Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Emory Songer back here with you NewsRadio eleven ten kfab always let you know
all the fun things, cool thingshappening in and around the Omaha area.
One of my favorite things to dois to enjoy live shows, live entertainment.
Whether that's at the Orphium with theBroadway productions that come through town,
whether that's going to the Steelhouse andenjoying some incredible rock music or a country
(00:21):
act, or heading over to theHolland Center and checking out the Omaha Symphony.
There's always something for everybody, andhere to talk about a lot of
that stuff is the President of OmahaPerforming Arts, Jones Squire's Joan. Thanks
so much for hopping back in thehot seat with us today. Great to
have you. We love seeing youat our venues. Thank you. I
absolutely love being there. You don'thave to ask me twice. A couple
(00:41):
of things that we need to talkabout. First thing, I talked to
you for the first time when Ifirst got this job, within like the
first week or two, and Iwanted to talk to you about your new
venue, the Steelhouse. Steel hashad been open and had done a handful
of shows probably at that point,but it was such an exciting new venue
that I was blown away by whenI went for the first time, and
(01:02):
you kind of outlined all this stuff. And here we are now a year.
It's been a year of the Steelhouse. What are some of the things
that you've taken away from this awesomefirst year of this really cool music video.
We can't believe it's been a year. It has just exceeded all of
our expectations. Everybody who comes lovesit, and anywhere I go in town
people were asking me about Steelhouse.It doesn't matter what age. We thought
(01:23):
we'd have more young people, allages. They either have gone and they
want to come back, or they'relike, I'm coming soon. So it's
been extraordinary. People love the venue, They love the music, especially the
sound. The enhancement of the soundand the quality of the sound is really
first rate, and I think peopleare really surprised by what they actually hear,
(01:47):
not only what they see in thebuilding. I think that's the big
takeaway for me as well. Thedesign of the building is awesome and the
name Steel House Omaha, I mean, it is just so cool to see
it down there, the setup ofeverything on the interior, having a chance
to see all of the different amenitiesthat people have with the bars and the
accessibility for everyone to see clearly,but it's the sound when like a band
(02:10):
actually starts playing you and hear everythingso clearly. You guys obviously took a
lot of care into the design ofthis and making it happen. What's been
the feedback from some of the peoplethat work there, maybe some of the
artists and a lot of the peoplethat are tried and true Almaha performing arts
fans, they're at all sorts ofevents around town. What has been some
of that general feedback beyond just thefact that we love having this thing here.
(02:35):
Well, they love it. Itis beautiful. I mean, the
building is great, the amenities aresuper We have fast pass if they want
to get in quickly, there's barsinside, they don't have to leave the
space. And I'll say you,we're really hearing feedback from the artists because
the dress rooms are cool. We'regiving them unique experiences. One of the
artists came through and we wondered,you know who they travel with. They
said their dog, and we gota Husker shirt made for their dog.
(02:58):
So it was all over Instagram.But that's why Steelhouse was nominated for Concert
Venue of the Year for Polestar,we were one of six across the country.
So it's now becoming really known inthe industry as the place to stop,
and it's putting Omaha on the mapand it helps us get shows going
forward. We're talking to Omaha PerformingArts President Joones Squire's and that was kind
(03:21):
of what we talked about before.Is it kind of filled the void of
the right size of a venue forartists that aren't going to be looking to
be in the giant arenas, butthey need a little bit more than you
know, your closet bars that canyou know, fill three hundred to five
hundred people. And I've actually seenin the Midwest some kind of copycats,
(03:43):
if you will, of different venuesthat look very similar to Steelhouse, but
Steelhouse got designed and built before those. Did you take a lot of pride
in that, like the fact thatwe not only nailed the size of this
thing and the location, but justthe concept of the side itself seemingly being
kind of that sweet spot for alot of these musical artists. Yeah,
(04:04):
it really did feel to void.And it's not just that, but the
quality of this venue and the designelements surpasses anything around. There's a lot
of these venues around the country,and we continue to hear from people that
Steelhouse is really one of the bestany of them have been to. So
that's been really fun. And youknow, we bring in bands that haven't
(04:25):
been here, but then we alsobring bands that sometimes play an arena.
