Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
One thing I was blessed to be able to do
on Monday was I went to the Holland Center and
had the opportunity to see what was coming on the
Broadway schedule for the twenty twenty five to twenty six
Broadway season. And we're blessed to be joined by the
person who helps make all of this happen, the president
(00:20):
of Omaha Performing Arts, Joan Squire's is on our phone line. Joan,
thank you so much for being on our show again today.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Thanks them, Mary, I'm so glad you were there. It
was such a fun night. I hope you had a
good time.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
I did. I did. So let's talk about this the
way that you started the show. It was there was
a cast member from a show on the stage. It
got very dark, and then when the lights came up,
it was a performance of a very popular song from Wicked,
and everybody's like, wait a second, Wicked is coming to
the Orpheum at probably a time where it's never been
more popular. Talk about how big of a deal it
(00:55):
is to have Wicked on the schedule for next season.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
It's a huge, big deal to have Wicked on this schedule.
I think we could just popularity has increased tenfold since
the film came out. I'm reminded everybody they can see
both parts on the stage and one night. But I
think the timing has just been extraordinary. The second part
will have been out by the time it gets here
in the spring of twenty six, and we're thrilled. We've
(01:19):
had an amazing reaction to it.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Yeah, it's so cool. And that was not the only
Wizard of Oz themed show that you actually announced here
because you were getting The Wiz as well. Can you
kind of talk about the difference between the two shows
and why it's so special to have both of them
in the same season.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Sure, well, you know the story before Dorothy showed up,
so it's the pre story of the Wizard of Oz.
The Wiz is really focused on the story of the
Wizard of Oz, similar in the theme of the famous movie,
but it was reimagined several decades ago and now has
a fresh script by Omaha's own Amber Ruffin. So it's
(02:00):
really a story of Dorothy and the Scarecrow and the
Cowardly Lion and the Tin Man and ODZ. But it's
really a whole different look. Munchkin Land is a bit different.
The entire singing and dancing had all new tunes and
Amber's dialogue. What she's done for the script has really
(02:21):
made it fresh and with some really current humor. So
it's wonderful and it was hugely popular on Broadway when
it came back.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Yeah, you mentioned that OMAHA connection to that show with
Amber Ruffin is really really special. Joan Squire's president of
OMAH Performing Arts, joining us on the phone today. So
you made this big announcement. I just we'll get to
some more of the shows. But I got to ask
what this process is like for you because every single year,
I know that you are constantly looking at what shows
(02:50):
are going to be on tour, and you're seeing a
lot of the shows themselves. You're kind of scouting what
you think might make sense, and I know that you're
working with a lot of different people on your team. Well,
what does the scouting process and the booking process look
like as you're trying to figure out what a season
looks like?
Speaker 2 (03:08):
It's a long profit. It starts because I'm an a breast,
is only Tony voter and I have to see all
of the shows in New York, but I go to
see what I think would work for our audiences, so
we start to compile a wish list, but it also
has dependent on a lot of things, whether the show
is going out on tour, because sometimes they don't. They're
(03:29):
routes that come through the Midwest, and depending if they're
going to stay on the East Coast at a certain period,
availability of the theater. Although we're fortunate to have the
beautiful Orpheum and really working to lobby for Omaha. The
Outsiders is coming, and the reason we got it was
I was relentless with the producers because I really wanted
(03:49):
to be on the first year of the tour for
our city. So I can tell you I already know
several of the shows we're going to have for the
following season and even have some sketched out the years on.
So this process takes a long time, but we also
want to make sure that there's a hot new hit.
We leave room for that as well.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
So the Outsider is how the season is going to
start in September of this year, because the season kind
of runs during what the school year would look like.
And this is a new one and you just raved
about it on the season reveal show on Monday. What
about this show made it so so much of a
(04:29):
priority for you to try to make sure that Omaha
got a chance to see it this early on the tour.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Well, first of all, it won the Tony for Best Musical.
But the story is so impactful, as you heard described
on Monday Night Imri. It really is about family and
making it. But it's got two parts of the community
that don't get along and they figure out they come
(04:54):
together eventually. It's the music is wonderful, it's it's not
a typical song in dance musical, and I think our
responsibility is to also bring in really good works of
art that can affect us and tell a wonderful story.
And The Outsiders has been so popular as a book
(05:14):
in a film, I thought it was important to bring
it now in the Broadway production.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
Yeah, the little trailer they showed it just looks like
it's very gritty, but I just can't wait to see
how it looks on the stage. With the choreography and
just the way that the story is going to be told,
It's going to be really, really awesome. So these are
just three shows that we've talked about of a total
of ten that are here, and I'll mention a bunch
(05:40):
more of these, but there are so many awesome different
shows that I think are going to be up anyone's
alley who just kind of likes live entertainment or stage productions.
