OMAHA THEATER REVIEWS

A jocular song and dance fanfare of melodious merriment and merriment, it's full of quippy one liners and farcical entertainment....

Sometimes you see a play that's so rich, you can't stop chewing on it. That's how I felt about the Omaha Community Playhouse production of "SUPERIOR DONUTS." Written by Tracy Letts, multiple layers are woven into a funny, yet sadly moving, exploration of the people going in and out of the small Chic...

This is musical theater at its most personal. Take a small venue, one pianist, and a handful of really talented local performers, toss them together for a fusion of fun....

Carole King, Gerry Goffin, Cynthia Weil, and Barry Mann…what do these four people have in common? An insane amount of songwriting talent! A history filled with awards. And a story worth telling through their melodies and lyrics....

Last night I found myself at a crossroads. It was the Crossroads Mall in Omaha. Inside this nearly vacant structure is a tiny live theater tucked into the northeast corner. The Performing Artists Repertory Theatre (PART) showcased two of Omaha's favorite performers in Jason Robert Brown's THE LAST F...

There's a party at the Bourbon Room and you're invited. Get out that 1980's gear you've got stuffed in the back of your closet and head over to ROCK OF AGES. This show is the most fun I've had in a long while! I've seen it on Broadway and more recently in Las Vegas, but the Omaha Community Playhouse...

I love Valentine's Day. And this year, it was even more special. Amidst an already lively theater scene in the metropolitan area, a Valentine's Day Cabaret happened at the Club Vibe. This cabaret, the brain child of Nik Whitcomb and Sarah Gibson, featured local performers who have appeared in award-...

Did the Big Bad Wolf really huff and puff and blow the houses down? Did he really eat those innocent little pigs? Was he really a big bad wolf? You be the jury. Listen to both sides of the story at the Rose Theater as they present THE TRUE STORY OF THE THREE LITTLE PIGS....

AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS might make your head spin like a globe. Opening at the Omaha Community Playhouse with five versatile actors directed by Carl Beck, this play adapted by Mark Brown from the Jules Verne's classic novel, takes us on a whirlwind adventure....

You may think you know Rudyard Kipling's THE JUNGLE BOOK, but you may not have seen it through the eyes of playwright Greg Banks who takes the well-known story written in 1894 and brings it into now. Is the story new? Not really. Are there any big surprises? Not so much. Then what makes it new? I be...

Four killer voices are rocking the Omaha Community Playhouse. MURDER BALLAD, a new indie-rock sung-through musical by Julia Jordan and music by Juliana Nash, is an old story of a love triangle gone wrong....

For anyone who has spent their "whole life wishing they weren't so freakin' strange," SHREK THE MUSICAL will raise a flag. For everyone else? They'll love it simply for its silly fun....

SISTER ACT is a simple story about nuns in wimples who are taught to let loose in song by a nightclub singer who is cloistered at the convent in hiding from the hoods. This story isn't just black and white. Well, maybe it is. But this foot stomping musical set in 1970's Philadelphia is fun, no matte...

Let's say you are a six year old and you have trouble falling asleep. Let's say your imagination runs away with you. Let's say animals can talk, crawl out of paintings on the wall, and sing and dance. These are the components for The Rose Theater's current production, GOODNIGHT MOON, the tale of a y...

The Candy Project's production of the Dennis T. Giacino DISENCHANTED! combines his clever lyrics and energetic musical score with their talented cast and crew to create a fun, satirical romp through the stories of Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and all their princess pals....

Directed by Matthew Gutshick, this cast of THE LITTLE MERMAID turns the old world ambience of the Rose Theater into a watery world of imagination....

This is something you're gonna wanna see! THE PRODUCERS, a Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan musical masterpiece of mayhem, has opened at the Omaha Community Playhouse. In typical Mel Brooks fashion, it sweeps you off into a tornadic whirlwind of slapstick, clever innuendos, and just plain foolishness....

From the moment we enter the Howard Drew theatre at the Omaha Community Playhouse, we are drawn into the human drama unfolding before us....

What? Not like ELEPHANT & PIGGIE'S WE ARE IN A PLAY? "Unpossible!" This is the cute, cute, cutest production to come out of the Rose Theater in a long time. Everything about it is delightful!...

There's something deliciously undercover at the Omaha Community Playhouse. CALENDAR GIRLS, directed by Susan Baer Collins, opens tonight for a four-week run. The strong ensemble cast reveals distinct, fully rounded personalities.  I had so much fun watching their characters unfold, particularly the...

Picture this: a quartet hanging around a lamppost in 1940's Hollywood dressed in warm yellow and red tones, singing in close harmony while shadowy gray figures dance in the background. A shot rings out and CITY OF ANGELS opens with a bang at the Omaha Community Playhouse....

I don't remember enjoying a show this much since PIPPIN came to Omaha! Disney's NEWSIES, the record-breaking smash musical with music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Jack Feldman, and book by Harvey Fierstein opened last night at the Orpheum Theater. There was no doubt as to whether the audience enjoyed...

CAROLINE, OR CHANGE is shaking up the Omaha Community Playhouse.  The closest to this musical that I've seen on stage is FUN HOME, winner of five 2015 Tony Awards, including best original score by Jeanine Tesori. ...

The house was estrogen-filled last night at the Omaha Community Playhouse. Packed with women and a handful of brave men, the audience responded with knowing bursts of laughter as they listened to five women on stage talk about marking memorable occasions...the good, the bad, and the ugly... with wh...

Having never seen the five-time Tony Award winning PETER AND THE STARCATCHER prior to the preview at Omaha's Rose Theater last night, I did not know what to expect. I suppose I was thinking it would be similar to the classic Disney movie or the more recent Broadway hit FINDING NEVERLAND, but it was...