Christine Swerczek - Page 11

Billy McGuigan runs on high-octane fuel and you can feel his energy emanating from the stage. This is an entertainer who works the crowd and works for the crowd. Everyone will get more than their money's worth. Believe the hype.

This rainbow cast of all ages and abilities filled the stage and told the story of Dominican-Americans eeking out a living in the Washington Heights barrio of Manhattan to memorable rap music. You don't think you like rap? Lin-Manuel Miranda will change your mind.

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST at the OCP has beauty abounding.

What could be better than SOMETHING ROTTEN! coming to the Orpheum in Omaha, Nebraska next week? SOMETHING ROTTEN! with Adam Pascal as Shakespeare! Now that's something to get excited about!

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

Lincoln, Nebraska's Con O'Shea Creal has this to say about SOMETHING ROTTEN!--I would say it's such a good time for all. If you love musicals, there will be something for you there. If you grew up wondering why you were reading, "Romeo and Juliet" in high school and you just wanted to bang your head against the desk, this is going to give you some shared experience to release those feelings of frustration about Shakespeare.

SOMETHING ROTTEN!'s heading to Omaha and someone local along with it. Actually, there are two "local" actors in this wonderfully silly, delightful Tony-nominated hit. One is Daniel Beeman from Bellevue, Nebraska. Daniel is a 2011 graduate of Bellevue West High School and is traveling in his national touring debut as chorus member and understudy for the character of Shakespeare, played by Broadway favorite Adam Pascal. I called Daniel and questioned him a bit about his new career and the show.

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

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

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

There's a party at the Bourbon Room and you're invited. Get out that 1980's gear you've got stuffed in the back of your closet and head over to ROCK OF AGES. This show is the most fun I've had in a long while! I've seen it on Broadway and more recently in Las Vegas, but the Omaha Community Playhouse production is not only on par, it exceeds them both in heart and personality. I liked it more.

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

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

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

Charlotte Maltby recently took over the leading role of Maria Von Trapp in the national tour of Rogers and Hammerstein's SOUND OF MUSIC. Under the direction of triple Tony Award winner Jack O'Brien, the production opens Tuesday, January 24th, at Omaha's Orpheum Theater. I had the opportunity to speak with Charlotte by phone yesterday.

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

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

Andrea Goss, who plays Sally Bowles, a young British singer at the Kit Kat Club in CABARET, spoke with me from her Denver appearance last week. Andrea has also appeared in RENT and ONCE. CABARET opens at Omaha's Orpheum on October 11 and runs through the 16th.

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

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