March 11, 2026 • 46 mins
Courtney Mattern and Tara McNamara from Omaha Performing Arts talk about the upcoming Broadway shows that are coming to The Orpheum, including the shows that were revealed earlier this week for the 2026-27 Broadway season!
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
It's the Emery Songer podcast here on the free iHeartRadio
app telling you all the great things that.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Are happening in and around Omaha.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
And today we are talking about the fantastic arts that
you can take advantage of with my friends at Omaha
Performing Arts and in the studio with us, we have
Courtney Materne, the vice president of Marketing.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Welcome, Courtney, thank you.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
I'm so happy to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
And I have my good friend Tarah McNamara, the director
of Communications with Omaha Performing Arts.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Hello, Tara, how are you?
Speaker 4 (00:36):
I Emory very excited to be here, as guys, I'm
so excited to talk about this.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
You know what.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
This Monday I was at the Holland Center and we
learned about what the twenty twenty six twenty seven season
of OPAH was going to be at the Orpheum for
Broadway shows. We'll get to that in a second. But
we still have a few shows left this year, and Tara,
the next one little bit later this month is a
(01:02):
show I've actually seen called Six, and it's just a
lot of fun. Let's talk about what we have left
this year. Tell me about Six for the people out
there who aren't familiar with it.
Speaker 4 (01:11):
Yeah, six is so much fun. It's sort of a
pop concert that has some comedy and drama and amazing music,
and it's really about the six historic wives of Henry
the Eighth, but in a really bright, band driven pop concert.
And it's a really exciting night in the space, a
(01:32):
little different than what you would sometimes get from a
Broadway show, which I think people kind of appreciate and
have fun with.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
Like the fact that there's no intermission. Yes, ninety minute show.
The first time I saw it, I stood in the
back just to catch a peek because I was volunteering
at a show, and before I knew it, I was like,
I didn't leave, and the show is over it and
it was the best ninety one yes.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Well, And that's the other thing too for people who
haven't actually seen it yet, is it goes by so
fast you don't even really know how fast it is.
There's like eight songs. I mean, it goes by so quick.
But the story with the music and the costumes and
the humor that goes on in the interactions between the
(02:13):
wives of Henry the Eighth and am I wrong? Like
this is a direct kind of offshoot of the kind
of musical that Hamilton has kind of created, right, Like,
this gets popular because Hamilton gets popular, and I think
is going to set the stage for other really cool,
(02:33):
underrated historical stories to be told through fun musicals with
amazing on stage costumes. Am I wrong for feeling like that,
like that's a trend that could continue to grow?
Speaker 4 (02:45):
Yeah? I think absolutely. I think there's it's really interesting
to take a story or a historic event that people
know really well, but then kind of giving it a
really fun modern twist.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
I think this story is really fun because you get
these wives who you don't learn about as much in
his way, and they kind of reclaim the story. And
then the music it sounds like the type of pop
music you would hear on the radio, so much so
that I know my ten year old and his friends
like to listen to the soundtrack just like they would
listen to pop music on the radio.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
And that's the one thing about the music of six also,
is all of the songs have kind of a different
sound to them. It's not just kind of like because
sometimes you'll run into a musical and you can tell
that a single person has written the music to all
of this, and in six, it really feels like those
are completely different individuals who have either written or performed
(03:34):
those songs, and I think they did a really good
job with that. Not the only show we still have
this season though. This spring we have a couple of
big ones also coming up to.
Speaker 4 (03:42):
Yeah, we still have Missus Doubtfire in April, which is
a take on the classic movie that everyone knows and
loves from I guess the nineties the eighties, and then
we follow that up with Mama Mia in May, which
also a big one that people have asked to have
come back over and over again.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
It's just one that never gets obviously.
Speaker 4 (04:01):
The music of Abba, we all know it, we all
love it.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
Such a fun such a fun night, we're all dancing queens.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Oh yeah. And this summer we got Summer's the big one.
Speaker 4 (04:10):
We have the return of Wicked.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
What a time to get Wicked?
Speaker 4 (04:13):
Yeah truly, I mean.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Come on, what a great show to be a part
of if you're in that cast right now. And it's
just like the demand has never been higher. You have
the movies that come out. Did you did you see
the movies?
Speaker 4 (04:27):
Yeah? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (04:27):
I did?
Speaker 3 (04:28):
Yeah both on opening night?
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Yeah? So so yeay?
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Or Nat of the movies versus the show, because it's
just weird that we've taken this two and a half
hour musical which is legendary, and we've the songs translate
obviously they're mega hits for Broadway, and I love the story. Again,
we've kind of taken an original text and kind of
shifted it into kind of a different story. I love
the reimagination of some of this stuff, but we stretched
(04:54):
it out to like five hours, and I don't know,
I just felt like I get a little loss with
how much extra that they put into it over two
full movies. And I think the part of the magic
of the Broadway Show is they're able to still tell
a story in basically the same way while really keeping
(05:15):
that story moving with It almost feels like a breakneck
pace when you watch it because there's so much always
happening with all of these amazing songs in between. Am
I wrong for feeling like the movie just long?
Speaker 2 (05:28):
It's a little long.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
I guess I'm one of those people who's like, if
you have if I have one story that I love,
I want to see it in all the mediums. I'm like, yeah,
by it, I want to see it in the movies.
I want to see what you add to it. I
want to see it on stage.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
Give me a Netflix ten episode mini series, yes, yes, please?
Speaker 3 (05:44):
And I see it in all the formats.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
Absolutely, And I've been a Wicked fan for such a
long time. I saw the original cast on Broadway back
when I was, I mean kind of just out of college.
And so it's been a long journey.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
You have a history there.
Speaker 4 (05:58):
Yeah, I'm lucky.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
Did you get to see Kristin Chenowan make it?
Speaker 4 (06:02):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (06:03):
Yeah, crazy.
Speaker 4 (06:05):
So it's been a really long journey. I've seen it,
you know, multiple times on tour, I've worked on it
multiple times, and so I was excited, but I guess
also a little a little anxious when the movie came out.
But I actually think they did an amazing job with it.
I love that it's brought such a larger audience to
the show and to musicals and.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
General introduces new audiences to to musicals on screen. So
it's kind of fun when you have that story that
maybe we grew up with, that you take your kids too,
and now they're interested in Wicked and wanting to see
it on stage too.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
I was thinking about that too, you know, now that
you mentioned it, something like Greece, you know, like they
made that in the seventies and they're I mean, especially
if you're like a Disney fan, right, like if you
were watching big films and stuff like, it wasn't crazy
in the sixties and seventies to see big, extravagant musical
(06:57):
numbers in movies, and we definitely got away from from
that with big blockbuster types for a while. I don't
know if it was because like it doesn't fit with.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
The waation costs.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Yeah, and it's just.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Like you know, like Lalla Land and some stuff like that,
it's hard to get sucked into a story for non
musical people if all of a sudden the characters are
breaking out into song. Rent is kind of like the
last one I could think of that kind of usurped
that and reached kind of a more mainstream audience that
otherwise would not have even seen Rent or known what
(07:29):
Rent was about. That was successful at like breaking through there.
I know Kats tried to do that and it didn't
work out so well. So I don't know, like, do
you think that that could lead to another attempt by
somebody to say, hey, we got an incredible musical that
we would love to see on the big screen, and
we think it could be a better movie than Dear
(07:50):
Evid Hansen was or Kats was. We can go the
rent or Wicked route and just if we do this right,
we could actually make this a really memorable show, like
a movie that would like could we take can we
take a musical and turn it into a movie and
it be maybe not Wicked big, but kind of break
through the mainstream and be successful in the box office
(08:13):
and well reviewed, you know, because it's not always easy
to do when you like, because you're at Hanson, doesn't
feel really the same at all watching the movie versus
seeing it on the stage.
Speaker 4 (08:23):
Right, I mean, I, for one, am up for as
many musicals and anything, and I just think I always
think in the other the other way around, Like Mulan
Rouge was one of my favorites, So happy to see
it come to stage.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
But I think of so many shows and this season,
past seasons I think could make great movies, things like Haitiestown,
like I would like.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
To That's the one I was thinking of.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
It was like because that, like as a stage production
kind of feels like it broke through a different audience
because people who aren't usually going to see musicals are like, Okay,
I've heard.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
A lot of great things about this. I want to
go see what this is like on the stage.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
Maybe something with a little bit of that kind of
grittier story. I think it makes for good movies.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
Are we overdue for like kind of a retelling of
like a classical like like a Myfa a Lady or
something like like a.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Like a like put a modern twist.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
On Yeah, like a modern take or twist on something,
or even something like we just saw like and Juliette.
If you have like the rights to music like that.
Speaker 4 (09:25):
Would be fun.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
It'll be fun. I'll film too, because I know I'm Broadway.
Sometimes you have a show that is really popular, like
Mulan Rouge for instance, swapping out different actors and reimagining
a role like Megan thee Stallion joining the cast the
Broadway show, it's like, put it, put a twist on it,
let's see it a different way. But I think from
Tara and I's perspective, we're like all in every time.
(09:48):
I'll watch it once.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
Well, and this is the other thing too, when people
are passionate about stuff like this, and this is how
I feel about going to the Orpheum. They're like, Emory,
are you excited about all of these shows? And I
look and I see, you know, something like Neil Diamond,
and I just think, good, yeah, but I'm not a
Neil Diamond guy. And I'm like, eh, you know, I'm not.
I wouldn't say I'm like super excited. Am I excited
(10:09):
to go sit in the Orphum and watch the live
performance of the show?
Speaker 2 (10:13):
You bet? I am?
Speaker 1 (10:14):
And I like, and you know what, every time I go,
I always leave and I'm like, I'm so glad that
I was here for this.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
So glad I left my house. I have a season
tickets on a Friday night. Sometimes it's like, am I
gonna leave my house today? But I think you're onto
something there with the experience of seeing something live on
stage versus on our screens of many sizes. It's something
about watching a show with the crowd too. Oh yeah,
how the people next to you are reacting, who you
(10:40):
bump into on the way, feeling like you are part
of a community, and how cool it is that you
don't have to fly all the way to New York
City to see these great.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Shows in a great venue like the Orphume is an
unbelievable venue for.
Speaker 4 (10:51):
This super historically, and we hear that from people all
the time. You know that they come in and it
feels so special. It's like you're walking in the door
to this really special place where, to Courtney's point, this
special experience is going to happen that you're only going
to be able to experience that one time live with
the people you're there with. Yeah, and it's just you
don't get that in so many other areas of life
(11:14):
now and entertainment, and it's just still a really special
experience for people.
Speaker 3 (11:19):
Yeah, there's still something to be surprised about too. You
never know how the whole crowd is going to react
to a big moment or a confetti cannon, and there's
something special about that.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
Well, Okay, sorry to interrupt there, but it's like when
the Minecraft movie came out, right, and I am not
a Minecraft guy. I was not excited to see the movie,
and I didn't actually go see the movie, but it
became one of the biggest movies of the last decade
because people realized that the experience of just watching it
with a live crowd that was going to react in
the same way they reacted to right, so you could
(11:47):
watch if you're a Minecraft fan, you can sit in
your home and stream it whenever it shows up on
the screen, and you'll get all the references and you
might chuckle and laugh. There's something else sitting in a
theater with you know, seventy other people and you're all
laughing and cheering at the same moment. That's going to
enhance You can't help but have your experience enhanced by
doing that with other people.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
And there's something about being like with your people. You're like, Oh,
they get it. They love this just as much as
I do. I think that's the phenomenon with Wicked too.