Like our anniversary shows coming up withDray and Duran sold out in six minutes,
So I'm sorry for the fans thatweren't they they didn't get it because
they usually do arenas, but itis going to be an amazing night on
May seventeenth. Yeah, for sure, first year anniversary first concert of the
(04:45):
Steelhouse was The Killers, and that'smy favorite band I bought. Just to
reiterate the story, and I'm notsalty, I promise, but I bought
tickets to see them in Saint Louislike a year and a half before I
actually got to see them, becauseI've never seen them in concert before.
And so we went to Saint Louisand saw them, and then found out
literally that week that they were goingto open this brand new venue in Omaha.
(05:08):
And we didn't know we were moovingOmaha at that point either, and
I was like, man, that'scrazy, and then I read about the
venue. I was like, man, that's so much smaller than the venues
they're usually playing. That is sostrange. And then I saw the venue,
and then I heard the reviews ofwhat people are saying about the venue,
and then I saw the show.When everybody who was at the show
that I had a chance to talkto, it's more intimate. It's a
(05:31):
wild atmosphere. When you get aband that could really sell ten thousand tickets,
who wants to stop by, likea Killers or Duran Duran because of
the venue and play in front ofa rabbit crowd of three thousand people,
it just amps up all of thatenvironment. It's just an incredible place.
So you mentioned Duran Duran as theone year anniversary. Is there anything else
(05:51):
crazy on tap that you guys kindof have for the Steelhouse as people who
are learning about it for the firsttime or they've always been like the last
year, I can better get overthere. Is there anything that's kind of
you're excited about being kind of onthe calendar? I'm well, in addition
to the bands, what I'm excitedabout, we're going to get some new
fan experiences. So we're changing theclub upstairs. We're going to add some
(06:13):
different kinds of seedings so people canget a group together and have sort of
these little lounge areas. So that'scoming. I like all the bands,
so people always ask him what's myfavorite, and I either like them or
I haven't heard of them. Soit's we've got a little something for everybody
out there. We're speaking with JoanSquire. She is the president of Omaha
Performing Arts Socomore Omaha Performing Arts sawsent out a press release, got it
(06:39):
this morning. The Dick and MaryHolland Campus is going to be the name
of this stretch of property you guyshave as you are building now, the
Tenaska Center for Arts Engagement. Sobefore we talk about the campus, let's
talk about the arts center, theTanaska Center. What is this kind of
going to serve and what's the inspirationfrom, you know, the idea of
(07:02):
this particular venue. Sure, partof our mission is to do a lot
of education and engagement for the community, whether that's taking our Broadway shows and
doing master classes, Disney Musical andschools. We have a hip hop lab.
We just ran out of space.We here under the stairwells and in
the lobbies, and we knew weneeded to expand it, so the Tenaska
(07:23):
Centers under construction. Now it willbe connected to the Holland just east of
it, and we'll have a chanceto really expand all those community offerings.
So artists that come in like ajazz artist and hand Charles was just here.
He can work with young people onjazz things. Or we will have
Mulin Rouges coming up and we cantalk about but that we'll do master classes.
(07:44):
We'll have space to really host thesethese types of activities for young people
and we're excited. That opens inearly twenty twenty six and construction underway.
You can see it there between eleventhand thirteenth streets on Douglas in Capital,
and that's right next to Steelhouse andthe Holland Center, and that is the
(08:07):
stretch that you are now going tocall the Dick and Mary Holland Campus.
I saw the press release. What'sthe inspiration from the naming itself and what's
the significance of that? Sure withDick, the late Dick and Mary Holland
really were the impetus behind the HollandCenter to begin with, and they're both
passion for the arts and their generosityenabled us, along with all the other
(08:28):
donors to build the Holland Center.But their visions what really created the organization,
and we thought it was they're theonly people we could name an entire
campus around these three buildings. Thisdoes not include the Orphan, by the
way, but these three venues reallycomprise what Omaha Performing Arts is in that
area. And those are the twofolks behind the scenes that we will always
(08:52):
be grateful for that they've changed thearts. They love arts and education,
and their great philanthropy really made allof this possible. You look at the
campus itself and it all being inthe same spot, I think is so
you mentioned the the Orphum has beenwhere it's been for a really long time.
