NRT Excitement with Emma: Throwback to NRT 2013

While we, as theatre artists, are always looking ahead to the next opening night, next season, next promotional event or what have you, sometimes it can be a joy to look back and reflect on works of the past. In honor of Throwback Thursday, today we are going to do just that, with a glimpse back to Nebraska Rep's 2013 season!

We opened the season with Jon Jory's adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma, featuring Jessie Tidball and Sean Schmeits. Emma is convinced that she is the perfect matchmaker. But, in an attempt to set up her friend, Harriet, with Mr. Elton, Mr. Elton falls for Emma. As Emma deters Mr. Elton, she sets up her friend, Mr. Knightly with Harriet, which of course backfires when Emma begins to fall for Mr. Knightly. In true Jane Austen fashion, by the middle of the play, everyone seems to be in love with the wrong person!

Mr. Knightly (Sean Schmeits), Emma Woodhouse (Jessie Tidball), and Mr. Woodhouse (Alan Knoll)

The Cast of Emma
(Alan Knoll, Jessie Tidball, Emily Martinez, Chet Kincaid, Sasha Dobson, Richard Nielsen, Sean Schmeits, Dan Rodden; Not pictured: Jaimie Pruden, Alexander Jeffery, Kimberly Clark Kaczmarek)

Emma Woodhouse (Jessie Tidball) and Mr. Knightly (Sean Schmeits)

Next, we polished our etiquette skills with Mrs. Mannerly by Jeffrey Hatcher, starring Mark McCarthy and Juanita Pat Rice. In this comedy, a young boy by the name of Jeffrey attends a manners and etiquette class taught by none other than Mrs. Mannerly herself. In preparation for the final test, for which Jeffrey aims to achieve a perfect score (never before reached by one of Mrs. Mannerly's students), Jeffrey and Mrs. Mannerly may learn things about themselves they never knew, and develop an unlikely friendship along the way.

Mrs. Mannerly (Juanita Pat Rice) and Jeffrey (Mark McCarthy)

Mrs. Mannerly (Juanita Pat Rice) and Jeffrey (Mark McCarthy) sit down for a drink together.

Mrs. Mannerly (Juanita Pat Rice) and Jeffrey (Mark McCarthy) get up to dance!

Finally, our season closed with the stories of holidays past in Making God Laugh by Sean Grennan, with Alan Knoll and Melissa Epp. Spanning a time frame of four decades, this story focuses on Bill & Ruthie's family, with their children, Rick, Maddie, and Tom. The audience witnesses their Thanksgiving celebration in 1980, Christmas in 1990, New Year's Eve of 2000, and finally, Easter in 2010. A heartwarming dramedy, this play had audiences laughing and crying by the end of it!

Melissa Epp and Becky Key Boesen take a photo backstage before the show!

Tom (Dan Rodden), Maddie (Becky Key Boesen), Ruthie (Melissa Epp), Rick (Mark McCarthy), and Bill (Alan Knoll) attempt to eat the infamous cheese dip.

Bill (Alan Knoll) braces himself before taking a bite of Ruthie's fantasia cheese dip. Alan is back at NRT this season to direct Unnecessary Farce! 

Maddie (Becky Key Boesen), Tom (Dan Rodden), Ruthie (Melissa Epp), Rick (Mark McCarthy), and Bill (Alan Knoll) pose for their traditional family photo.

As we look back on the successful 2013 season of NRT, it only makes us more excited to share the 2014 season with you! We're less than a month away from our first opening, so get ready to start making new memories with the Rep.

The Big Finale: "Making God Laugh"

The last show of the season to close is Making God Laugh, and it will close on Sunday, August 11th at 2:00 PM.  This is your last chance to follow a family through 80's, 90's, Y2K, and 2010.  It is your last chance to be touched and moved by Ruthie, Bill, Richard, Maddie, and Tom.  And, it is last chance to see the infamous "Fantasia Dip" that has been grossing out audiences for weeks.  What, you don't know about Fantasia Dip?  Well, then you really need to get Nebraska Repertory Theatre this weekend.  For a teaser, here is a collage of the process of making Fantasia Dip.

If that isn't enough of a teaser incentive, then here is one more: Sunday is a "Pay-What-You-Can" performance. So, now that you have no more excuses, we'll see you at the performance on Sunday!

Making God Laugh Set

Yesterday was the opening of Making God Laugh, and it opened to a large, excited audience.  For me, one of my favorite parts of the show is the set, which feels incredibly nostalig, comfortable, and like a real family lives there.  So that you can see the process of the set being created, see the bare set, and then the set being decorated, here is a slideshow . . .