Oh yeah, is for people like going to the theater,
getting dressed up, being in the crowd with all these people,
like actually seeing a movie that has applause at the end.
And it's the same when you come to the show.
People come dressed up, they know and love the characters,
(12:29):
and you hear other people react to the moments. You're like, oh,
these people are like a theater nerd like me, Like,
I'm not a weirdo. I belong to this community of
other arts lovers.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
You guys always have amazing crowds too. Every time I'm
in there. It's just like the people are ready for
these shows. At the season reveal party.
Speaker 4 (12:47):
For instance, this amazing energy.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
It's like I walked in there and you guys that
do a happy hour, it's like a social happy hour,
and this is an invitation only event, right, season ticket hohole,
members of the media, you know, donors, people who are
like in some way have already invested some time or
some finances into what you guys do with Omaha Performing Arts.
(13:12):
And you would think like, if you're not a part
of this community, you're like, Okay, well, how many people
could that possibly be? I walked in at like five
thirty five, right after this allegedly was supposed to start.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
Yeah, people kind of bust down the doors all season
row right.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
I have no idea how you've done this, Like just
an hour long show which is really not a show
as much as it is just literally revealing what the
schedule is, and people are going crazy for it. They're
filling up the Holland Center. The drink lines were so long.
Everybody's so excited to get in there and see what's up.
I don't know how you've done it, but the anticipation
(13:47):
you could feel the anticipation, and it all started when
the lights went down and you see somebody in the
dark kind of walk on stage and they're like yep,
and you're like, okay, so what what is this? What
could this possibly be? Because you guys never leave breadcrumbs,
there's no hints, like it's like, I could try to
guess it. Maybe some of the stuff that's really hot
(14:09):
right now they're going to try to get, but we
don't know. And then all of a sudden you see
pop up on the big screen Phantom of the Opera.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
People lost theirs.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
What a way to start the night. Phantom of the Opera.
Let's talk about it and we'll get through kind of
the schedule and stuff. It's more about just the shows themselves,
but you want to talk about Corneya just a fantastic
show to kind of set the tone, not just for
the reveal, but as like a cornerstone part of what
next season is going to look like.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
I don't know if the Phantom fans have an official name.
I was called Phantom Fans with.
Speaker 4 (14:38):
A pH a pheah.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
But we knew with Phantom coming back to Omham, we
knew that would be a big moment. People love that
show so much. I've seen it three times in Omaha.
One time is like a high schooler on a trip
the last time that it was here, and every you
can't go wrong with that show. Every time it hits
the stage, you get goosebumps. So I'm really excited that
it's coming back, and I think every time it does
(15:03):
it's worth seeing again to see what they are doing new.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Yeah, so Tara, like, I know that this is a
thing that I talk about all the time. It's just
like the process of getting a show like this, and
we'll talk about some of the newer shows also, but
we get amazing shows that are new coming off Broadway.
But you also sprinkle in these classics that people are
going to immediately recognize it. They know, Okay, the music's amazing,
(15:30):
the story's amazing, it's legendary. It has survived generations already,
It's going to survive more well into the future. Here,
what is it for the people in the administration of
Omaha Performing Ours to try to get these shows and
build a schedule that has such a different, eclectic group
of shows like this one versus some of the others
(15:51):
that we'll talk about that are either newer or you know,
like the sound of music or beautying the Beast, ones
that people already are very familiar with.
Speaker 4 (15:59):
Yeah, I think that our Joan Squire's, who you know
really well, is very conscious about making sure that we
have something that's for everyone in each season, and that
really does vary for people, right. Some people want those
classics that they know well and have seen before and
want to bring their families back to. Others are really
kind of staying on top of the most recent Broadway
(16:20):
news and know what won the Tony's last year and
the year prior and want to see those shows. And
so I think a big piece of it for Joan
is kind of piecing together this season that's going to
be of broadest appeal to people, but also welcoming in families,
also giving people that opportunity to see something early in
its run on the road. She has such amazing connections
(16:43):
within this industry and has been working in it for
so long that you know, she really has has mastered
that skill and works really hard at it. I think
that that's one thing that a lot of people might
not realize is how much work goes into planning a season.
But the other piece I don't want to discount is
our season ticket holders. It's because there is that group
(17:04):
of passionate fans here in Omaha that are already committed
to the season that we're able to keep going out
there and bringing in well every top shows.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
That you do this season reveal and you see these
people that are on runway, they come out, they're like wow,
like how many people are here?
Speaker 2 (17:20):
This is crazy?
Speaker 4 (17:21):
Yeah, But I think that's to your point earlier about
the event earlier this week where we revealed the shows
and how it was the energy in the room was
just palpable of people excited to just hear what was
coming because they kind of know what they're hoping for.
They know what's already been through and what might be
out there.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
And they know that yeah, and they know that they're
gonna get some big shows.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
I think too, it's important Joan is like a Broadway alchemist,
like are she builds a season around what she knows.
She's the Nebraska's only Tony's voter. She goes to dozens
and dozens of shows every year. But the thing that
she never loses sight of, that we never lose sight
of Omaha performing arts is the Broadway subscribers, the season
ticket holders, and they give us feedback. We do surveys,
(18:05):
and we want to throw a party that they want
to come to. And so Joan is always thoughtful and
connected and dialed into what's hot on Broadway, but like,
what does Omaha want to see? What is Omaha deserve
to see? And we really do as this mid mid
size city market, Like we get some of these shows
really early in their tours because of that relationship Joan
(18:28):
has with Broadway and because of how dialed we are
in with our subscriber base and knowing what they want
to see.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
Yeah, so fan of the opercatings to speak for itself
on that Yeah yeah, well but.
Speaker 4 (18:40):
And even that show, it hasn't been here since twenty eighteen,
so it's definitely time to have it back. But it
also hasn't been touring for several years. So this is
a new tour that started last year. And so we
know that I oversee our social media area for OPAH,
and I know that since I have been here, people
(19:02):
have been asking for Phantom to come back, and so
unfortunately it wasn't actually out on the road touring, so
we're very hard to.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
Bring it back and it is now.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
Yeah, there's not a tour exactly.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
Okay, So let's go ahead and talk about another one
that I think is a slam dunk anytime you can
bring it here.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
But it's also one that I think may.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
Have been a lot of people's first musical and they
really didn't even know it when they were a kid.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
And that's The Sound of Music.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
Oh yeah, yeah, because The Sound of Music is one
of those shows that I think people are familiar with
even some of the songs without really even knowing what
the original text is that it comes from. And obviously
this being kind of a new interpretation of what this
will be, but it is just in like a literal
(19:46):
theatrical classic that is going to come to the stage
of the Orphea.
Speaker 4 (19:50):
Yeah. I think that the Sound of Music. I mean,
I'd be hard pressed to find someone who doesn't know
a song from the Sound of Music.
Speaker 3 (19:57):
Yeah, even without knowing that it is from the Sound
of Music. There was an article, I think it was
on Broadway dot com. It was like, hey, everybody, the
Sound of Music is cool again. It seems like there's
some like gen z is it's back in favor again
with the Sound of Music. Kind of revisiting those classic
stories with the classic music. But it's again one of
those instances of a story that is timeless. That's important,
(20:20):
and we're always so lucky when the classics are revisited
and given like a fresh look.
Speaker 4 (20:24):
Yeah, and I think it a fun bit here is
that the Broadway show of the Sound of Music actually
came before the movie, so people are more familiar with
the movie, but it was originally a stage show and
then became the movie, and then future iterations of the
stage have happened since. But it's always fun to hear
from people who come and see the stage show to
(20:45):
sort of be like, oh, I didn't realize this was
what originally.
Speaker 3 (20:48):
Yeah, this story came before Julie Andrews, which again is
an educational thing because even I didn't really know.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
That The Sound of Music was not just the movie
at first, But that explained, right, you know, Like I
talked about that era of like a ton of different musicals,
people a lot more willing to put music and musical
numbers into like actual films and everything. I am always
fascinated by kind of that ricochet of like how do
we reimagine these things in twenty twenty six or twenty
(21:19):
twenty seven that are I mean, I saw My Fair
Lady a couple of years ago when it was here, right,
and that's a real classic, you know.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
And it's.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
The set in a lot of ways is what has
modernized and you just really still feel like it is
a fresh piece of production. And even if you think
you know the show, you should still come and see
the show because you may be surprised at how it
has been adjusted for a modern audience. And I'm excited
to see the Sound of Music for that reason alone, honestly,
(21:52):
because certainly the costumes should be, you know, pretty close.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
There are all these eras of musicals that are known
for their big stage effects. Also not to go backward,
but Phantom too. There's so many cool stage effects and epic.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
Moments, even the video that you guys look for the trailers,
just like I can't wait to see what that looks
like in person.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
Everything from the chandeliers to mask raid, those big numbers,
and same with the sets of Sound of Music. There's
just big and epic, and I think a lot of
the shows this season have these big stage moments, from
special effects to trying new things with not just the music,
but what is the setting like too, transforming the Orpheum
(22:32):
Theater into a whole new place.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
Yeah, and that's it's such a cool venue in the
first place, right, you know, when the Lion King was
here and you see like the drums that were set
up kind of in the balcony of there. It's just like,
I love coming to the orph You It's just always
so funny. You never know what's going to be there.
Speaking of the Lion King, got a Disney show this year,
Beauty and the Beast, which you know, for nineties kids
like me. Beauty and the Beast is another kind of
(22:58):
like you didn't know it was a music when you're
six years old watching it for the first time, but
it's one of the first musicals like you kind of
fall in love with. And I wasn't a huge Beauty
in the Beast fan. I liked you know, the aristocrats
in Robinhood and Aladdin and a lot of the other
Lion King obviously. But I went to Disney World in
Florida a couple of years ago with my wife and
(23:19):
we were there for four days. We went all four
of the parks and I could not believe I mean,
I think I saw more Beauty in the Beast stuff
than anything else, more than Mickey Mouse, more than any
of the other big classic snow White Princess movies and
all that, not the Little Mermormaid, not even any of
the more recent ones or Pixar or anything like that.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
There are Beauty in the Beast singalongs.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
There are Beauty in the Beast shows that you can
go see even in like places you wouldn't expect to
see Beauty in the Beast.
Speaker 3 (23:48):
I think it's really tapping into maybe a nostalgia for
a certain generation. And it's been years since The Beauty
and the Beast has been to Omaha.
Speaker 4 (23:57):
Yeah, it's been mive more than ten years at this.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
I mean, the hunger and appetite has to be there,
because this has aged about as well as any Disney
film probably ever now that I'm thinking about it, because
you know, they try to make Snow White into a
movie and it just didn't quite work out the same
way that I think that they were hoping for.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
I feel like.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
Every time The Beauty of the Beast does anything, people
are like, oh, I can't wait to watch this.
