Clueless Screening Tonight 7:00 PM @ the Ross Theater

Tonight is the night!  It is your chance to go see Clueless on the big screen for free!!  Come by the Ross Theater at 7:00 PM and enjoy the movie compliments of UPC and Nebraska Repertory Theatre.

NRT's Interview with Matt McKay

On July 9, 2013, the Nebraska Repertory Theatre visited our good friends at 106.3 KFRX's Matt McKay Mornings show.  In case you missed it, you can listen to the interview and watch the video (made by +Desiree Bartels) below.

Girls Night Out and Pre-Show Wine Tasting Night

The opening for Emma last night went wonderfully!  We had a huge house and lots of happy audience members.  

For tonight's show, we have two special events.  The first one is a "Girls Night Out" Promotion.  It is a BOGO event in which when you buy any one ticket, you get a second one of equal or less value, for free!  So, it is a great excuse to take and an old friend (or a new friend) out to the show. 

There is also a wine tasting event going on pre-show.  Meier's Cork and Bottle (who is the official bar carterer for NRT) will be sampling three wines for $5.  Here are the three wines that will be available:

1. Verget Macon-Villages: 100 % French Chardonnay.  Clean, crisp, refreshing aged in stainless steel.  Wonderful cocktail wine also an excellent summer lighter fare food wine.
2. Alberti 154 Torrentes: Torrentes is the white wine grape that is unique to Argentina.  Orange citrus flavors with a soft ripe melon finish.  Great wine on a hot summer day! 
3. Votra Sante Pinot Noir: Crafted by Francis Ford Coppola.  This wine is among the best of of California Pinot Noir.  Ripe cherry notes with soft mouth feel.  Delightful with salmon, pork or chicken or just sipping.

Top Ten Reasons Why You Should See "Emma"

Tonight is opening night for Nebraska Repertory Theatre's production of Emma!!  To get you excited about the production, +Emily Martinez, who plays Harriet in the production, created a "Top Ten Reasons Why You Should See Emma."  

1. Everyone loves a good love story. 
- Don’t roll your eyes. You know it’s true! The story line is quick, witty, romantic, and nothing short of heartwarming. A perfect night out! Bring your spouse! Bring your girl/boyfriend! Bring that person you WANT to be your girl/boyfriend! They will be dying to date you by the time we take our bows! 

2. Two amazing Equity Actors!! 
Alan Knoll (Mr. Woodhouse) and +Dan Rodden (Mr. Elton). There is just something about these two professionals that puts the cherry on top of an already delightful show. 

3. The rest of the cast includes actors from all over! 

• Sasha Dobson and +Alexander Jeffery just finished a run with Flatwater Shakespeare leading the cast of Much Ado About Nothing as Beatrice and Claudio.  
• Kim Clark Kaczmarek just finished directing in Omaha for Nebraska Shakespeare.  
• Chet Kincaid is constantly on the go working for Nebraska Entertainment Television.  
• Sean Schmeits is a Haymarket/Flatwater regular
• Dick Nielson is already prepping for his next role in the Haymarket Theater’s Waiting For Godot 
• Jamie, Jessie and Myself (Emily Martinez) are all recent graduates of the Hixson Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts, having just performed in Candide (Jaimie), Melancholy Play (Jessie) and The Taming of the Shrew (myself)!  

4. The Costumes! 
-They went all out with this show! Bold colors, beautiful patterns, and hats that you will wish you could purchase yourself!  The costumes fit the characters perfectly and are as much apart of the story telling as everything else! 

5. The set!
-A playing space on every level, it's classic! Takes you right to the gardens of England! Think I’m exaggerating? Well, you will just have to come and see for yourself. The garden is waiting! 

6. The hair! 
Alex Jeffery, the actor who plays the dashing Frank Churchill, curls his hair for the role. THAT is dedication! (And a good laugh. Ha!)

7. Moments that make time stand still! 
When the lights, sounds and characterization all line up perfectly (which happens quite often), it will honestly take your breath away. Yes, that was cheesy. No, I won’t take it back. Tis the truth!

8. The Quick Changes! 
Come see +Jessie Tidball (Emma), remain on stage for almost the entire show, and yet magically change clothes in her two seconds between scenes! Hooray for an amazing dressing crew!!  ** You can read the Lincoln Star's interview with Jessie here.  

9. We dance! And sing! And pick strawberries! 
Really though, what more could you ever want? Beautiful things happen when any or all of those things are involved.