Thanks to all of the wonderful carpenters, technicians, and staff who helped build the Making God Laugh set.  It looks great!

Top Ten Reasons to See "Making God Laugh"

Tonight, the Nebraska Repertory Theatre opens its last show for the 2013 summer season, "Making God Laugh"! This is one you're not going to want to miss (though I don't think you'd want to miss "Mrs. Mannerly" or "Emma" either!) Without further ado, here is a countdown list of the top ten reasons you should come out to see Making God Laugh at Nebraska Rep!

10. Holiday Music
Making God Laugh is composed of four different scenes, each taking place during a different holiday gathering. The holidays displayed in the show include Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's Eve, and Easter. Accompanying these holidays is some great holiday music. Of course we have your classic Christmas tunes, but our sound designer, Michael Smith, has also compiled music relating to each of the other holidays.

9. The Set
Scenic Designer Jeff Stander has designed a beautiful family's living room that may make you nostalgic for your mother's house, or whatever house you normally gathered at for family holidays. Knick knacks and mismatched furniture decorate the living room of Bill and Ruthie.

A "work in progress" shot of the Making God Laugh set

8. Artistic Director of NRT: Virginia Smith
Yes, our very own Virginia Smith is the director for this show. Virginia has been the Artistic Director for the Nebraska Repertory Theatre for nine years. Her other Rep directing credits include God of Carnage, Church Basement Ladies, Vino Veritas, Santaland Diaries, Souvenir: A Fantasia Life of Florence Foster Jenkins, Metamorphoses, Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol, Omnium Gatherum, Crimes of the Heart, and Dinnertime.

Virginia Smith
Artistic Director of NRT

7. Four Decades
This play takes place over the course of four decades, giving the audience a chance to really see the characters grow and evolve. We start in Thanksgiving 1980 followed by Christmas 1990 before moving to New Year's Eve 2000 and concluding with Easter 2010.

6. Becky Key Boesen and Melissa Epp
These Lincoln actresses are something special. In Making God Laugh they play a mother and daughter who quarrel often, Maddie and Ruthie. Becky just finished directing Much Ado About Nothing for Flatwater Shakespeare this June, and Melissa has been gradually overcoming a problem with losing her voice two years ago. To learn more about what Melissa has overcome, click here to read Jeff Korbelik's feature article on her. They are two talented and hard working women whose performances are not to be missed!

Melissa Epp and Becky Key Boesen as Ruthie and Maddie
Thanks to Becky for the photo!

5. Three Equity Actors
All of our out-of-town Actors' Equity Association members are in this show, which essentially means they are professionally working actors. They include Alan Knoll as the father of the family, Bill, Mark McCarthy as the eldest son, Richard, and Dan Rodden as the youngest son, Thomas. All three are a delight to work with and a hoot to see onstage!

4. A Dramedy
Sean Grennan's play can be identified as a "dramedy", a "drama" and "comedy" in one. There are several comedic bits in the script that are quick-witted, but ultimately, the show tells the story of a family that is struggling to stay together. You'll get your humor and catharsis fix with this show.

3. Holiday Wear
We all have a grandmother or mother or aunt or sister who dons a very, shall we say, festive attire for each holiday gathering. Regardless of how legitimately fashionable their attire may be, it's always enjoyable to see and it often brightens the mood of the holiday. There is plenty of festive holiday wear in Making God Laugh, especially in Ruthie's apron sequence!

Ruthie's aprons for Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter

2. Fantasia Cheese Dip
The mother of the family, Ruthie, has a running joke in the show with her famous Fantasia Cheese Dip. She thinks the kids love it and she makes it for every holiday dinner, but in reality, the kids and her husband can't stand the dip. They just continually say they enjoy it to please her. Erica King, Props Mistress for NRT, has developed a truly disgusting recipe for this dip that you'll have to see to believe.

1. A Real Portrayal of Family Holidays
The number one reason you should see Making God Laugh, however, doesn't have anything to do with sets or costumes or props; it has to do with the story. The story of Bill, Ruthie, Richard, Maddie, and Thomas's family is one everyone can relate to, because it provides a real portrayal of families and the time they spend together during the holidays. The show doesn't create a fluffy, idealistic, and perfect family with zero problems. It shows a real family with real problems. And this family takes you, as audience members, on the journey to fix their problems. It's a story worth seeing.

Making God Laugh opens tonight, July 24th at 7:30pm on Nebraska Repertory Theatre's Howell stage. It also performs July 25, 27 and August 2, 7, 8 at 7:30pm and August 11 at 2:00pm. 