Speaker 3 (24:20):
Yeah, because I just get excited anytime we have a
Disney show on the docket because Disney Magic, there's nothing
that tops it.
Speaker 4 (24:28):
And this production is also a new production, and they
brought back several members of the original creative team who
did the original Broadway production, which was I saw it
as a teenager and it was just so glamorous and
full of spectacle and I just cannot wait.
Speaker 3 (24:47):
To see So you always wonder when you're a kid
watching those shows, and actually even I mean I'm grown
up now and you think about those movies, those fairy tales,
and you want to be a part of them. And
there is something about a live stage production where you
feel like you're getting to see it come to life.
You're invited to the ball and you get to feel
that magic in person. So I think it's magical for
(25:12):
the inner kid and all of us.
Speaker 4 (25:13):
And it's been around the original based on the original production,
more than twenty five years ago at this point, which
is a little wild, but also the same with something
like Sound of Music, these are things that people grew
up with who can now bring their kids or their
grandkids and really kind of have that multi generational experience
at the show.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
Yeah, and they made a live action movie of this
story with Emma Watson as Belle, and that was one
that worked and people had good things to say about it.
People wanted to go see it. And the songs still
slap for how old you are? Those songs are just well,
there's in your head be our guest, well in the
tale as old as time? Right, it's just the like
(25:52):
it's such a Disney song, right, but it usurps like
the Disney world for people are Disney fans. Everybody knows
it because of how beautiful it is. I can't wait
to hear it on the stage. When Circle of Life
started for the Lion King and talk about Disney magic,
I tear up, yeah, because you just like you feel
like that that Elton John kind of influence to that soundtrack,
(26:13):
and then it's performed live and you're seeing this incredible
production with the animals.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
I can't wait to see the beast and on the.
Speaker 3 (26:23):
Stage, costumes, the makeup, how are you going to turn
a human into a candlestick?
Speaker 5 (26:27):
Like?
Speaker 3 (26:28):
Those are all the things that the magic. And there's
these classic shows that have that too. I'm kind of
like really excited to talk about some of the new
ones too, because there's some more stage magic costume magic.
That's what I love about theater is like it's live.
There's no CGI, there's no AI special effects, Like some
human has to make this costume or make this you know,
(26:48):
battle scene or gunshot wound or whatever is in an
any show come to life on stage in real time
and there's no faking it.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
Well, and let's just kind of take that in and
go to the next one that was on my list
here is and it's death becomes.
Speaker 3 (27:03):
Yeah, that's where I was going. You picked up what
I was putting down.
Speaker 1 (27:06):
Well, but it's but that's another like if you are
familiar with the movie, there's some people in that movie.
I mean, it is a really funny, like dark, kind
of funny early nineties movie with some real legitimate actors
in it. I didn't even know this was a stage
production right now, And I'm excited for it, not just
because of I'm excited to see how the story translates
(27:29):
to the stage, but like you mentioned the effects, how
are they like some of the effects they are going
to have to do for this to make the story work.
Speaker 2 (27:35):
I'm excited to see how they do that.
Speaker 4 (27:37):
Yeah, And I think that to your point of there
are some people in this movie, and that's a lot
to live up to. The effects I think are just
as big of a piece.
Speaker 3 (27:46):
They're almost characters themselves.
Speaker 4 (27:48):
Exactly, and this show gets them right. I saw it
on Broadway and it is just so fun and you
can feel the audience kind of waiting for each of
those effect moments. And I'm not going to give any
spoil a way, but you feel everyone kind of collectively
waiting for those to happen on stage and you're curious
to see how how you do it in this live environment.
(28:09):
But on top of that, it has amazing music. The
choreography is fantastic. It's just such such a fun show.
I can't I can't emphasize.
Speaker 3 (28:19):
And to your point, you mentioned you didn't know that
it was a stage music, but it's fresh, like this
is its first it's just starting to tour off a Broadway.
And that's sort of the benefit, I guess of living
in Omaha. If you can't live in New York City,
you might as well be here because we try to
catch these shows first and we'll be one of the
earliest stops on its tour.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
Now that's exciting, and again I feel like that's also
a theme ye see, Omaha usually catches a lot of
the new shows early. You know, I saw the Outsiders,
and you know you can feel like that energy of
the cast too. It's like, really they're not mailing anything in.
They're They're like, this is a an opportunity to hone
(28:58):
the show in front of a really lively audience. And
I don't feel like anybody ever takes e for granted
at the Orphum, which really makes it all the better
to be a fan of theater theater here because you're
gonna get the best of the people on the stage
every single time that you're there. Kind of wanted to
just take that and go to The Great Gatsby, because again,
(29:21):
that's there's been so many interpretations of this story.
Speaker 2 (29:25):
F Scott Fitzgerald writes the book.
Speaker 3 (29:28):
Bas Lauerman redoes the movie well.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
In the original movie, which is like more real life
looking with Robert Redford and Sam Waterston in the seventies,
and then Baz Luhrman's is like this kind.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
Of abstract, very extravagant.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
Yeah, just everything is so colorful and you're just kind
of transported into like a different universe with that this
with music. I cannot wait to see because this is
not a story that I've ever like. I just hear
nineteen twenties jazz going on in the background. This is
going to be based on the song that we heard
performed by one of the people who are actually a
(30:05):
part of the company in New York, came and performed
at the season revealed this is not just going to
be confined to nineteen twenty sounding music.
Speaker 4 (30:13):
Oh no, as you heard, that was like an amazing
big power ballat Oh yeah.
Speaker 3 (30:19):
Right, and this book, this book is one hundred years
old or one hundred and one this year, but the
music is definitely of this time.
Speaker 4 (30:27):
Yeah, it's if you want to talk about a Broadway
show that has what people are looking for in terms
of Broadway spectacle. The song, the dance, the sets, the
costumes sparkle. This is it.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
I love the first movie The Baz Luhrman. I loved
it because of Leonardo DiCaprio.
Speaker 3 (30:49):
Oh yeah, yeah, It's like I just can't go wrong
with Leo.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
He's He's an incredible actor and it's like a part
he was born to play, was being Jay Gatsby at
some point in his life. But there is something about
out the idea of putting this on a stage where
I'm like, why haven't I thought like this was something that.
Speaker 2 (31:05):
Should be done.
Speaker 3 (31:06):
You'd be on the stage. Well, have you read the
book or do you have to read it in high school?
Speaker 2 (31:10):
I read it in high school.
Speaker 3 (31:11):
I fel like so many of us read that book
or either whether it was required reading or you finally
get around to reading the classics and you read about
Jay Gatsby throwing these big parties, and you wonder what
would it be like to go to a party like that?
And I think that's what I love about bringing it
to life on stage is you are basically.
Speaker 2 (31:27):
Part of the party, and.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
You know something crazy is going to happen. Being in
the audience, you know, you're just like, what's that thing
that's going to make me a part of the Gatsby party?
Because there's everybody at the Gasby party. Yes, the entire
town's at the Gasby party, and now you're invited. They're
right there in front of you. I'm excited for that one.
That's gonna be amazing.
Speaker 3 (31:47):
And that one got a huge reaction at the season reveal,
which sort of surprised me. But was it Chase Peacock
who came and performed that that ballad and it gave
you goose bumps and people kind of lost their mind.
And it's like, yeah, everybody loves nineteen twenties like era,
like party, so let's go.
Speaker 4 (32:01):
And there was there was a There's a great number.
I think it's an act too, and it's just a
tap number that even as an audience tap dance is cool,
you guys well, and it's it's so high energy and athletic,
and as an audience member, it kind of makes you breathless.
You're like, how are they doing this?
Speaker 1 (32:19):
I love I love great dancing, like The Whiz when
it came to town this year. It's just like I
know the story of Dorothy and you can only reinterpret
this a million different ways.
Speaker 2 (32:30):
I get it.
Speaker 1 (32:31):
The dancing I saw on the stage that night was
like worth the price of admission. I don't even care
what the story was. It was unbelievable. You have a
good tap number.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
I am in. I'm totally in siny well yeah, I mean, like.
Speaker 1 (32:42):
Just show me that. I'll see that in person. It's amazing,
So I'm excited for that one. Hell's Kitchen is another
newer one that.
Speaker 3 (32:50):
A great dance.
Speaker 1 (32:51):
Yeah, and this is a completely different style of dance,
but it's the musical with Alicia Keys music and for
people who are unfamiliar with Alicia Keys.
Speaker 3 (33:01):
Who is unfamiliar with Alicia.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
Keys but that but that's the thing too, is like, man,
you're gonna underestimate how many really big songs that she
has had a hand in writing or performing that are
going to be a part of this. Is this her
story or is this a story based on her life?
Speaker 4 (33:17):
It's kind of inspired by her life, right, So it's
not her direct story.
Speaker 1 (33:21):
So it's not like the Diamond Words kind of chronologically
kind of going through and seeing the story with the
songs as they were coming, or like the Michael Jackson
or you know, Tina Turner, all those that we've seen
in the last few seasons. This is more like interpreting.
It's kind of like mom and mea It's like this
story and then we're taking songs that fit the story
throughout the musical.
Speaker 2 (33:41):
Is that more what we're looking at?
Speaker 4 (33:42):
I think I'd say it's somewhere in between. Does still
kind of tell her story, It's just not meant to
be a direct interpretation of her story. And what's also
really interesting about this one is that it does include
the songs that you know from her catalog, but then
there's also new songs well that she's written, and I
think that it that combination is a fun one for people.
(34:03):
I mean, she has won seventeen Grammy.
Speaker 3 (34:05):
Awards save some for the rest of it, I know,
And if you were at the reveal, we had, you know,
two songs from the show, and those aren't new written
for the musical, but when you're hearing it, you feel
what makes it an Alicia Keys story. You can tell
that she's had her hand and making this new music
for the show so that people can kind of reconnect
(34:28):
with the classics but also get something fresh and new.
So it's not just your typical jukebox musical and there's
go ahead.
Speaker 4 (34:35):
There's this really great way. I think also that they've
taken the music and used what you already know, but
in different unexpected ways. So for example, her song No.
One in this show is kind of reinterpreted as a
mother daughter moment, and because there's a really great mother
daughter through line throughout the show, and so I love
that too. When it's you know, the song, it's familiar
(34:56):
to you, but you mean love to see it in
a different way.
Speaker 1 (34:58):
Yeah, this is a their daughter relationship instead of like
a girl boy relationship.
Speaker 2 (35:05):
You know what I'm in, got me you got me in?
And I like a.
Speaker 1 (35:09):
Leash Key's music obviously, like some of some of the
songs of my like college years and stuff, Like there's
an influence there right, Like anytime that you're like seventeen
or nineteen or twenty three or whatever and you're still
learning about the world, Like there's a soundtrack for you
and anybody my age. There's gonna be a Leasiha songs
or at leash Key songs that are going to be
through there. So can't wait to see those on the stage.
