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May 2009
Dear Omaha Community Playhouse Supporter,
As you can imagine, the past several weeks have been very stressful for the three of us. But what has resulted has been remarkable. We have heard from all corners of the country, and certainly from Omaha, that the Playhouse truly does hold a special place in peoples’ hearts.
We are committed to keeping this Omaha treasure alive. People have come forward to ask how they can help. Well, frankly, while we certainly are always looking for more volunteers to assist in various areas, what we need now is your financial support. That can come in several ways. Our very best suggestion is to become a season subscriber for our 85th Anniversary Season. Come with your friends. Make it a great night at the theatre.
Another way you can help is to be an ambassador for us in selling season subscriptions. We listened to our patrons in putting together the season lineup for 2009-2010. As you will see from our season brochure, we have a great lineupof well-known titles. A season subscription could be an ideal gift for someone.
A third way you can help is by simply being an annual donor. Each year, we need approximately 25 percent of our revenue to come from annual donations.
While the current economic times are difficult, we are looking at this as an opportunity. We have heard from the community – the Omaha Community Playhouse is important. Please feel free to contact any one of us, or you can visit our website to subscribe or contribute. With your help, we are determined to build the foundation for another 85 years of great Playhouse productions.
Sincerely,
Tim Schmad, Carl Beck, Susan Baer Collins
SHOWING THIS MONTH...
By: Reginald Rose
May 1 – May 31, 2009
Tickets on Sale NOW!
This play explodes like twelve sticks of dynamite! Twelve jurors, twelve walks of life, and only two ways to rule - guilty or not guilty. What seems like an open-and-shut murder case becomes a twisted puzzle of prejudice and intrigue. Twelve jurors are corralled in a room for the duration of their deliberation. As prejudices are tested and evidence weighed, the entire jury is forced to look past the show of the courtroom to unearth the shocking truth. Faced with playing the hangman, these dozen men must first face themselves.
Sponsored by FRASER STRYKER PC LLO
Education Workshop Sponsor Wells Fargo
Thank you also to Jack and Mary’s Restaurant for their assistance with this production.
Book by Aurthur Laurents
Music by Jule Styne
Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Suggested by Memoirs of Gypsy Rose Lee
May 29 – June 28, 2009
Gypsy is the ultimate story about an aggressive stage mother. Join Rose, June, and Louise in their trip across the United States during the 1920’s when vaudeville was dying and burlesque was born. One of the greatest musicals of all time, the score includes Let me Entertain You, Everything’s Coming Up Roses, Some People, and Together Wherever We Go. Gypsy is considered one of the crowning achievements of the mid-twentieth century’s conventional musical theatre artform. The Playhouse has come up with another winner to close the 2008-2009 season on the Mainstage.
Sponsored by UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA MEDICAL CENTER
Orchestra sponsored by The Paul and Oscar Giger Foundation
Media sponsor: Cox Communications
SPOTLIGHT ON...
Convictions/Convicted: Bringing the themes of Twelve Angry Men to OPS High School students through OCP Theatre Arts Residency Project
“Wherever you run into it, prejudice always obscures the truth.”
-Juror #8
Twelve Angry Men, originally produced for television in 1954, follows the deliberations of 12 jurors charged with deciding the fate of a young Hispanic man accused of murdering his own father. Upon examination of the testimony and facts of the case, the experiences, personalities, attributes, limitations, and biases of the individual jurors weave in and out of the deliberation process, at times to its benefit and at times to its detriment. Racial prejudice, stereotyping and social injustice are at the heart of the jurors’ conflict as they go back and forth deciding the defendant’s fate. It is these themes that have inspired the latest Education and Outreach Theatre Arts Residency Project.
Implemented in the Spring of 2006, the Theatre Arts Residency Projects were designed to provide opportunities for collaboration between the Omaha Community Playhouse and metro area high schools. These projects were intended to bring themes or topics from current-season Playhouse productions to life through workshops in disciplines other than theatre arts. Through these successful collaborations, students in social studies, history, cultural geography, government and political science classes have experienced the impact of live theatre and the ability it has to bring past and current issues or topics to life.
Through generous sponsorship from Wells Fargo Bank, Convictions/Convicted took the prevalent themes of this classic production and brought them right into the classrooms of OPS high schools. Students in Sociology, Behavioral Science, Criminal Justice, Psychology and Cultural Geography classes have experienced a three-part workshop series led by local teaching artists John Lee and Rita Paskowitz. Part One focused on Acting and Improvisation – how body language, tone of voice and physical choices are used by actors to convey an idea or emotion. Part Two focused on the physical characteristics and nonverbal communication throughout the movie version of Twelve Angry Men and the impact it can have on an audience. Part Three brought those themes and ideas into 2009, focusing on society’s perceptions of teenagers as a whole and how their appearance and actions creates/dispels stereotypes. Finally, on Wednesday, April 29th, participating students were invited to attend the final dress rehearsal of our own production.
OCP EVENTS...
Special Playreading Event at the OCP
The Omaha Community Playhouse will host a public play-reading on Monday, May 4th at 7:00 pm.
Nobody Gets Paid by Ellen Struve will be read in the Playhouse’s Howard Drew Theatre. The reading is a part of a series sponsored by Metro Community College and the Omaha Playwrights Group. Admission is FREE, and the doors open at 6:30. An open discussion will follow the reading.
Ellen’s play, Mrs. Jenning’s Sitter, was a featured play in last summer’s Great Plains Theatre Festival and will be produced at the Shelterbelt Theatre this July with her one-act Mountain Lion.
IMPORTANT DATES...
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NOW through 5/17 - Stage Right Art Gallery – Silent Auction to benefit OCP in the Owen Lobby
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NOW through June -
Whole Foods Market One Dime at a Time Program – Reuse Bags at Whole Foods Market and raise money for OCP
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5/4, 5/11, 5/18 - Playhouse Community Discussion meetings: share your suggestions on the future of the OCP from 5:30-6:30 PM. Open to everybody!
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5/4 - FREE EVENT! Readers Theater in the Howard Drew Theatre
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5/5 -
Gypsy Tickets on Sale to Subscribers
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5/11 - ACT II Spring Luncheon at Noon
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5/12 -
Gypsy Tickets on Sale to General Public May
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5/13 - ACT II Wine Tasting – OPEN TO THE PUBLIC – 5:30-7:30 PM
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5/16 - Theater Tech Apprentice Program Graduation Ceremony at 3:30 PM
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5/17 - Stage Right Art Gallery Closing Reception
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