburgh has existed professionally since the early 1800s and has continued to expand, having emerged as an important cultural force in the city over the past several decades.
Andy's Summer Playhouse is a youth theater located in Wilton, New Hampshire.