(35:31):
The other the last one that's a part of the
main season ticket packages, may be Happy Ending, and this one,
I think I hate saying this. I think I'm most
excited to see this one just because it is a
completely fresh, new story, new on the road, but also
one of the most renowned and well regarded musicals in
(35:56):
the Tony Awards this past year. So what can you
tell us about this new one that I think might
be a brand new story or concept for pretty much everyone.
Speaker 4 (36:05):
Yeah, I think this is one that's going to surprise people.
We always hear every year subscribers come in and see
their full package and then they're like, I maybe wouldn't
have picked that show because I didn't know anything about it,
and then when I saw it, it became my favorite
one of the seasons.
Speaker 2 (36:18):
That's what makes me so excited for it is I
wait to see it.
Speaker 4 (36:20):
Yeah, and I think that maybe happy ending is that
for this season potentially. It's so good. I also had
the fortune of seeing this in New York and it's
so fresh and new, and like you said, it won
the Tony Award last year for Best Musical. I think
it won six Tony Awards last.
Speaker 1 (36:36):
Year awards m hmm. And it's going to be out
the Orphan. How cool is that?
Speaker 3 (36:41):
I think too. You have to give credit because to
your point, this is a fresh, new story. It hasn't
been done before a lot of the shows that we
love from Broadways because it's nostalgic or it's connected to
some other pop culture moment, and there's not as many
people taking that risk to tell a new story. And
it's definitely being rewarded, as you see, it's been lauded
at the Tony Awards, and this will be one of
(37:02):
its first stops on the national tour, and I think
it's a fun one just as a story about being human.
It's about two help robots, got cute, beautiful story and
you know, in the age of AI and tech, like
what better than you know, an important message of being human.
I think people are going to be really surprised by it,
So if you are going to the show, don't miss it.
Speaker 2 (37:26):
Absolutely well.
Speaker 1 (37:27):
And just the video again, do you guys play these
like trailer videos? It's like, man, that's gonna that takes
some commitment from those actors to be on the stage
and really sell you on the fact that they are
not like they're robots, right, Like the whole point of
this is that they're robots. And then the emotions theoretically right.
(37:48):
I mean, there's been stories like this told before, but
the way that this is not just told but then
presented on the stage, I think is going to be
based on what I've seen so far, has been.
Speaker 3 (37:59):
It's a great example of like what else is possible?
Can we can we even do something new at this
art form? And the answers yes always can't wait for it,
And the staging of it too is just so creative.
Speaker 1 (38:10):
Creative, and it looks, you know, it looks almost kind
of cinematic, like movie wise, with like the colors in
the way that they try to do it. It's really
hard to kind of get that to translate onto a stage.
So I'm excited to see how they are able to
do that. And that also seems like one that if
it has a good run on the stage, I could
absolutely see that being a movie that somebody.
Speaker 4 (38:30):
Tries to Oh sure, Oh as absolutely.
Speaker 1 (38:32):
Two add ons that you have, and you guys call
these add ons for anybody out there, the term ad
on is for like a season ticket holder for package.
But you can it doesn't matter. You don't have to
be a season ticket holder. You can go see these shows. Beetlejuice.
Beetlejuice was just here a couple of years ago. I
don't know if there's more fun that you could have
than just going there and knowing that this guy's about
to wreck some people.
Speaker 2 (38:53):
Like it's just.
Speaker 5 (38:54):
It's showtime, laughing the whole time, and it's a story
I think most people are kind of familiar with, but
especially after the death of Catherine o'mira, I think I
think a lot of people are revisiting some of her
best work, and this is certainly on that list too.
Speaker 3 (39:10):
Beetlejuice is such a fun experience, a fun show to
go to. I was I went to it the last
time it was in Omaha, and knowing that it's coming
back to Omaha and it's I think everyone should know.
It's only here for three performances.
Speaker 2 (39:22):
Yes, so that's a quick one, so you.
Speaker 3 (39:23):
Want to catch the boat. But I think for me,
I love Tim Burton films. I love Beetlejuice. It's a classic,
But I think I like the stage show more than
the movie. It's just so much fun.
Speaker 1 (39:35):
The lights, the sets, like the stage set with the house,
and then Beetlejuice himself, the effects around him on the
stage right just it looks he's dusty.
Speaker 2 (39:48):
Yeah he's you know, he's dead.
Speaker 1 (39:50):
Yeah you really see, Like you could sell me on
the fact that guy's as zombie up there. Yeah, he's
just he's really funny. So three performances, that's kind of
a tricky bit here. Do not take for granted when
Beetlejuice is in town, because it's here and then it's gone.
Speaker 3 (40:05):
Absolutely and I guess that's where we put the You know.
The marketing spiel is like when you're a season ticket
holder too, you get first access to adding these add
ons and for this one just to be here for
three performances, you don't want to sleep on it.
Speaker 2 (40:20):
That's a good is that in November?
Speaker 3 (40:22):
Yep, November twentieth through twenty first, So the three shows so.
Speaker 2 (40:26):
Just after Halloween.
Speaker 3 (40:27):
Yeah, like I like and I like to drag out
my Halloween too. Oh yeah, full season.
Speaker 4 (40:32):
And this was one that when we had it a
couple of years ago, people.
Speaker 3 (40:36):
Came out dressed to the nines.
Speaker 4 (40:38):
We had so many stripes in that audience and green
it was yeah.
Speaker 3 (40:42):
And can I put a PSA out there if you
are a theater fan and you come to our shows, like,
nothing makes us happier than someone who kind of goes
all in full drama kid like, come in costume. That's
part of the fun. We're having these experiences in real
life for a reason. But it's always so exciting when
people are like willing to participate with the show like that.
Speaker 2 (41:02):
It's so great.
Speaker 1 (41:03):
And you can tell which shows people are super passionate
about because that's the ones that you're going to see
a bunch of people dressed up. I'm gonna guess there
gonna be some people dressed up for the Book of
Mormon as well. The Book of Mormon. When I heard
about it the first time, I was just like, it
didn't really inspire me or anything. This is a few
years back before I moved to Omaha. And then I
(41:24):
realized it was the South Park guys who know this,
and I was like, wait a second, seriously, they made
a musical.
Speaker 3 (41:29):
They can write musicals too, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (41:31):
And so this is just a book full of hilarity, honestly.
With the Book of Mormon. The background, I guess is
these guys who are knocking on doors and things aren't
going the way that you would imagine. If you haven't
seen South Park, you just assume that you're going to
(41:52):
laugh at every turn on a show like this.
Speaker 4 (41:53):
Absolutely, I feel like this is one of those shows
where you have to kind of be careful with your
laughs because you might laugh over the next line that
would make you laugh and miss it on stage, and
those I always love because it just feels like a
pace that you're so into when you're engaged in it.
And this is another one. It hasn't been here for
ten years at this.
Speaker 3 (42:12):
Whole years, and there are some shows in theater where
you're kind of once you've seen it once, you're kind
of in on the story and you don't want to
give too much away for the people who haven't seen
it before. There's other shows like that on Broadway, and
this is one of them where you don't know exactly
what you're getting into, but we promise you're gonna laugh
so hard you're gonna cry love it.
Speaker 1 (42:34):
You guys have the entire calendar online and for people,
can they buy tickets to individual shows or you really
just push in season tickets right now?
Speaker 4 (42:42):
Right now, it's just the season tickets, so the core
seven show package, and then our subscribers can go ahead
and add on those two additional shows and then later
down the line they'll become available as single tickets for people.
Speaker 2 (42:54):
How can people get in on this?
Speaker 4 (42:55):
So if you want to become a season ticket holder,
you would go to ticket Omaha dot com slash Broadway.
You'll be able to do that there, and then I'll
always call our box office as well, and I would
say if if someone's considering becoming a season ticket holder,
you want to jump on that quickly because it is
sort of first come, first served in terms of the
seting happens.
Speaker 3 (43:15):
And I'll tell you there are people like lined up
right now waiting for other seats to open up. And
I think one thing that isn't talked about very much
with the advantages of being a season ticket holder is
when you save money. If you know that you want
to have these great nights out, you know you're maybe
going to go to a couple of the shows. When
you're a season ticket holder, you have flexibility. This is
(43:36):
one of my favorite aspects. Like you get close to
the show, you can't go one night you need. They
can help you move around your tickets, they can help
you book a new seat. And then when you're adding
on shows you get extra savings. You get first alerts
about other new shows coming to town. But the flexibility
in this day and age with busy schedules, like this
is the best way to do it because you get
(43:57):
to save your seat, you know it's there, you can
move around if you have a change of plans, and
the savings, I mean, you can't really beat it.
Speaker 1 (44:04):
Well, I will say this, I looked at the season
ticket price is just out of curiosity because you know,
I didn't know like what the tears were, and then
I realized for seven shows to get that for those prices,
that's insane. If you go to like four or five shows,
you are easily already like it more than paid for itself.
And these nights out are unbelievably enriching, not just because
(44:30):
you're fully entertained, but there's only so many things in
this world I think can give you the kind of
joy of watching it like a live stage production. And
that's why my wife and I like we are always
every time we can get a chance to go, We're
just there. It does not matter to us because you know,
whether we're really pumped for a show or we don't
know what to expect or anything like that, we just
cannot wait to go to the orfer even check it out.
(44:51):
So ticket Omaha dot com for that. Courtney Maturne, who's
the vice president of Marketing, Tara Macnamert, the director of communications.
Speaker 2 (44:59):
This was so fun. I went way longer than I
usually do for this podcast.
Speaker 3 (45:02):
Well, there are nine shows to talk about Broadway.
Speaker 1 (45:05):
And I just would talk about it for hours if
I could. But I really appreciate you guys coming in.
Thanks so much for what you guys, do on behalf
of all of Omaha Performing Arts. It's such a great
asset to the community. And I can't wait to chat
with you about other shows very very soon.
Speaker 3 (45:18):
Absolutely, there's always another one. We're announcing new.
Speaker 1 (45:21):
Ones all the time and I can't wait for it.
And by the way, just real quick, the Tenaska Center,
right like, that's about to open.
Speaker 4 (45:28):
Yeah, we open next week. Our ribbon cutting is next Thursday,
and then on the twenty second, we're inviting folks to
come out between noon and four to check out the
building for an open house.
Speaker 3 (45:39):
Yeah, the Tenaska Center has been a project in the
works for a long time and Omaha Performing Arts. You know,
we started with Orphium and Broadway, the Hall and Center
was built, We've got Stillhouse, We've got these awesome music venues,
and now we have this education center where we can
invite the community in for people of all ages, not
just to learn and become better performers, just hang out
(46:01):
with people who like the arts, take classes together, and
have a community space that can be used for everyone
who loves the performing arts. So March twenty second, noon
to four, you get to come check out the building
to kind of see what the spaces are like. And
then we'll have another event in April April eleventh, where
there's even more activities, free ones for the families.
Speaker 1 (46:20):
Can't wait. You guys are great. Thank you so much
for coming in and for all everything that you do
for this community.
Speaker 2 (46:24):
Thank you to all right. This has been the Emery
Songer Podcast. Keep locked in.