To secure tickets, visit unl.edu/rep or call 402-472-4747, 800-432-3231

Costumes for "Making God Laugh"

This is part two of the conversation I had with Sharon Sobel about designing the costumes for Mrs. Mannerly and Making God Laugh.  Whereas Mrs. Mannerly and Emma are both shows that take place in just one clothing era, Making God Laugh is spread over four decades.   The family gets together on Thanksgiving in the 1980's, Christmas in the 1990's, New Year's Eve at 1999 (or Y2K), and Easter in 2010.  
To shows such a range of time periods, Sharon had to design each character's costumes to reflect the change in time periods.  Thomas, one of the sons, is priest for the first couple of get-togethers, so he doesn't quite have the same costume arc.  Then, with the father, Bill, and the mother, Ruthie, Sharon felt like their clothes wouldn't be that drastically different because they are older and more set in a type of clothing styles.  Instead, she changed their costumes to reflect the change in holidays.  Ruthie gets different aprons for each of the holidays, and Bill has a series of sweaters in which the colors reflect the holiday.

Maddie, the daughter, and Richard, the eldest son, get to have costumes that cover the full range of style changes.  For Maddie, Sharon got inspiration from the clothes of Pat Benatar.  Although the text mentions Madonna, she ends up being more late 80's, and Sharon wanted to stick with the style of the early 80's, which has a lot in common with late 1970's style.  Then, for the 90's, Sharon used one of her own sweaters.
For Richard, he is meant to be a character highly influenced by all of the latest fads and trends.  When he shows up to the house on New Year's Eve 1999, he comes in military gear because he is so paranoid about Y2K.     For the 80's and 90's, she used Tom Selleck, Herb from WXRP, Travolta for hair styles, Duran Duran, Fame, and Flock of Seagulls.  

So, that is the rundown on the costumes, but it doesn't take the place of coming to see them on stage! So, you better follow the tabs above to "Buy a Ticket" to see Making God Laugh.

"Making God Laugh" Podcast

Two shows are now up and running, and the countdown to the opening of Making God Laugh continues!  The third show of the season opens on Wednesday, July 24th @ 7:30 PM.

If you are not familiar with the show, yesterday Emma Gruhl posted a great Popplet to help familiarize you with Making God Laugh.  To also help introduce you to the show, I've also included the podcast for Making God Laugh so you can hear Virginia Smith, the director of the show, discuss the play, and you can see little samples of the play while it was in rehearsal.

Making God Laugh: A Popplet

Here is our last "show themed" popplet for the season: Making God Laugh! Popplet is an online program that allows you to create graphic organizers and diagrams. I've given another "who's who" of the characters, some fun quotations, and facts about the author, Sean Grennan. 

To see the Popplet, use the zoom buttons and just "click and drag" below.  Or, you can click on the link below to open in a new screen! 

Making God Laugh: A Popplet

Meet the Cast of Making God Laugh

The last show the Nebraska Rep will open this season is Making God Laugh.  Here is the cast for this show.

Virginia Smith - Director

This is my 9th year as the Artistic Director of the Nebraska Repertory Theatre. As I've so often said, I have the best job in the midwest! And it's wonderful to be able to bring these five terrific new plays to you this summer! My Rep directing credits include God of Carnage, Church Basement Ladies, Vino Veritas, Santaland Diaries, Souvenir: A Fantasia on the Life of Florence Foster Jenkins, Metamorphoses, Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol, Omnium Gatherum, Crimes of the Heart and Dinnertime which was performed at the Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Theatre Festival in New York City and in Krakow, Poland. Other favorite productions include The Voice of the Prairie at the Podium Festival in Moscow, Romeo and Juliet for Oak Park Festival Theatre, and Ride Down Mount Morgan, Hamlet, Judevine, and Marisol for Equity Library Theatre. My work directing for Still Point Theatre Collective, a touring company based in Chicago, has been seen across Europe and the U.S. I'm the Head of Graduate and Undergraduate Directing at UNL, and run our M.F.A. Program in Directing for Stage and Screen. My musical adaptation of Local Wonders, former Poet Laureate Ted Kooser's book by the same name, had a successful run in Chicago 2011 and the Lied Center in 2012.