What are a couple of the others on here that
you are super excited to see in twenty twenty five
and twenty twenty six.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Sure? Yeah, the seven on the package all are new
to Breask and Omaha. So Shuck is one of my favorites.
You have to bring a musical about porn to the
corn Husk State, you know, really, it's fun, it's funny,
the music is terrific. I love that show as you
heard on Monday, and it's really got some great music
(06:17):
in it. So I'm excited about that. And Juliet is
one of the most requested shows we've had, so that
one will be coming with lots of great hits from
the last couple of decades. Neil Diamond music is always popular.
We've got you know, the notebook, Missus Doutfire. There's so
many on that list. We've had incredible response on social media.
(06:40):
People are just thrilled with the season.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
Joan Squire's from Omaha Performing Arts President here with us today,
I wanted to talk about six and Mam and Mia,
and I'll just kind of throw and Juliet in here,
because even though it's kind of a take on Romeo
and Juliet, like you mentioned, it's really hit songs in
the last twenty years that are really making up the
score of music. But there's something about going to a
(07:07):
show where it kind of features a concert aspect to it,
and the Neil Diamond Show obviously can fall into this
as well, where it really feels like it's not just
even within the musical itself, it is an incredible interpretation
and performance of pop music in the show and there's
something powerful about that, maybe to show people who haven't
(07:29):
been to a stage production before. So how can you
best describe for people who are like, yeah, I've not
been to the ORPM. The Broadway just really isn't my thing.
But you have you know, four shows that I just
mentioned there that have contemporary sounding music or actual big
hits that people would recognize that are performed in very
cool ways on the stage.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Well they get to see them visually, so you get
to see the singing and the dancing to go with
these popular songs people know. But I think underlying all
of it, memory is a compelling story. People have tried
to make musicals of other people's music, and sometimes they
don't work if the story doesn't work. And these all,
every one of those has a story that pulls you
(08:09):
in and then uses the music to advance it. And
so you get to enjoy your music and you also
have you know, a couple of hours of listening to
a great story.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Yeah, it is so fantastic. I'm going to finish asking
about this particular season because we still have a few
shows left. One of them which is coming up this
weekend is Hadestown and I know that that's been i mean,
just an incredible show as well. But what can you
tell people about the rest of the season and the
last few shows that are going to be coming for
(08:40):
this particular season, because it's been a really awesome season
at this point as well.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
Oh, we've got after an eighty Town which is almost
sold out, so if folks want to go, they should
not hesitate to good tickets. We've got three super shows coming,
some like it Hot is here at the end of
the month. And again Amber Ruffin actually was behind this
scenes on that script and it's a big old fashioned
Broadway musical and it is one of my favorites, so
(09:07):
I'm thrilled to bring it. The dancing is unbelievable and
so are the costumes and all of it. Then we've
got three weeks of Hamilton coming, so it returns and
it's just one of the best musicals ever. And then
we conclude the season with mj the Musical, which is
the music of Michael Jackson as he's preparing for the
(09:29):
Vida tour, and it is really the dancing in that
show is his choreography and you've never seen anything like it.
So I think we've got a giant few productions the
remainder of this season as well.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
I got to say, Joan, you guys do such amazing work.
It's so good to know that we're in good hands here.
Do you know between the ten shows for next season
and just the few that are coming Haiti sound being
an award winner you mentioned Hamilton and the reputation it succeeds,
You're going to hear music from Michael Jackson, Neil Diamond, Abba,
a lot of hits, and other award winners like The
(10:05):
Outsiders and Wicked coming when it's about as hot as
it's ever been. We are taking so good care of
here at the RPM at the holl And Center with
Omaha Performing Arts, and it has a lot to do
with you, Jones, So thank you so much for being
on our show today and talking about this. I can't
wait to see these shows and I can't wait to
talk to you again about some of the stuff that's
up your sleeve in the future.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Ray Well, listen, we appreciate you being there, and we
do it for the audience as we couldn't do it.