Speaker 1 (46:28):
We got so many great guests coming in the next
few days and just subscribe on the free iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (46:35):
We will talk to you later this week.
It's the Emery Songer podcast here on the free iHeartRadio
app telling you all the great things that.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Are happening in and around Omaha.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
And today we are talking about the fantastic arts that
you can take advantage of with my friends at Omaha
Performing Arts and in the studio with us, we have
Courtney Materne, the vice president of Marketing.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Welcome, Courtney, thank you.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
I'm so happy to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
And I have my good friend Tarah McNamara, the director
of Communications with Omaha Performing Arts.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Hello, Tara, how are you?
Speaker 4 (00:36):
I Emory very excited to be here, as guys, I'm
so excited to talk about this.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
You know what.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
This Monday I was at the Holland Center and we
learned about what the twenty twenty six twenty seven season
of OPAH was going to be at the Orpheum for
Broadway shows. We'll get to that in a second. But
we still have a few shows left this year, and Tara,
the next one little bit later this month is a
(01:02):
show I've actually seen called Six, and it's just a
lot of fun. Let's talk about what we have left
this year. Tell me about Six for the people out
there who aren't familiar with it.
Speaker 4 (01:11):
Yeah, six is so much fun. It's sort of a
pop concert that has some comedy and drama and amazing music,
and it's really about the six historic wives of Henry
the Eighth, but in a really bright, band driven pop concert.
And it's a really exciting night in the space, a
(01:32):
little different than what you would sometimes get from a
Broadway show, which I think people kind of appreciate and
have fun with.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
Like the fact that there's no intermission. Yes, ninety minute show.
The first time I saw it, I stood in the
back just to catch a peek because I was volunteering
at a show, and before I knew it, I was like,
I didn't leave, and the show is over it and
it was the best ninety one yes.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Well, And that's the other thing too for people who
haven't actually seen it yet, is it goes by so
fast you don't even really know how fast it is.
There's like eight songs. I mean, it goes by so quick.
But the story with the music and the costumes and
the humor that goes on in the interactions between the
(02:13):
wives of Henry the Eighth and am I wrong? Like
this is a direct kind of offshoot of the kind
of musical that Hamilton has kind of created, right, Like,
this gets popular because Hamilton gets popular, and I think
is going to set the stage for other really cool,
(02:33):
underrated historical stories to be told through fun musicals with
amazing on stage costumes. Am I wrong for feeling like that,
like that's a trend that could continue to grow?
Speaker 4 (02:45):
Yeah? I think absolutely. I think there's it's really interesting
to take a story or a historic event that people
know really well, but then kind of giving it a
really fun modern twist.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
I think this story is really fun because you get
these wives who you don't learn about as much in
his way, and they kind of reclaim the story. And
then the music it sounds like the type of pop
music you would hear on the radio, so much so
that I know my ten year old and his friends
like to listen to the soundtrack just like they would
listen to pop music on the radio.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
And that's the one thing about the music of six also,
is all of the songs have kind of a different
sound to them. It's not just kind of like because
sometimes you'll run into a musical and you can tell
that a single person has written the music to all
of this, and in six, it really feels like those
are completely different individuals who have either written or performed
(03:34):
those songs, and I think they did a really good
job with that. Not the only show we still have
this season though. This spring we have a couple of
big ones also coming up to.
Speaker 4 (03:42):
Yeah, we still have Missus Doubtfire in April, which is
a take on the classic movie that everyone knows and
loves from I guess the nineties the eighties, and then
we follow that up with Mama Mia in May, which
also a big one that people have asked to have
come back over and over again.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
It's just one that never gets obviously.
Speaker 4 (04:01):
The music of Abba, we all know it, we all
love it.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
Such a fun such a fun night, we're all dancing queens.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Oh yeah. And this summer we got Summer's the big one.
Speaker 4 (04:10):
We have the return of Wicked.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
What a time to get Wicked?
Speaker 4 (04:13):
Yeah truly, I mean.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Come on, what a great show to be a part
of if you're in that cast right now. And it's
just like the demand has never been higher. You have
the movies that come out. Did you did you see
the movies?
Speaker 4 (04:27):
Yeah? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (04:27):
I did?
Speaker 3 (04:28):
Yeah both on opening night?
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Yeah? So so yeay?
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Or Nat of the movies versus the show, because it's
just weird that we've taken this two and a half
hour musical which is legendary, and we've the songs translate
obviously they're mega hits for Broadway, and I love the story. Again,
we've kind of taken an original text and kind of
shifted it into kind of a different story. I love
the reimagination of some of this stuff, but we stretched
(04:54):
it out to like five hours, and I don't know,
I just felt like I get a little loss with
how much extra that they put into it over two
full movies. And I think the part of the magic
of the Broadway Show is they're able to still tell
a story in basically the same way while really keeping
(05:15):
that story moving with It almost feels like a breakneck
pace when you watch it because there's so much always
happening with all of these amazing songs in between. Am
I wrong for feeling like the movie just long?
Speaker 2 (05:28):
It's a little long.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
I guess I'm one of those people who's like, if
you have if I have one story that I love,
I want to see it in all the mediums. I'm like, yeah,
by it, I want to see it in the movies.
I want to see what you add to it. I
want to see it on stage.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
Give me a Netflix ten episode mini series, yes, yes, please?
Speaker 3 (05:44):
And I see it in all the formats.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
Absolutely, And I've been a Wicked fan for such a
long time. I saw the original cast on Broadway back
when I was, I mean kind of just out of college.
And so it's been a long journey.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
You have a history there.
Speaker 4 (05:58):
Yeah, I'm lucky.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
Did you get to see Kristin Chenowan make it?
Speaker 4 (06:02):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (06:03):
Yeah, crazy.
Speaker 4 (06:05):
So it's been a really long journey. I've seen it,
you know, multiple times on tour, I've worked on it
multiple times, and so I was excited, but I guess
also a little a little anxious when the movie came out.
But I actually think they did an amazing job with it.
I love that it's brought such a larger audience to
the show and to musicals and.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
General introduces new audiences to to musicals on screen. So
it's kind of fun when you have that story that
maybe we grew up with, that you take your kids too,
and now they're interested in Wicked and wanting to see
it on stage too.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
I was thinking about that too, you know, now that
you mentioned it, something like Greece, you know, like they
made that in the seventies and they're I mean, especially
if you're like a Disney fan, right, like if you
were watching big films and stuff like, it wasn't crazy
in the sixties and seventies to see big, extravagant musical
(06:57):
numbers in movies, and we definitely got away from from
that with big blockbuster types for a while. I don't
know if it was because like it doesn't fit with.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
The waation costs.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Yeah, and it's just.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Like you know, like Lalla Land and some stuff like that,
it's hard to get sucked into a story for non
musical people if all of a sudden the characters are
breaking out into song. Rent is kind of like the
last one I could think of that kind of usurped
that and reached kind of a more mainstream audience that
otherwise would not have even seen Rent or known what
(07:29):
Rent was about. That was successful at like breaking through there.
I know Kats tried to do that and it didn't
work out so well. So I don't know, like, do
you think that that could lead to another attempt by
somebody to say, hey, we got an incredible musical that
we would love to see on the big screen, and
we think it could be a better movie than Dear
(07:50):
Evid Hansen was or Kats was. We can go the
rent or Wicked route and just if we do this right,
we could actually make this a really memorable show, like
a movie that would like could we take can we
take a musical and turn it into a movie and
it be maybe not Wicked big, but kind of break
through the mainstream and be successful in the box office
(08:13):
and well reviewed, you know, because it's not always easy
to do when you like, because you're at Hanson, doesn't
feel really the same at all watching the movie versus
seeing it on the stage.
Speaker 4 (08:23):
Right, I mean, I, for one, am up for as
many musicals and anything, and I just think I always
think in the other the other way around, Like Mulan
Rouge was one of my favorites, So happy to see
it come to stage.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
But I think of so many shows and this season,
past seasons I think could make great movies, things like Haitiestown,
like I would like.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
To That's the one I was thinking of.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
It was like because that, like as a stage production
kind of feels like it broke through a different audience
because people who aren't usually going to see musicals are like, Okay,
I've heard.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
A lot of great things about this. I want to
go see what this is like on the stage.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
Maybe something with a little bit of that kind of
grittier story. I think it makes for good movies.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
Are we overdue for like kind of a retelling of
like a classical like like a Myfa a Lady or
something like like a.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Like a like put a modern twist.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
On Yeah, like a modern take or twist on something,
or even something like we just saw like and Juliette.
If you have like the rights to music like that.
Speaker 4 (09:25):
Would be fun.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
It'll be fun. I'll film too, because I know I'm Broadway.
Sometimes you have a show that is really popular, like
Mulan Rouge for instance, swapping out different actors and reimagining
a role like Megan thee Stallion joining the cast the
Broadway show, it's like, put it, put a twist on it,
let's see it a different way. But I think from
Tara and I's perspective, we're like all in every time.
(09:48):
I'll watch it once.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
Well, and this is the other thing too, when people
are passionate about stuff like this, and this is how
I feel about going to the Orpheum. They're like, Emory,
are you excited about all of these shows? And I
look and I see, you know, something like Neil Diamond,
and I just think, good, yeah, but I'm not a
Neil Diamond guy. And I'm like, eh, you know, I'm not.
I wouldn't say I'm like super excited. Am I excited
(10:09):
to go sit in the Orphum and watch the live
performance of the show?
Speaker 2 (10:13):
You bet? I am?
Speaker 1 (10:14):
And I like, and you know what, every time I go,
I always leave and I'm like, I'm so glad that
I was here for this.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
So glad I left my house. I have a season
tickets on a Friday night. Sometimes it's like, am I
gonna leave my house today? But I think you're onto
something there with the experience of seeing something live on
stage versus on our screens of many sizes. It's something
about watching a show with the crowd too. Oh yeah,
how the people next to you are reacting, who you
(10:40):
bump into on the way, feeling like you are part
of a community, and how cool it is that you
don't have to fly all the way to New York
City to see these great.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Shows in a great venue like the Orphume is an
unbelievable venue for.
Speaker 4 (10:51):
This super historically, and we hear that from people all
the time. You know that they come in and it
feels so special. It's like you're walking in the door
to this really special place where, to Courtney's point, this
special experience is going to happen that you're only going
to be able to experience that one time live with
the people you're there with. Yeah, and it's just you
don't get that in so many other areas of life
(11:14):
now and entertainment, and it's just still a really special
experience for people.
Speaker 3 (11:19):
Yeah, there's still something to be surprised about too. You
never know how the whole crowd is going to react
to a big moment or a confetti cannon, and there's
something special about that.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
Well, Okay, sorry to interrupt there, but it's like when
the Minecraft movie came out, right, and I am not
a Minecraft guy. I was not excited to see the movie,
and I didn't actually go see the movie, but it
became one of the biggest movies of the last decade
because people realized that the experience of just watching it
with a live crowd that was going to react in
the same way they reacted to right, so you could
(11:47):
watch if you're a Minecraft fan, you can sit in
your home and stream it whenever it shows up on
the screen, and you'll get all the references and you
might chuckle and laugh. There's something else sitting in a
theater with you know, seventy other people and you're all
laughing and cheering at the same moment. That's going to
enhance You can't help but have your experience enhanced by
doing that with other people.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
And there's something about being like with your people. You're like, Oh,
they get it. They love this just as much as
I do. I think that's the phenomenon with Wicked too.