Melissa Epps -- Ruthie

Melissa Critchfield Epp – Is returning for her 8^th NRT season.  A graduate of UNL Theater department it was on this stage that Melissa began her professional journey.  Some of her favorite roles include Meredith from STEAMBATH, Flo in PICNIC and Nancy Twinkle in LITTLE MARY SUNSHINE.  She also loved being on stage with fellow alums as Sister Woman in CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF.  As a former member of SAG and Equity, her career has ranged from coast to coast including, recording, commercial, voice over work and film.  She had a starring role in Ted Lange’s award winning Indie film FOR LOVE OF AMY and is featured in the UNL’s film departments project DIGS directed by Donald Petrie.  For several years she and husband Mark produced children’s music, television and film projects.

Their two kids Ryan, a Chef and Ashley, an aspiring actress/singer are currently pursuing their own arts in New York City and the world.  A special thanks to her mom, Joyce, who continues to shine and help guide her artistic expression, to her loving soul mate Mark, and to the two best kids in the world.  Oh yeah, and their dog Bailey!  

Alan Knoll - Bill

Alan Knoll is a St Louis-based actor, and he's thrilled to return for another season at the Nebraska Rep; last year he was seen as Jeeves in Jeeves Intervenes and Phillipe in Heroes.  Other favorite roles include George in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Riverfront Times 2010 Best Actor),  Max in Laughter on the 23rd Floor,  Graham in A Chip in the Sugar,  and all the residents of Bedford Falls in This Wonderful Life, named St Louis' best one-man show in 2011. Thanks to Virginia for the chance to return to Lincoln, and to his wonderful wife Laurie McConnell for her love and support.

Becky Key Boesen - Maddie

Becky is an actor, director and playwright.   Becky’s most recent play, What the Wind Taught Me was commissioned and debuted at the Lied Center for Performing Arts in March 2013 and will tour the state of Nebraska through the Lied Center’s Arts Across Nebraska program in the fall.   Becky recently directed Much Ado About Nothing for Flatwater Shakespeare and is looking forward to directing Nocturne for the Rep’s Destination Series.  She is a recipient of a Mayor’s Arts Award and was selected as one of Lincoln’s 2013 “Top 20 Under 40” for her leadership in the arts community.  Becky teaches acting and playwriting at Doane College and is currently writing her first full-length screenplay, titled Celia Skates.  Becky is overjoyed to return to Nebraska Repertory Theatre this summer – she last appeared on the NRT stage as Becky Foster in Becky’s New Car.   Thanks for supporting live theatre!

Dan Rodden - Tom

Dan happily returns to Lincoln for his second season, where NRT audiences will recall his performances as Richard Hannay in The 39 Steps and Steve in Becky's New Car.  His career has allowed him to perform for theaters across the U.S. and Canada.  Last fall, he had the honor of playing the iconic role of Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird at Cardinal Stage Company in Bloomington, IN.  Other selected credits: Don Quixote, Man of La Mancha (Guest Artist - Normandale Community College, Bloomington, MN); Felix, The Odd Couple (Drury Lane Oakbrook); Antipholus of Syracuse, The Comedy of Errors (Oak Park Festival Theatre); Dr. Adams, Marrying Terry (Nightingale Group); Charles, Blithe Spirit; Mortimer, Arsenic And Old Lace; Bob Cratchit in A Christmas Carol (New American Theater), IO Chicago; Texas Shakespeare Festival, and Cidermill Playhouse. Back home in Chicago, he performs frequently with The Shakespeare Project of Chicago in numerous classical staged readings, including Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing and Antonio in The Duchess Of Malfi.  Dan resides with his talented wife, actress Gail Rastorfer, whom he met a number of years ago while touring with the Nebraska Theatre Caravan.

Mark McCarthy -- Rick

Mark McCarthy is proud to make his Nebraska Rep debut.  

Previous Roles: 

• Hampton Theatre Company: How the Other Half Loves
• Shadowland Theatre Company: Dangers, Of Electric Lighting,The Seafarer
• International Mystery Writers’ Festival: Sherlock Holmes: the Final Toast (Dr. Watson)
• Illinois Theatre Center: Moonlight and Magnolias 
• Mercury Theatre (Chicago): King O' the Moon 
• Denver Center Theatre Company: The Rivals 
• Portland Center Stage: The Rivals, Macbeth, As You Like It
• Notre Dame Shakespeare: Tamking of the Shrew, Much Ado About Nothing 
• Heart of America Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream 
• Kansas City Rep: Picasso at the Lapin Agile, The Tempest,The Deputy, Julius Caesar, The Imaginary Invalid.  

Mark has played hapless people in several cheesy TV movies and independent films. He voices over a

hundred characters in the audio book version of Alan Brennert’s new novel Palisades Park. He’s also a

stage combat choreographer and published playwright. He lives just outside New York City with his wife,

the brilliant and talented Hollis McCarthy.