It's folks and show up, so we thank everybody who comes.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
Absolutely that is Jones Squire. She is the president of
Omaha Performing Arts. What a fantastic season that they announced
on Monday, and you can find out more. All you
got to do is go to Omaha's Performing Arts or
the Omaha Performing Arts website ohdashpa dot org easy way
to do that, or you can really just google Omaha
Performing Arts. You're going to find everything there for the
rest of this season and next season as well. It
(10:54):
is three forty nine and we'll come back and wrap
up the three o'clock hour on News Radio eleven ten
Kfab and Marie no
One thing I was blessed to be able to do
on Monday was I went to the Holland Center and
had the opportunity to see what was coming on the
Broadway schedule for the twenty twenty five to twenty six
Broadway season. And we're blessed to be joined by the
person who helps make all of this happen, the president
(00:20):
of Omaha Performing Arts, Joan Squire's is on our phone line. Joan,
thank you so much for being on our show again today.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Thanks them, Mary, I'm so glad you were there. It
was such a fun night. I hope you had a
good time.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
I did. I did. So let's talk about this the
way that you started the show. It was there was
a cast member from a show on the stage. It
got very dark, and then when the lights came up,
it was a performance of a very popular song from Wicked,
and everybody's like, wait a second, Wicked is coming to
the Orpheum at probably a time where it's never been
more popular. Talk about how big of a deal it
(00:55):
is to have Wicked on the schedule for next season.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
It's a huge, big deal to have Wicked on this schedule.
I think we could just popularity has increased tenfold since
the film came out. I'm reminded everybody they can see
both parts on the stage and one night. But I
think the timing has just been extraordinary. The second part
will have been out by the time it gets here
in the spring of twenty six, and we're thrilled. We've
(01:19):
had an amazing reaction to it.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Yeah, it's so cool. And that was not the only
Wizard of Oz themed show that you actually announced here
because you were getting The Wiz as well. Can you
kind of talk about the difference between the two shows
and why it's so special to have both of them
in the same season.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Sure, well, you know the story before Dorothy showed up,
so it's the pre story of the Wizard of Oz.
The Wiz is really focused on the story of the
Wizard of Oz, similar in the theme of the famous movie,
but it was reimagined several decades ago and now has
a fresh script by Omaha's own Amber Ruffin. So it's
(02:00):
really a story of Dorothy and the Scarecrow and the
Cowardly Lion and the Tin Man and ODZ. But it's
really a whole different look. Munchkin Land is a bit different.
The entire singing and dancing had all new tunes and
Amber's dialogue. What she's done for the script has really
(02:21):
made it fresh and with some really current humor. So
it's wonderful and it was hugely popular on Broadway when
it came back.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Yeah, you mentioned that OMAHA connection to that show with
Amber Ruffin is really really special. Joan Squire's president of
OMAH Performing Arts, joining us on the phone today. So
you made this big announcement. I just we'll get to
some more of the shows. But I got to ask
what this process is like for you because every single year,
I know that you are constantly looking at what shows
(02:50):
are going to be on tour, and you're seeing a
lot of the shows themselves. You're kind of scouting what
you think might make sense, and I know that you're
working with a lot of different people on your team. Well,
what does the scouting process and the booking process look
like as you're trying to figure out what a season
looks like?
Speaker 2 (03:08):
It's a long profit. It starts because I'm an a breast,
is only Tony voter and I have to see all
of the shows in New York, but I go to
see what I think would work for our audiences, so
we start to compile a wish list, but it also
has dependent on a lot of things, whether the show
is going out on tour, because sometimes they don't. They're
(03:29):
routes that come through the Midwest, and depending if they're
going to stay on the East Coast at a certain period,
availability of the theater. Although we're fortunate to have the
beautiful Orpheum and really working to lobby for Omaha. The
Outsiders is coming, and the reason we got it was
I was relentless with the producers because I really wanted
(03:49):
to be on the first year of the tour for
our city. So I can tell you I already know
several of the shows we're going to have for the
following season and even have some sketched out the years on.
So this process takes a long time, but we also
want to make sure that there's a hot new hit.
We leave room for that as well.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
So the Outsider is how the season is going to
start in September of this year, because the season kind
of runs during what the school year would look like.
And this is a new one and you just raved
about it on the season reveal show on Monday. What
about this show made it so so much of a
(04:29):
priority for you to try to make sure that Omaha
got a chance to see it this early on the tour.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Well, first of all, it won the Tony for Best Musical.
But the story is so impactful, as you heard described
on Monday Night Imri. It really is about family and
making it. But it's got two parts of the community
that don't get along and they figure out they come
(04:54):
together eventually. It's the music is wonderful, it's it's not
a typical song in dance musical, and I think our
responsibility is to also bring in really good works of
art that can affect us and tell a wonderful story.
And The Outsiders has been so popular as a book
(05:14):
in a film, I thought it was important to bring
it now in the Broadway production.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
Yeah, the little trailer they showed it just looks like
it's very gritty, but I just can't wait to see
how it looks on the stage. With the choreography and
just the way that the story is going to be told,
It's going to be really, really awesome. So these are
just three shows that we've talked about of a total
of ten that are here, and I'll mention a bunch
(05:40):
more of these, but there are so many awesome different
shows that I think are going to be up anyone's
alley who just kind of likes live entertainment or stage productions.