Oh yeah, is for people like going to the theater,
getting dressed up, being in the crowd with all these people,
like actually seeing a movie that has applause at the end.
And it's the same when you come to the show.
People come dressed up, they know and love the characters,
(12:29):
and you hear other people react to the moments. You're like, oh,
these people are like a theater nerd like me, Like,
I'm not a weirdo. I belong to this community of
other arts lovers.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
You guys always have amazing crowds too. Every time I'm
in there. It's just like the people are ready for
these shows. At the season reveal party.
Speaker 4 (12:47):
For instance, this amazing energy.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
It's like I walked in there and you guys that
do a happy hour, it's like a social happy hour,
and this is an invitation only event, right, season ticket hohole,
members of the media, you know, donors, people who are
like in some way have already invested some time or
some finances into what you guys do with Omaha Performing Arts.
(13:12):
And you would think like, if you're not a part
of this community, you're like, Okay, well, how many people
could that possibly be? I walked in at like five
thirty five, right after this allegedly was supposed to start.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
Yeah, people kind of bust down the doors all season
row right.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
I have no idea how you've done this, Like just
an hour long show which is really not a show
as much as it is just literally revealing what the
schedule is, and people are going crazy for it. They're
filling up the Holland Center. The drink lines were so long.
Everybody's so excited to get in there and see what's up.
I don't know how you've done it, but the anticipation
(13:47):
you could feel the anticipation, and it all started when
the lights went down and you see somebody in the
dark kind of walk on stage and they're like yep,
and you're like, okay, so what what is this? What
could this possibly be? Because you guys never leave breadcrumbs,
there's no hints, like it's like, I could try to
guess it. Maybe some of the stuff that's really hot
(14:09):
right now they're going to try to get, but we
don't know. And then all of a sudden you see
pop up on the big screen Phantom of the Opera.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
People lost theirs.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
What a way to start the night. Phantom of the Opera.
Let's talk about it and we'll get through kind of
the schedule and stuff. It's more about just the shows themselves,
but you want to talk about Corneya just a fantastic
show to kind of set the tone, not just for
the reveal, but as like a cornerstone part of what
next season is going to look like.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
I don't know if the Phantom fans have an official name.
I was called Phantom Fans with.
Speaker 4 (14:38):
A pH a pheah.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
But we knew with Phantom coming back to Omham, we
knew that would be a big moment. People love that
show so much. I've seen it three times in Omaha.
One time is like a high schooler on a trip
the last time that it was here, and every you
can't go wrong with that show. Every time it hits
the stage, you get goosebumps. So I'm really excited that
it's coming back, and I think every time it does
(15:03):
it's worth seeing again to see what they are doing new.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Yeah, so Tara, like, I know that this is a
thing that I talk about all the time. It's just
like the process of getting a show like this, and
we'll talk about some of the newer shows also, but
we get amazing shows that are new coming off Broadway.
But you also sprinkle in these classics that people are
going to immediately recognize it. They know, Okay, the music's amazing,
(15:30):
the story's amazing, it's legendary. It has survived generations already,
It's going to survive more well into the future. Here,
what is it for the people in the administration of
Omaha Performing Ours to try to get these shows and
build a schedule that has such a different, eclectic group
of shows like this one versus some of the others
(15:51):
that we'll talk about that are either newer or you know,
like the sound of music or beautying the Beast, ones
that people already are very familiar with.
Speaker 4 (15:59):
Yeah, I think that our Joan Squire's, who you know
really well, is very conscious about making sure that we
have something that's for everyone in each season, and that
really does vary for people, right. Some people want those
classics that they know well and have seen before and
want to bring their families back to. Others are really
kind of staying on top of the most recent Broadway
(16:20):
news and know what won the Tony's last year and
the year prior and want to see those shows. And
so I think a big piece of it for Joan
is kind of piecing together this season that's going to
be of broadest appeal to people, but also welcoming in families,
also giving people that opportunity to see something early in
its run on the road. She has such amazing connections
(16:43):
within this industry and has been working in it for
so long that you know, she really has has mastered
that skill and works really hard at it. I think
that that's one thing that a lot of people might
not realize is how much work goes into planning a season.
But the other piece I don't want to discount is
our season ticket holders. It's because there is that group
(17:04):
of passionate fans here in Omaha that are already committed
to the season that we're able to keep going out
there and bringing in well every top shows.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
That you do this season reveal and you see these
people that are on runway, they come out, they're like wow,
like how many people are here?
Speaker 2 (17:20):
This is crazy?
Speaker 4 (17:21):
Yeah, But I think that's to your point earlier about
the event earlier this week where we revealed the shows
and how it was the energy in the room was
just palpable of people excited to just hear what was
coming because they kind of know what they're hoping for.
They know what's already been through and what might be
out there.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
And they know that yeah, and they know that they're
gonna get some big shows.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
I think too, it's important Joan is like a Broadway alchemist,
like are she builds a season around what she knows.
She's the Nebraska's only Tony's voter. She goes to dozens
and dozens of shows every year. But the thing that
she never loses sight of, that we never lose sight
of Omaha performing arts is the Broadway subscribers, the season
ticket holders, and they give us feedback. We do surveys,
(18:05):
and we want to throw a party that they want
to come to. And so Joan is always thoughtful and
connected and dialed into what's hot on Broadway, but like,
what does Omaha want to see? What is Omaha deserve
to see? And we really do as this mid mid
size city market, Like we get some of these shows
really early in their tours because of that relationship Joan
(18:28):
has with Broadway and because of how dialed we are
in with our subscriber base and knowing what they want
to see.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
Yeah, so fan of the opercatings to speak for itself
on that Yeah yeah, well but.
Speaker 4 (18:40):
And even that show, it hasn't been here since twenty eighteen,
so it's definitely time to have it back. But it
also hasn't been touring for several years. So this is
a new tour that started last year. And so we
know that I oversee our social media area for OPAH,
and I know that since I have been here, people
(19:02):
have been asking for Phantom to come back, and so
unfortunately it wasn't actually out on the road touring, so
we're very hard to.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
Bring it back and it is now.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
Yeah, there's not a tour exactly.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
Okay, So let's go ahead and talk about another one
that I think is a slam dunk anytime you can
bring it here.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
But it's also one that I think may.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
Have been a lot of people's first musical and they
really didn't even know it when they were a kid.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
And that's The Sound of Music.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
Oh yeah, yeah, because The Sound of Music is one
of those shows that I think people are familiar with
even some of the songs without really even knowing what
the original text is that it comes from. And obviously
this being kind of a new interpretation of what this
will be, but it is just in like a literal
(19:46):
theatrical classic that is going to come to the stage
of the Orphea.
Speaker 4 (19:50):
Yeah. I think that the Sound of Music. I mean,
I'd be hard pressed to find someone who doesn't know
a song from the Sound of Music.
Speaker 3 (19:57):
Yeah, even without knowing that it is from the Sound
of Music. There was an article, I think it was
on Broadway dot com. It was like, hey, everybody, the
Sound of Music is cool again. It seems like there's
some like gen z is it's back in favor again
with the Sound of Music. Kind of revisiting those classic
stories with the classic music. But it's again one of
those instances of a story that is timeless. That's important,
(20:20):
and we're always so lucky when the classics are revisited
and given like a fresh look.
Speaker 4 (20:24):
Yeah, and I think it a fun bit here is
that the Broadway show of the Sound of Music actually
came before the movie, so people are more familiar with
the movie, but it was originally a stage show and
then became the movie, and then future iterations of the
stage have happened since. But it's always fun to hear
from people who come and see the stage show to
(20:45):
sort of be like, oh, I didn't realize this was
what originally.
Speaker 3 (20:48):
Yeah, this story came before Julie Andrews, which again is
an educational thing because even I didn't really know.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
That The Sound of Music was not just the movie
at first, But that explained, right, you know, Like I
talked about that era of like a ton of different musicals,
people a lot more willing to put music and musical
numbers into like actual films and everything. I am always
fascinated by kind of that ricochet of like how do
we reimagine these things in twenty twenty six or twenty
(21:19):
twenty seven that are I mean, I saw My Fair
Lady a couple of years ago when it was here, right,
and that's a real classic, you know.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
And it's.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
The set in a lot of ways is what has
modernized and you just really still feel like it is
a fresh piece of production. And even if you think
you know the show, you should still come and see
the show because you may be surprised at how it
has been adjusted for a modern audience. And I'm excited
to see the Sound of Music for that reason alone, honestly,
(21:52):
because certainly the costumes should be, you know, pretty close.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
There are all these eras of musicals that are known
for their big stage effects. Also not to go backward,
but Phantom too. There's so many cool stage effects and epic.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
Moments, even the video that you guys look for the trailers,
just like I can't wait to see what that looks
like in person.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
Everything from the chandeliers to mask raid, those big numbers,
and same with the sets of Sound of Music. There's
just big and epic, and I think a lot of
the shows this season have these big stage moments, from
special effects to trying new things with not just the music,
but what is the setting like too, transforming the Orpheum
(22:32):
Theater into a whole new place.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
Yeah, and that's it's such a cool venue in the
first place, right, you know, when the Lion King was
here and you see like the drums that were set
up kind of in the balcony of there. It's just like,
I love coming to the orph You It's just always
so funny. You never know what's going to be there.
Speaking of the Lion King, got a Disney show this year,
Beauty and the Beast, which you know, for nineties kids
like me. Beauty and the Beast is another kind of
(22:58):
like you didn't know it was a music when you're
six years old watching it for the first time, but
it's one of the first musicals like you kind of
fall in love with. And I wasn't a huge Beauty
in the Beast fan. I liked you know, the aristocrats
in Robinhood and Aladdin and a lot of the other
Lion King obviously. But I went to Disney World in
Florida a couple of years ago with my wife and
(23:19):
we were there for four days. We went all four
of the parks and I could not believe I mean,
I think I saw more Beauty in the Beast stuff
than anything else, more than Mickey Mouse, more than any
of the other big classic snow White Princess movies and
all that, not the Little Mermormaid, not even any of
the more recent ones or Pixar or anything like that.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
There are Beauty in the Beast singalongs.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
There are Beauty in the Beast shows that you can
go see even in like places you wouldn't expect to
see Beauty in the Beast.
Speaker 3 (23:48):
I think it's really tapping into maybe a nostalgia for
a certain generation. And it's been years since The Beauty
and the Beast has been to Omaha.
Speaker 4 (23:57):
Yeah, it's been mive more than ten years at this.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
I mean, the hunger and appetite has to be there,
because this has aged about as well as any Disney
film probably ever now that I'm thinking about it, because
you know, they try to make Snow White into a
movie and it just didn't quite work out the same
way that I think that they were hoping for.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
I feel like.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
Every time The Beauty of the Beast does anything, people
are like, oh, I can't wait to watch this.