But these three buildings being much moremodern, much newer, they are
(09:15):
going to serve the youngest of generationsand all the way up right. So
for Omaha itself to kind of havethis all in very close proximity, does
that increase from your experience, thatparticipation or the people who are willing to
come and see shows of the differentvariety. And I guess we'll see with
(09:37):
the newest of these buildings But asfar as the Holland Center and the Steelhouse
go, do you think that thisis useful with the proximity everything being very
close together, with the amount ofparticipation or the amount of different people that
are attracted to coming down there aswell for any of these different shows.
Yeah, it really activates downtown andit really helps to We've got a great
(10:00):
esens in the New Lahy Mall andthe Riverfront development, all of the bars
and restaurants. But the economic impactnow of these buildings is over sixty one
million dollars annually. We're bringing wellover half a million people now more with
these new buildings, and it justbrings people together. They want to gather
together, they want to get offtheir devices and have these experiences. So
(10:20):
no matter your age, your interest, we now have buildings that are going
to serve everybody in the community andit's really exciting. I think it really
is a big part of the qualityof life of our community. I've been
a big part of that. It'sbeen a big part of my short time
in Omaha. Not been here yeta year, but I've gone to all
of the shows at the ROPEM,I've gone to Steel House a few times,
(10:43):
for different shows, seeing the Symphonyat the Hall and Center, just
love all of it. Right,We got to talk about the Broadway season
though, because it's kind of wrappingup here. The last show on deck
is Moulin Rouge, and this isa show I think this is probably the
one my wife was most excited aboutwhen we saw the entire list of all
of the shows that are coming previewMulon Rouge for us as we wrap up
(11:05):
this season at the Orphian. She'sgoing to love it. It's based on
the movie, but it's been updatedand upgraded. There are seventy excerpts of
contemporary songs in it, everything fromSia to Beyonce and Adele. But it's
the story of Christian and Seteen atthe Moulin Rouge. The dancing is out
of sight. I think there'll besongs that people will know and it's just
(11:28):
an amazing experience and even if youdon't know the movie, I really encourage
people. This is I think oneof the highlights of the whole year.
And it's here for two weeks,so it opens May twenty eighth, and
we're going through June ninth, andthere's tickets, especially the second week people
should really come. It's just oneof the best Broadway shows I think we
have this season. So many differentpeople have their own unique experiences with all
(11:52):
of the different shows that have comethrough so far. Gosh, I'm losing
track six seven something like that.It's been really fun for my wife and
I to see all of them.What's been kind of the highlight for you?
I know you probably will say youlove them all. I love them
all, but is there one thatreally sticks? It's always great to bring
Lion King back. I think thatone here is really one that no matter
(12:15):
the generations, they come together.But it's like we were talking a little
bit, it's why people should subscribe, because you get surprised. You may
like want or your wife likes adifferent one, and you can come and
experience all of these shows. Andwe've announced actually the twenty four to twenty
five season already and that's on saleand it's selling well. So people should
check out ticket Omaha dot com andreally look at our Broadway shows and definitely
(12:41):
go to ticket omaha dot com.We have seen some people that have been
duped by different secondary websites as well, but ticket Omaha dot com will not
dupe you. It has all theactual legitimate information and ticket sales there as
well. Jones Squire's Almah Performing ArtsPresident, we got to do this again
sometime. It'd be great. It'snice to be here and we love seeing
you in our theaters. Yeah absolutely, and uh again ticket Omaha dot com.
(13:01):
But you can just google Omaha PerformingArts everything that they're doing at all
these different buildings will pop up reallyreally awesome stuff. Big thanks to Jan
for joining us today.
