Christine Swerczek - Page 8

There is more to HAIRSPRAY than big fun.

LEGALLY BLONDE, the 2007 feel good musical is strutting its stuff on the open air stage of the Pinewood Bowl in Lincoln, Nebraska.

I have never been to the Pinewood Bowl in Lincoln, Nebraska. Lincoln, our neighbor to the west, is a short 40 minute drive from Omaha on a good day. When the Huskers are playing, that is another story.

ANNIE is a family favorite. Take yours to see it. Have a little fun.

SNAP! Productions under the direction of Michal Simpson and South High Magnet School under the direction of Rebecca Noble collaborated on an amazing production of the Tony-Award winning musical, ONCE ON THIS ISLAND. The hugely successful production has earned the rave reviews throughout the Omaha metropolitan area. I am only sorry that the show cannot go on, because we all love to hear this story!

SNAP! Productions and South High Magnet School have done it again. I don't know what it is about this collaboration, but they seem to have the magic touch.

There is always something new and interesting happening at SNAP! Their plays do not end in the theatre.

You know a play is good if it moves you. If it moves you to tears, it's really good. And if it moves you to tears mixed with laughter, it is almost a miracle.

There is good news at the Rose Theatre! NEWSIES The Broadway Musical opened on June 1 running through the 17th. BRAVO! I am extra sold on this show.

There's forecasted rain at the Omaha Community Playhouse as SINGIN' IN THE RAIN opens for a June run.

Omaha, Nebraska is teeming with talent. And once in awhile you come across a person who is more than a performer in the spotlight; she is a light. Camille Metoyer Moten is a singer, actress, author, and inspirational human being. She will appear in her own show at the Omaha Community Playhouse on June 8 and 9 at 7:30 pm and on June 10 at 2:00 pm.

WICKED, quite possibly 'The Best Musical of the Decade' returns to Omaha's Orpheum Theatre May 16. Jon Robert Hall, who plays Fiyero in the national tour, is a man of many talents. Take a look.

Who was this man? Fifty years ago Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated outside the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, just hours after his history-making speech, 'I've Been to the Mountaintop.'  Katori Hall's THE MOUNTAINTOP envisions a fictionalized account of Reverend King's final night.

If you want to 'Brush Up Your Shakespeare' before you see this show, you may catch even more of the references and jokes. But if you don't, it won't matter. It's a great show on many levels! You just have to answer the question, 'To be in the audience or not to be?' --Be.

CURIOUS GEORGE & THE GOLDEN MEATBALL tells the story of a monkey, his pal in yellow, and their adventures as they cook up a mean meatball in the Golden Meatball contest in Rome.

If you love Shakepeare, if you love the theater, if you love farce, you will love SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE playing through May 6. Calling on a quote from the show, 'Where's the comedy, Will? Where's the dog?' He's at the Omaha Community Playhouse.

The Brigit Saint Brigit Theatre Company opens UNCLE VANYA at the Joslyn Castle. The stellar cast under the able direction of Cathy Kurz perfectly carries out Chekhov's desire for naturalism. They do not overact. There is no melodrama or big gestures. They feel the emotion and it is exposed. This is stripped down genuine humanity and it is truly special.

There will be laughter. There will be tears. And there will be many recollections of this production in the weeks to come. For it will not leave your mind easily. ELEGIES is an epitaph for the departed and a love song that lives on.

I wish I could write everything I found beautiful or hilarious or imaginative in this show, but there isn't room. You need to jump down that rabbit hole and see for yourself. Yes, it's impossible to be perfect, but as Alice says, 'I believe in the impossible.' I'm already calling this as a nominee for several awards.

Frank Wildhorn has contributed so much wonderful music to the musical theatre world. BONNIE & CLYDE is some of his best work. Couple this music with the lives of two romantically notorious robbers of the Depression Era and you have a bang up show.