Speaker 3 (24:20):
Yeah, because I just get excited anytime we have a
Disney show on the docket because Disney Magic, there's nothing
that tops it.
Speaker 4 (24:28):
And this production is also a new production, and they
brought back several members of the original creative team who
did the original Broadway production, which was I saw it
as a teenager and it was just so glamorous and
full of spectacle and I just cannot wait.
Speaker 3 (24:47):
To see So you always wonder when you're a kid
watching those shows, and actually even I mean I'm grown
up now and you think about those movies, those fairy tales,
and you want to be a part of them. And
there is something about a live stage production where you
feel like you're getting to see it come to life.
You're invited to the ball and you get to feel
that magic in person. So I think it's magical for
(25:12):
the inner kid and all of us.
Speaker 4 (25:13):
And it's been around the original based on the original production,
more than twenty five years ago at this point, which
is a little wild, but also the same with something
like Sound of Music, these are things that people grew
up with who can now bring their kids or their
grandkids and really kind of have that multi generational experience
at the show.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
Yeah, and they made a live action movie of this
story with Emma Watson as Belle, and that was one
that worked and people had good things to say about it.
People wanted to go see it. And the songs still
slap for how old you are? Those songs are just well,
there's in your head be our guest, well in the
tale as old as time? Right, it's just the like
(25:52):
it's such a Disney song, right, but it usurps like
the Disney world for people are Disney fans. Everybody knows
it because of how beautiful it is. I can't wait
to hear it on the stage. When Circle of Life
started for the Lion King and talk about Disney magic,
I tear up, yeah, because you just like you feel
like that that Elton John kind of influence to that soundtrack,
(26:13):
and then it's performed live and you're seeing this incredible
production with the animals.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
I can't wait to see the beast and on the.
Speaker 3 (26:23):
Stage, costumes, the makeup, how are you going to turn
a human into a candlestick?
Speaker 5 (26:27):
Like?
Speaker 3 (26:28):
Those are all the things that the magic. And there's
these classic shows that have that too. I'm kind of
like really excited to talk about some of the new
ones too, because there's some more stage magic costume magic.
That's what I love about theater is like it's live.
There's no CGI, there's no AI special effects, Like some
human has to make this costume or make this you know,
(26:48):
battle scene or gunshot wound or whatever is in an
any show come to life on stage in real time
and there's no faking it.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
Well, and let's just kind of take that in and
go to the next one that was on my list
here is and it's death becomes.
Speaker 3 (27:03):
Yeah, that's where I was going. You picked up what
I was putting down.
Speaker 1 (27:06):
Well, but it's but that's another like if you are
familiar with the movie, there's some people in that movie.
I mean, it is a really funny, like dark, kind
of funny early nineties movie with some real legitimate actors
in it. I didn't even know this was a stage
production right now, And I'm excited for it, not just
because of I'm excited to see how the story translates
(27:29):
to the stage, but like you mentioned the effects, how
are they like some of the effects they are going
to have to do for this to make the story work.
Speaker 2 (27:35):
I'm excited to see how they do that.
Speaker 4 (27:37):
Yeah, And I think that to your point of there
are some people in this movie, and that's a lot
to live up to. The effects I think are just
as big of a piece.
Speaker 3 (27:46):
They're almost characters themselves.
Speaker 4 (27:48):
Exactly, and this show gets them right. I saw it
on Broadway and it is just so fun and you
can feel the audience kind of waiting for each of
those effect moments. And I'm not going to give any
spoil a way, but you feel everyone kind of collectively
waiting for those to happen on stage and you're curious
to see how how you do it in this live environment.
(28:09):
But on top of that, it has amazing music. The
choreography is fantastic. It's just such such a fun show.
I can't I can't emphasize.
Speaker 3 (28:19):
And to your point, you mentioned you didn't know that
it was a stage music, but it's fresh, like this
is its first it's just starting to tour off a Broadway.
And that's sort of the benefit, I guess of living
in Omaha. If you can't live in New York City,
you might as well be here because we try to
catch these shows first and we'll be one of the
earliest stops on its tour.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
Now that's exciting, and again I feel like that's also
a theme ye see, Omaha usually catches a lot of
the new shows early. You know, I saw the Outsiders,
and you know you can feel like that energy of
the cast too. It's like, really they're not mailing anything in.
They're They're like, this is a an opportunity to hone
(28:58):
the show in front of a really lively audience. And
I don't feel like anybody ever takes e for granted
at the Orphum, which really makes it all the better
to be a fan of theater theater here because you're
gonna get the best of the people on the stage
every single time that you're there. Kind of wanted to
just take that and go to The Great Gatsby, because again,
(29:21):
that's there's been so many interpretations of this story.
Speaker 2 (29:25):
F Scott Fitzgerald writes the book.
Speaker 3 (29:28):
Bas Lauerman redoes the movie well.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
In the original movie, which is like more real life
looking with Robert Redford and Sam Waterston in the seventies,
and then Baz Luhrman's is like this kind.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
Of abstract, very extravagant.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
Yeah, just everything is so colorful and you're just kind
of transported into like a different universe with that this
with music. I cannot wait to see because this is
not a story that I've ever like. I just hear
nineteen twenties jazz going on in the background. This is
going to be based on the song that we heard
performed by one of the people who are actually a
(30:05):
part of the company in New York, came and performed
at the season revealed this is not just going to
be confined to nineteen twenty sounding music.
Speaker 4 (30:13):
Oh no, as you heard, that was like an amazing
big power ballat Oh yeah.
Speaker 3 (30:19):
Right, and this book, this book is one hundred years
old or one hundred and one this year, but the
music is definitely of this time.
Speaker 4 (30:27):
Yeah, it's if you want to talk about a Broadway
show that has what people are looking for in terms
of Broadway spectacle. The song, the dance, the sets, the
costumes sparkle. This is it.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
I love the first movie The Baz Luhrman. I loved
it because of Leonardo DiCaprio.
Speaker 3 (30:49):
Oh yeah, yeah, It's like I just can't go wrong
with Leo.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
He's He's an incredible actor and it's like a part
he was born to play, was being Jay Gatsby at
some point in his life. But there is something about
out the idea of putting this on a stage where
I'm like, why haven't I thought like this was something that.
Speaker 2 (31:05):
Should be done.
Speaker 3 (31:06):
You'd be on the stage. Well, have you read the
book or do you have to read it in high school?
Speaker 2 (31:10):
I read it in high school.
Speaker 3 (31:11):
I fel like so many of us read that book
or either whether it was required reading or you finally
get around to reading the classics and you read about
Jay Gatsby throwing these big parties, and you wonder what
would it be like to go to a party like that?
And I think that's what I love about bringing it
to life on stage is you are basically.
Speaker 2 (31:27):
Part of the party, and.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
You know something crazy is going to happen. Being in
the audience, you know, you're just like, what's that thing
that's going to make me a part of the Gatsby party?
Because there's everybody at the Gasby party. Yes, the entire
town's at the Gasby party, and now you're invited. They're
right there in front of you. I'm excited for that one.
That's gonna be amazing.
Speaker 3 (31:47):
And that one got a huge reaction at the season reveal,
which sort of surprised me. But was it Chase Peacock
who came and performed that that ballad and it gave
you goose bumps and people kind of lost their mind.
And it's like, yeah, everybody loves nineteen twenties like era,
like party, so let's go.
Speaker 4 (32:01):
And there was there was a There's a great number.
I think it's an act too, and it's just a
tap number that even as an audience tap dance is cool,
you guys well, and it's it's so high energy and athletic,
and as an audience member, it kind of makes you breathless.
You're like, how are they doing this?
Speaker 1 (32:19):
I love I love great dancing, like The Whiz when
it came to town this year. It's just like I
know the story of Dorothy and you can only reinterpret
this a million different ways.
Speaker 2 (32:30):
I get it.
Speaker 1 (32:31):
The dancing I saw on the stage that night was
like worth the price of admission. I don't even care
what the story was. It was unbelievable. You have a
good tap number.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
I am in. I'm totally in siny well yeah, I mean, like.
Speaker 1 (32:42):
Just show me that. I'll see that in person. It's amazing,
So I'm excited for that one. Hell's Kitchen is another
newer one that.
Speaker 3 (32:50):
A great dance.
Speaker 1 (32:51):
Yeah, and this is a completely different style of dance,
but it's the musical with Alicia Keys music and for
people who are unfamiliar with Alicia Keys.
Speaker 3 (33:01):
Who is unfamiliar with Alicia.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
Keys but that but that's the thing too, is like, man,
you're gonna underestimate how many really big songs that she
has had a hand in writing or performing that are
going to be a part of this. Is this her
story or is this a story based on her life?
Speaker 4 (33:17):
It's kind of inspired by her life, right, So it's
not her direct story.
Speaker 1 (33:21):
So it's not like the Diamond Words kind of chronologically
kind of going through and seeing the story with the
songs as they were coming, or like the Michael Jackson
or you know, Tina Turner, all those that we've seen
in the last few seasons. This is more like interpreting.
It's kind of like mom and mea It's like this
story and then we're taking songs that fit the story
throughout the musical.
Speaker 2 (33:41):
Is that more what we're looking at?
Speaker 4 (33:42):
I think I'd say it's somewhere in between. Does still
kind of tell her story, It's just not meant to
be a direct interpretation of her story. And what's also
really interesting about this one is that it does include
the songs that you know from her catalog, but then
there's also new songs well that she's written, and I
think that it that combination is a fun one for people.
(34:03):
I mean, she has won seventeen Grammy.
Speaker 3 (34:05):
Awards save some for the rest of it, I know,
And if you were at the reveal, we had, you know,
two songs from the show, and those aren't new written
for the musical, but when you're hearing it, you feel
what makes it an Alicia Keys story. You can tell
that she's had her hand and making this new music
for the show so that people can kind of reconnect
(34:28):
with the classics but also get something fresh and new.
So it's not just your typical jukebox musical and there's
go ahead.
Speaker 4 (34:35):
There's this really great way. I think also that they've
taken the music and used what you already know, but
in different unexpected ways. So for example, her song No.
One in this show is kind of reinterpreted as a
mother daughter moment, and because there's a really great mother
daughter through line throughout the show, and so I love
that too. When it's you know, the song, it's familiar
(34:56):
to you, but you mean love to see it in
a different way.
Speaker 1 (34:58):
Yeah, this is a their daughter relationship instead of like
a girl boy relationship.
Speaker 2 (35:05):
You know what I'm in, got me you got me in?
And I like a.
Speaker 1 (35:09):
Leash Key's music obviously, like some of some of the
songs of my like college years and stuff, Like there's
an influence there right, Like anytime that you're like seventeen
or nineteen or twenty three or whatever and you're still
learning about the world, Like there's a soundtrack for you
and anybody my age. There's gonna be a Leasiha songs
or at leash Key songs that are going to be
through there. So can't wait to see those on the stage.