Emory Songer back here with you NewsRadio eleven ten kfab always let you know
all the fun things, cool thingshappening in and around the Omaha area.
One of my favorite things to dois to enjoy live shows, live entertainment.
Whether that's at the Orphium with theBroadway productions that come through town,
whether that's going to the Steelhouse andenjoying some incredible rock music or a country
(00:21):
act, or heading over to theHolland Center and checking out the Omaha Symphony.
There's always something for everybody, andhere to talk about a lot of
that stuff is the President of OmahaPerforming Arts, Jones Squire's Joan. Thanks
so much for hopping back in thehot seat with us today. Great to
have you. We love seeing youat our venues. Thank you. I
absolutely love being there. You don'thave to ask me twice. A couple
(00:41):
of things that we need to talkabout. First thing, I talked to
you for the first time when Ifirst got this job, within like the
first week or two, and Iwanted to talk to you about your new
venue, the Steelhouse. Steel hashad been open and had done a handful
of shows probably at that point,but it was such an exciting new venue
that I was blown away by whenI went for the first time, and
(01:02):
you kind of outlined all this stuff. And here we are now a year.
It's been a year of the Steelhouse. What are some of the things
that you've taken away from this awesomefirst year of this really cool music video.
We can't believe it's been a year. It has just exceeded all of
our expectations. Everybody who comes lovesit, and anywhere I go in town
people were asking me about Steelhouse.It doesn't matter what age. We thought
(01:23):
we'd have more young people, allages. They either have gone and they
want to come back, or they'relike, I'm coming soon. So it's
been extraordinary. People love the venue, They love the music, especially the
sound. The enhancement of the soundand the quality of the sound is really
first rate, and I think peopleare really surprised by what they actually hear,
(01:47):
not only what they see in thebuilding. I think that's the big
takeaway for me as well. Thedesign of the building is awesome and the
name Steel House Omaha, I mean, it is just so cool to see
it down there, the setup ofeverything on the interior, having a chance
to see all of the different amenitiesthat people have with the bars and the
accessibility for everyone to see clearly,but it's the sound when like a band
(02:10):
actually starts playing you and hear everythingso clearly. You guys obviously took a
lot of care into the design ofthis and making it happen. What's been
the feedback from some of the peoplethat work there, maybe some of the
artists and a lot of the peoplethat are tried and true Almaha performing arts
fans, they're at all sorts ofevents around town. What has been some
of that general feedback beyond just thefact that we love having this thing here.
(02:35):
Well, they love it. Itis beautiful. I mean, the
building is great, the amenities aresuper We have fast pass if they want
to get in quickly, there's barsinside, they don't have to leave the
space. And I'll say you,we're really hearing feedback from the artists because
the dress rooms are cool. We'regiving them unique experiences. One of the
artists came through and we wondered,you know who they travel with. They
said their dog, and we gota Husker shirt made for their dog.
(02:58):
So it was all over Instagram.But that's why Steelhouse was nominated for Concert
Venue of the Year for Polestar,we were one of six across the country.
So it's now becoming really known inthe industry as the place to stop,
and it's putting Omaha on the mapand it helps us get shows going
forward. We're talking to Omaha PerformingArts President Joones Squire's and that was kind
(03:21):
of what we talked about before.Is it kind of filled the void of
the right size of a venue forartists that aren't going to be looking to
be in the giant arenas, butthey need a little bit more than you
know, your closet bars that canyou know, fill three hundred to five
hundred people. And I've actually seenin the Midwest some kind of copycats,
(03:43):
if you will, of different venuesthat look very similar to Steelhouse, but
Steelhouse got designed and built before those. Did you take a lot of pride
in that, like the fact thatwe not only nailed the size of this
thing and the location, but justthe concept of the side itself seemingly being
kind of that sweet spot for alot of these musical artists. Yeah,
(04:04):
it really did feel to void.And it's not just that, but the
quality of this venue and the designelements surpasses anything around. There's a lot
of these venues around the country,and we continue to hear from people that
Steelhouse is really one of the bestany of them have been to. So
that's been really fun. And youknow, we bring in bands that haven't
(04:25):
been here, but then we alsobring bands that sometimes play an arena.