What are a couple of the others on here that
you are super excited to see in twenty twenty five
and twenty twenty six.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Sure? Yeah, the seven on the package all are new
to Breask and Omaha. So Shuck is one of my favorites.
You have to bring a musical about porn to the
corn Husk State, you know, really, it's fun, it's funny,
the music is terrific. I love that show as you
heard on Monday, and it's really got some great music
(06:17):
in it. So I'm excited about that. And Juliet is
one of the most requested shows we've had, so that
one will be coming with lots of great hits from
the last couple of decades. Neil Diamond music is always popular.
We've got you know, the notebook, Missus Doutfire. There's so
many on that list. We've had incredible response on social media.
(06:40):
People are just thrilled with the season.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
Joan Squire's from Omaha Performing Arts President here with us today,
I wanted to talk about six and Mam and Mia,
and I'll just kind of throw and Juliet in here,
because even though it's kind of a take on Romeo
and Juliet, like you mentioned, it's really hit songs in
the last twenty years that are really making up the
score of music. But there's something about going to a
(07:07):
show where it kind of features a concert aspect to it,
and the Neil Diamond Show obviously can fall into this
as well, where it really feels like it's not just
even within the musical itself, it is an incredible interpretation
and performance of pop music in the show and there's
something powerful about that, maybe to show people who haven't
(07:29):
been to a stage production before. So how can you
best describe for people who are like, yeah, I've not
been to the ORPM. The Broadway just really isn't my thing.
But you have you know, four shows that I just
mentioned there that have contemporary sounding music or actual big
hits that people would recognize that are performed in very
cool ways on the stage.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Well they get to see them visually, so you get
to see the singing and the dancing to go with
these popular songs people know. But I think underlying all
of it, memory is a compelling story. People have tried
to make musicals of other people's music, and sometimes they
don't work if the story doesn't work. And these all,
every one of those has a story that pulls you
(08:09):
in and then uses the music to advance it. And
so you get to enjoy your music and you also
have you know, a couple of hours of listening to
a great story.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Yeah, it is so fantastic. I'm going to finish asking
about this particular season because we still have a few
shows left. One of them which is coming up this
weekend is Hadestown and I know that that's been i mean,
just an incredible show as well. But what can you
tell people about the rest of the season and the
last few shows that are going to be coming for
(08:40):
this particular season, because it's been a really awesome season
at this point as well.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
Oh, we've got after an eighty Town which is almost
sold out, so if folks want to go, they should
not hesitate to good tickets. We've got three super shows coming,
some like it Hot is here at the end of
the month. And again Amber Ruffin actually was behind this
scenes on that script and it's a big old fashioned
Broadway musical and it is one of my favorites, so
(09:07):
I'm thrilled to bring it. The dancing is unbelievable and
so are the costumes and all of it. Then we've
got three weeks of Hamilton coming, so it returns and
it's just one of the best musicals ever. And then
we conclude the season with mj the Musical, which is
the music of Michael Jackson as he's preparing for the
(09:29):
Vida tour, and it is really the dancing in that
show is his choreography and you've never seen anything like it.
So I think we've got a giant few productions the
remainder of this season as well.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
I got to say, Joan, you guys do such amazing work.
It's so good to know that we're in good hands here.
Do you know between the ten shows for next season
and just the few that are coming Haiti sound being
an award winner you mentioned Hamilton and the reputation it succeeds,
You're going to hear music from Michael Jackson, Neil Diamond, Abba,
a lot of hits, and other award winners like The
(10:05):
Outsiders and Wicked coming when it's about as hot as
it's ever been. We are taking so good care of
here at the RPM at the holl And Center with
Omaha Performing Arts, and it has a lot to do
with you, Jones, So thank you so much for being
on our show today and talking about this. I can't
wait to see these shows and I can't wait to
talk to you again about some of the stuff that's
up your sleeve in the future.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Ray Well, listen, we appreciate you being there, and we
do it for the audience as we couldn't do it.
It's folks and show up, so we thank everybody who comes.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
Absolutely that is Jones Squire. She is the president of
Omaha Performing Arts. What a fantastic season that they announced
on Monday, and you can find out more. All you
got to do is go to Omaha's Performing Arts or
the Omaha Performing Arts website ohdashpa dot org easy way
to do that, or you can really just google Omaha
Performing Arts. You're going to find everything there for the
rest of this season and next season as well. It
(10:54):
is three forty nine and we'll come back and wrap
up the three o'clock hour on News Radio eleven ten
Kfab and Marie no
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