(35:31):
The other the last one that's a part of the
main season ticket packages, may be Happy Ending, and this one,
I think I hate saying this. I think I'm most
excited to see this one just because it is a
completely fresh, new story, new on the road, but also
one of the most renowned and well regarded musicals in
(35:56):
the Tony Awards this past year. So what can you
tell us about this new one that I think might
be a brand new story or concept for pretty much everyone.
Speaker 4 (36:05):
Yeah, I think this is one that's going to surprise people.
We always hear every year subscribers come in and see
their full package and then they're like, I maybe wouldn't
have picked that show because I didn't know anything about it,
and then when I saw it, it became my favorite
one of the seasons.
Speaker 2 (36:18):
That's what makes me so excited for it is I
wait to see it.
Speaker 4 (36:20):
Yeah, and I think that maybe happy ending is that
for this season potentially. It's so good. I also had
the fortune of seeing this in New York and it's
so fresh and new, and like you said, it won
the Tony Award last year for Best Musical. I think
it won six Tony Awards last.
Speaker 1 (36:36):
Year awards m hmm. And it's going to be out
the Orphan. How cool is that?
Speaker 3 (36:41):
I think too. You have to give credit because to
your point, this is a fresh, new story. It hasn't
been done before a lot of the shows that we
love from Broadways because it's nostalgic or it's connected to
some other pop culture moment, and there's not as many
people taking that risk to tell a new story. And
it's definitely being rewarded, as you see, it's been lauded
at the Tony Awards, and this will be one of
(37:02):
its first stops on the national tour, and I think
it's a fun one just as a story about being human.
It's about two help robots, got cute, beautiful story and
you know, in the age of AI and tech, like
what better than you know, an important message of being human.
I think people are going to be really surprised by it,
So if you are going to the show, don't miss it.
Speaker 2 (37:26):
Absolutely well.
Speaker 1 (37:27):
And just the video again, do you guys play these
like trailer videos? It's like, man, that's gonna that takes
some commitment from those actors to be on the stage
and really sell you on the fact that they are
not like they're robots, right, Like the whole point of
this is that they're robots. And then the emotions theoretically right.
(37:48):
I mean, there's been stories like this told before, but
the way that this is not just told but then
presented on the stage, I think is going to be
based on what I've seen so far, has been.
Speaker 3 (37:59):
It's a great example of like what else is possible?
Can we can we even do something new at this
art form? And the answers yes always can't wait for it,
And the staging of it too is just so creative.
Speaker 1 (38:10):
Creative, and it looks, you know, it looks almost kind
of cinematic, like movie wise, with like the colors in
the way that they try to do it. It's really
hard to kind of get that to translate onto a stage.
So I'm excited to see how they are able to
do that. And that also seems like one that if
it has a good run on the stage, I could
absolutely see that being a movie that somebody.
Speaker 4 (38:30):
Tries to Oh sure, Oh as absolutely.
Speaker 1 (38:32):
Two add ons that you have, and you guys call
these add ons for anybody out there, the term ad
on is for like a season ticket holder for package.
But you can it doesn't matter. You don't have to
be a season ticket holder. You can go see these shows. Beetlejuice.
Beetlejuice was just here a couple of years ago. I
don't know if there's more fun that you could have
than just going there and knowing that this guy's about
to wreck some people.
Speaker 2 (38:53):
Like it's just.
Speaker 5 (38:54):
It's showtime, laughing the whole time, and it's a story
I think most people are kind of familiar with, but
especially after the death of Catherine o'mira, I think I
think a lot of people are revisiting some of her
best work, and this is certainly on that list too.
Speaker 3 (39:10):
Beetlejuice is such a fun experience, a fun show to
go to. I was I went to it the last
time it was in Omaha, and knowing that it's coming
back to Omaha and it's I think everyone should know.
It's only here for three performances.
Speaker 2 (39:22):
Yes, so that's a quick one, so you.
Speaker 3 (39:23):
Want to catch the boat. But I think for me,
I love Tim Burton films. I love Beetlejuice. It's a classic,
But I think I like the stage show more than
the movie. It's just so much fun.
Speaker 1 (39:35):
The lights, the sets, like the stage set with the house,
and then Beetlejuice himself, the effects around him on the
stage right just it looks he's dusty.
Speaker 2 (39:48):
Yeah he's you know, he's dead.
Speaker 1 (39:50):
Yeah you really see, Like you could sell me on
the fact that guy's as zombie up there. Yeah, he's
just he's really funny. So three performances, that's kind of
a tricky bit here. Do not take for granted when
Beetlejuice is in town, because it's here and then it's gone.
Speaker 3 (40:05):
Absolutely and I guess that's where we put the You know.
The marketing spiel is like when you're a season ticket
holder too, you get first access to adding these add
ons and for this one just to be here for
three performances, you don't want to sleep on it.
Speaker 2 (40:20):
That's a good is that in November?
Speaker 3 (40:22):
Yep, November twentieth through twenty first, So the three shows so.
Speaker 2 (40:26):
Just after Halloween.
Speaker 3 (40:27):
Yeah, like I like and I like to drag out
my Halloween too. Oh yeah, full season.
Speaker 4 (40:32):
And this was one that when we had it a
couple of years ago, people.
Speaker 3 (40:36):
Came out dressed to the nines.
Speaker 4 (40:38):
We had so many stripes in that audience and green
it was yeah.
Speaker 3 (40:42):
And can I put a PSA out there if you
are a theater fan and you come to our shows, like,
nothing makes us happier than someone who kind of goes
all in full drama kid like, come in costume. That's
part of the fun. We're having these experiences in real
life for a reason. But it's always so exciting when
people are like willing to participate with the show like that.
Speaker 2 (41:02):
It's so great.
Speaker 1 (41:03):
And you can tell which shows people are super passionate
about because that's the ones that you're going to see
a bunch of people dressed up. I'm gonna guess there
gonna be some people dressed up for the Book of
Mormon as well. The Book of Mormon. When I heard
about it the first time, I was just like, it
didn't really inspire me or anything. This is a few
years back before I moved to Omaha. And then I
(41:24):
realized it was the South Park guys who know this,
and I was like, wait a second, seriously, they made
a musical.
Speaker 3 (41:29):
They can write musicals too, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (41:31):
And so this is just a book full of hilarity, honestly.
With the Book of Mormon. The background, I guess is
these guys who are knocking on doors and things aren't
going the way that you would imagine. If you haven't
seen South Park, you just assume that you're going to
(41:52):
laugh at every turn on a show like this.
Speaker 4 (41:53):
Absolutely, I feel like this is one of those shows
where you have to kind of be careful with your
laughs because you might laugh over the next line that
would make you laugh and miss it on stage, and
those I always love because it just feels like a
pace that you're so into when you're engaged in it.
And this is another one. It hasn't been here for
ten years at this.
Speaker 3 (42:12):
Whole years, and there are some shows in theater where
you're kind of once you've seen it once, you're kind
of in on the story and you don't want to
give too much away for the people who haven't seen
it before. There's other shows like that on Broadway, and
this is one of them where you don't know exactly
what you're getting into, but we promise you're gonna laugh
so hard you're gonna cry love it.
Speaker 1 (42:34):
You guys have the entire calendar online and for people,
can they buy tickets to individual shows or you really
just push in season tickets right now?
Speaker 4 (42:42):
Right now, it's just the season tickets, so the core
seven show package, and then our subscribers can go ahead
and add on those two additional shows and then later
down the line they'll become available as single tickets for people.
Speaker 2 (42:54):
How can people get in on this?
Speaker 4 (42:55):
So if you want to become a season ticket holder,
you would go to ticket Omaha dot com slash Broadway.
You'll be able to do that there, and then I'll
always call our box office as well, and I would
say if if someone's considering becoming a season ticket holder,
you want to jump on that quickly because it is
sort of first come, first served in terms of the
seting happens.
Speaker 3 (43:15):
And I'll tell you there are people like lined up
right now waiting for other seats to open up. And
I think one thing that isn't talked about very much
with the advantages of being a season ticket holder is
when you save money. If you know that you want
to have these great nights out, you know you're maybe
going to go to a couple of the shows. When
you're a season ticket holder, you have flexibility. This is
(43:36):
one of my favorite aspects. Like you get close to
the show, you can't go one night you need. They
can help you move around your tickets, they can help
you book a new seat. And then when you're adding
on shows you get extra savings. You get first alerts
about other new shows coming to town. But the flexibility
in this day and age with busy schedules, like this
is the best way to do it because you get
(43:57):
to save your seat, you know it's there, you can
move around if you have a change of plans, and
the savings, I mean, you can't really beat it.
Speaker 1 (44:04):
Well, I will say this, I looked at the season
ticket price is just out of curiosity because you know,
I didn't know like what the tears were, and then
I realized for seven shows to get that for those prices,
that's insane. If you go to like four or five shows,
you are easily already like it more than paid for itself.
And these nights out are unbelievably enriching, not just because
(44:30):
you're fully entertained, but there's only so many things in
this world I think can give you the kind of
joy of watching it like a live stage production. And
that's why my wife and I like we are always
every time we can get a chance to go, We're
just there. It does not matter to us because you know,
whether we're really pumped for a show or we don't
know what to expect or anything like that, we just
cannot wait to go to the orfer even check it out.
(44:51):
So ticket Omaha dot com for that. Courtney Maturne, who's
the vice president of Marketing, Tara Macnamert, the director of communications.
Speaker 2 (44:59):
This was so fun. I went way longer than I
usually do for this podcast.
Speaker 3 (45:02):
Well, there are nine shows to talk about Broadway.
Speaker 1 (45:05):
And I just would talk about it for hours if
I could. But I really appreciate you guys coming in.
Thanks so much for what you guys, do on behalf
of all of Omaha Performing Arts. It's such a great
asset to the community. And I can't wait to chat
with you about other shows very very soon.
Speaker 3 (45:18):
Absolutely, there's always another one. We're announcing new.
Speaker 1 (45:21):
Ones all the time and I can't wait for it.
And by the way, just real quick, the Tenaska Center,
right like, that's about to open.
Speaker 4 (45:28):
Yeah, we open next week. Our ribbon cutting is next Thursday,
and then on the twenty second, we're inviting folks to
come out between noon and four to check out the
building for an open house.
Speaker 3 (45:39):
Yeah, the Tenaska Center has been a project in the
works for a long time and Omaha Performing Arts. You know,
we started with Orphium and Broadway, the Hall and Center
was built, We've got Stillhouse, We've got these awesome music venues,
and now we have this education center where we can
invite the community in for people of all ages, not
just to learn and become better performers, just hang out
(46:01):
with people who like the arts, take classes together, and
have a community space that can be used for everyone
who loves the performing arts. So March twenty second, noon
to four, you get to come check out the building
to kind of see what the spaces are like. And
then we'll have another event in April April eleventh, where
there's even more activities, free ones for the families.
Speaker 1 (46:20):
Can't wait. You guys are great. Thank you so much
for coming in and for all everything that you do
for this community.
Speaker 2 (46:24):
Thank you to all right. This has been the Emery
Songer Podcast. Keep locked in.
Speaker 1 (46:28):
We got so many great guests coming in the next
few days and just subscribe on the free iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (46:35):
We will talk to you later this week.
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