Like our anniversary shows coming up withDray and Duran sold out in six minutes,
So I'm sorry for the fans thatweren't they they didn't get it because
they usually do arenas, but itis going to be an amazing night on
May seventeenth. Yeah, for sure, first year anniversary first concert of the
(04:45):
Steelhouse was The Killers, and that'smy favorite band I bought. Just to
reiterate the story, and I'm notsalty, I promise, but I bought
tickets to see them in Saint Louislike a year and a half before I
actually got to see them, becauseI've never seen them in concert before.
And so we went to Saint Louisand saw them, and then found out
literally that week that they were goingto open this brand new venue in Omaha.
(05:08):
And we didn't know we were moovingOmaha at that point either, and
I was like, man, that'scrazy, and then I read about the
venue. I was like, man, that's so much smaller than the venues
they're usually playing. That is sostrange. And then I saw the venue,
and then I heard the reviews ofwhat people are saying about the venue,
and then I saw the show.When everybody who was at the show
that I had a chance to talkto, it's more intimate. It's a
(05:31):
wild atmosphere. When you get aband that could really sell ten thousand tickets,
who wants to stop by, likea Killers or Duran Duran because of
the venue and play in front ofa rabbit crowd of three thousand people,
it just amps up all of thatenvironment. It's just an incredible place.
So you mentioned Duran Duran as theone year anniversary. Is there anything else
(05:51):
crazy on tap that you guys kindof have for the Steelhouse as people who
are learning about it for the firsttime or they've always been like the last
year, I can better get overthere. Is there anything that's kind of
you're excited about being kind of onthe calendar? I'm well, in addition
to the bands, what I'm excitedabout, we're going to get some new
fan experiences. So we're changing theclub upstairs. We're going to add some
(06:13):
different kinds of seedings so people canget a group together and have sort of
these little lounge areas. So that'scoming. I like all the bands,
so people always ask him what's myfavorite, and I either like them or
I haven't heard of them. Soit's we've got a little something for everybody
out there. We're speaking with JoanSquire. She is the president of Omaha
Performing Arts Socomore Omaha Performing Arts sawsent out a press release, got it
(06:39):
this morning. The Dick and MaryHolland Campus is going to be the name
of this stretch of property you guyshave as you are building now, the
Tenaska Center for Arts Engagement. Sobefore we talk about the campus, let's
talk about the arts center, theTanaska Center. What is this kind of
going to serve and what's the inspirationfrom, you know, the idea of
(07:02):
this particular venue. Sure, partof our mission is to do a lot
of education and engagement for the community, whether that's taking our Broadway shows and
doing master classes, Disney Musical andschools. We have a hip hop lab.
We just ran out of space.We here under the stairwells and in
the lobbies, and we knew weneeded to expand it, so the Tenaska
(07:23):
Centers under construction. Now it willbe connected to the Holland just east of
it, and we'll have a chanceto really expand all those community offerings.
So artists that come in like ajazz artist and hand Charles was just here.
He can work with young people onjazz things. Or we will have
Mulin Rouges coming up and we cantalk about but that we'll do master classes.
(07:44):
We'll have space to really host thesethese types of activities for young people
and we're excited. That opens inearly twenty twenty six and construction underway.
You can see it there between eleventhand thirteenth streets on Douglas in Capital,
and that's right next to Steelhouse andthe Holland Center, and that is the
(08:07):
stretch that you are now going tocall the Dick and Mary Holland Campus.
I saw the press release. What'sthe inspiration from the naming itself and what's
the significance of that? Sure withDick, the late Dick and Mary Holland
really were the impetus behind the HollandCenter to begin with, and they're both
passion for the arts and their generosityenabled us, along with all the other
(08:28):
donors to build the Holland Center.But their visions what really created the organization,
and we thought it was they're theonly people we could name an entire
campus around these three buildings. Thisdoes not include the Orphan, by the
way, but these three venues reallycomprise what Omaha Performing Arts is in that
area. And those are the twofolks behind the scenes that we will always
(08:52):
be grateful for that they've changed thearts. They love arts and education,
and their great philanthropy really made allof this possible. You look at the
campus itself and it all being inthe same spot, I think is so
you mentioned the the Orphum has beenwhere it's been for a really long time.