10. Our Fearless Leaders! 
To conclude, this show has been lead by two of the most amazing directors/stage managers I have ever met.  Catherine Weidner’s vision for Emma is magnificent and so full of energy and love. The passion this woman has for the art she is creating is just aw-inspiring. She has brought out the best in each and every one of us. +Brad Buffum, our fearless stage manager, doesn’t get half the credit he deserves. He keeps us on task, and he guides us through the show with sarcastic remakes that, we all know deep down, are oozing with love. 

Come see “Emma” and leave with a new sense of what it means to love and be loved, as this is true in all cases (on and off the stage) at the Nebraska Rep!

NRT Book Club discusses "Emma"

At the beginning of the season, I was brainstorming on ways to promote NRT's production of Emma using social media.  One of my ideas that I thought was feasible, but worried was a little tricky, was to have a book club meet online through Google+ Hangout.. When I told my assistant, Emma Gruhl, about it, she was pretty intrigued and said she would see what she could do.  I was thrilled when she came back about a week later and some of her friends had agreed to do it.


Jordan Brooks, Hannah Coatney, Kristen Kramer met yesterday on Google+ to discuss how they felt about Emma, the characters, and more.  Be warned, there are a couple of spoilers--none that will ruin anything, but I just wanted to warn you.  This group of young scholars was very kind to share their time and thoughts on the novel and I hope you enjoy hearing what they have to say!

Costumes for Emma

My day-to-day schedule as the summer intern at the Nebraska Repertory Theatre is never the same. One day I’ll be running errands and hanging posters; the next I’ll be working with social media or sewing in the costume shop.

Costume Shop Hard at Work

A highlight of my summer has been interacting with the actors. The opportunity came about when I got the chance to take pictures of costume fittings before the opening night of Emma (which is July 11th).  It was such a joy to see the first drawings of the costumes become a beautiful reality.  With each character came a new pallet of color with festive patterns to help you feel like you went back in time. It was fun to hear which gown or coat they liked best or see if they needed an adjustment here or there. I also enjoyed seeing how each garment fit them in completely different ways, bringing out the true beauty of the English 19^th century and its glorious style.

I want to thank the designers and selected actors for letting me take photos and show the public a sneak peek a couple days before opening night. If you'd like to see all of the pictures, click here. 

I hope all of you enjoy the NRT production of Emma and its exquisite costumes. See you at the show!

Thanks to all the wonderful women in the costume shop: +Katie Davis, Kayla Klammer, Rachel Owings, +Mallory Prucha, Janice Stauffer, and Ann Watson.

Costume Fitting Collages:

Setting the Stage for Emma

For about a month, the carpenters and crew have been hard at work on the set of Emma.   Below, you can see a collage of the set in its many stages.

Thanks to Trip Snyder, Greg Rishoi, Michael Fortkamp, +Vicki Halverson, Erica King, A.J. Lowery, Quentin Robb, Morgan Robertson, Patrick Stayer, Chris Stepanek, Forrest Teske, +Clay Van winkle, Jeff Stander, Steven Grair, and Brad Buffum

Emma: A Popplet

In honor of the opening of Emma this week, I made a Popplet dedicated to Austen's classic story. Popplet is an online program that allows you to create graphic organizers and diagrams. In this Popplet, I've given you a "who's who" of the characters, information on the setting, a little bit about Jane Austen herself, and more!  I hope this Popplet is informative and helps you get ready for the show, which opens this Thursday!

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!

Emma: A Popplet

Season Pass Giveaway Winner

The winner of the "Season Pass Giveway" is . . . .

Rachele Stoops Brown!!!!!!!!

Rachele, please email NebraskaRepertoryTheatre@gmail.com within three days (so by the end of the day, July 9th) with an address I can mail your Season Pass to.

Congratulations and thanks to everyone for playing!!!!

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Looking Forward Friday: Teaser Video, Pt. 2

Nebraska Repertory Theatre's first show, Emma, opens next Thursday, July 11 @ 7:30.  The opening of that show will launch the start of the 2013 Season and the whole crew is excited.  To get ready for the opening, the blog will be running a "Countdown to Emma" and will have lots of great previews into the costumes, sets, and more.  So, make sure to comeback on Monday to start the countdown with us.

In the meantime, here is another Nebraska Repertory Teaser video, brought to us by +Michael Reinmiller.  You can watch it by clicking here, or by clicking the picture below.