But these three buildings being much moremodern, much newer, they are
(09:15):
going to serve the youngest of generationsand all the way up right. So
for Omaha itself to kind of havethis all in very close proximity, does
that increase from your experience, thatparticipation or the people who are willing to
come and see shows of the differentvariety. And I guess we'll see with
(09:37):
the newest of these buildings But asfar as the Holland Center and the Steelhouse
go, do you think that thisis useful with the proximity everything being very
close together, with the amount ofparticipation or the amount of different people that
are attracted to coming down there aswell for any of these different shows.
Yeah, it really activates downtown andit really helps to We've got a great
(10:00):
esens in the New Lahy Mall andthe Riverfront development, all of the bars
and restaurants. But the economic impactnow of these buildings is over sixty one
million dollars annually. We're bringing wellover half a million people now more with
these new buildings, and it justbrings people together. They want to gather
together, they want to get offtheir devices and have these experiences. So
(10:20):
no matter your age, your interest, we now have buildings that are going
to serve everybody in the community andit's really exciting. I think it really
is a big part of the qualityof life of our community. I've been
a big part of that. It'sbeen a big part of my short time
in Omaha. Not been here yeta year, but I've gone to all
of the shows at the ROPEM,I've gone to Steel House a few times,
(10:43):
for different shows, seeing the Symphonyat the Hall and Center, just
love all of it. Right,We got to talk about the Broadway season
though, because it's kind of wrappingup here. The last show on deck
is Moulin Rouge, and this isa show I think this is probably the
one my wife was most excited aboutwhen we saw the entire list of all
of the shows that are coming previewMulon Rouge for us as we wrap up
(11:05):
this season at the Orphian. She'sgoing to love it. It's based on
the movie, but it's been updatedand upgraded. There are seventy excerpts of
contemporary songs in it, everything fromSia to Beyonce and Adele. But it's
the story of Christian and Seteen atthe Moulin Rouge. The dancing is out
of sight. I think there'll besongs that people will know and it's just
(11:28):
an amazing experience and even if youdon't know the movie, I really encourage
people. This is I think oneof the highlights of the whole year.
And it's here for two weeks,so it opens May twenty eighth, and
we're going through June ninth, andthere's tickets, especially the second week people
should really come. It's just oneof the best Broadway shows I think we
have this season. So many differentpeople have their own unique experiences with all
(11:52):
of the different shows that have comethrough so far. Gosh, I'm losing
track six seven something like that.It's been really fun for my wife and
I to see all of them.What's been kind of the highlight for you?
I know you probably will say youlove them all. I love them
all, but is there one thatreally sticks? It's always great to bring
Lion King back. I think thatone here is really one that no matter
(12:15):
the generations, they come together.But it's like we were talking a little
bit, it's why people should subscribe, because you get surprised. You may
like want or your wife likes adifferent one, and you can come and
experience all of these shows. Andwe've announced actually the twenty four to twenty
five season already and that's on saleand it's selling well. So people should
check out ticket Omaha dot com andreally look at our Broadway shows and definitely
(12:41):
go to ticket omaha dot com.We have seen some people that have been
duped by different secondary websites as well, but ticket Omaha dot com will not
dupe you. It has all theactual legitimate information and ticket sales there as
well. Jones Squire's Almah Performing ArtsPresident, we got to do this again
sometime. It'd be great. It'snice to be here and we love seeing
you in our theaters. Yeah absolutely, and uh again ticket Omaha dot com.
(13:01):
But you can just google Omaha PerformingArts everything that they're doing at all
these different buildings will pop up reallyreally awesome stuff. Big thanks to Jan
for joining us today.
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