Stephanie's Weekly Spotlight: A First Year NRT Member

Stephanie Kahler is a first-year member of the Nebraska Repertory Theatre Management Team. She is not only taking on the titles of Assistant General Manager and House Manager, but she is also our Tuesday blogger! Throughout the season, Stephanie will be giving you her first-year perspective on all things Nebraska Rep: management, technical, performance, and everything in between. She's going to have a lot ready for you, but today you can relish in her account of one of Downtown Lincoln's favorite summer events: Jazz in June!

What an incredible first week! The management team is up and running, the crews have arrived, and Temple Building is once again alive with the sounds of productivity. This can only mean one thing: another season at NRT is under way! I’m still adjusting to all of the excitement of being a company member, but it already feels like home. I have no doubt that my first season with the Nebraska Repertory Theatre will provide me with fantastic opportunities and amazing memories. So, let’s get started!

I will be blogging on Tuesdays, which just happens to be the day for Jazz in June, an annual summer music festival sponsored by the Sheldon Art Association and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Every Tuesdayevening through the month of June, people from all over Lincoln gather on the lawn behind the Sheldon Art Museum to hear the smooth sounds of jazz, sample delicious foods, and enjoy the summer weather.

Tonight’s featured musicians are CALJE (Chicago Afro-Latin Jazz Ensemble). They create their unique sound by combining modern jazz harmonies with various types of rhythm, including Dominican merengue, Spanish flamenco, and Jamaican reggae. Check out their website here, and come see them live, tonight at 7pm on the green space behind the Sheldon. The market opens at 5pm on 12th and R streets, with food and crafts from 25 different vendors. NRT will be there, too! Stop by our table located on the median of 12th street, and play to win a free ticket to a show of your choice! See you there!

For more information about Jazz in June, visit their website  or social media accounts. We follow them, and you should, too!

Welcome to NRT 2014: A Summer of Transformation

Hello, and welcome to "Nebraska Repertory Theatre: Behind the Curtain," the blog that gives readers an inside view of all things Nebraska Rep 2014. Throughout the summer, check in with us to hear about our transforming season; it's sure to be one that won't disappoint! 

Though our management has been in the offices since last week, we welcome our crews into the shops today. In addition to the crews, we also welcome our first blogger of the season, Virginia Smith!

Virginia Smith is the Artistic Director of the Nebraska Rep and is also the director of Circle Mirror Transformation. You'll be hearing from her every Monday to learn how the productions are unfolding and transforming week by week:

I will be blogging every Monday this season with news from the rehearsal halls and the dressing rooms. Since none of the shows are in rehearsal yet, it may seem that nothing much is going on....wrong! All the designs are in and being built, props are being gathered, light plots are being hung, all without the guest directors having met the actors!
So, being one of the directors, I'm nervous. Have I planned expansively enough to express the play that the actors and I will discover in the rehearsal process? How much should I prepare? Shall I calculate every move, or let all of it emerge organically from the actors.

I'm not sleeping that well and think about the play day and night. But I know the actors, some of whom I've met only briefly, are much more nervous. Will I be a tyrant? Will I hate everything they've been thinking about the character? It's always a nervous moment when we meet for the first rehearsal and actually see what we've all been thinking about in the first read through.

Because I cast all the shows, every first read through is a very anxious time for me, because that is when I first hear and see the whole casts together. "Together" before this has only occurred in my brain, and now, everyone looks to see if they agree. My fervent prayer is that the guest director agrees with my vision. Yikes!

Doug and Alan are reading the play over and over, creating what they envision, and making notes to share with the actors. I am reading the script over and over and trying not to do the same "normal" preparation, which generally makes me a little less nervous at the first rehearsal. The play I'm directing has much more improvisation, and I believe that it should come from my cast as they interact in the rehearsal process. Some of our best work in the theatre comes from just jumping off the cliff. But that doesn't happen without stress.

Right now, the actors are getting ready to spend an enormous amount of time away from home and families, memorizing, absorbing, creating, sweating (it is summer in Nebraska after all) and ultimately becoming agents in the world of these plays. They might be even more nervous than I am, and I'm feeling like the earth is moving under my feet.

Follow us daily here on the blog, and keep up-to-date on updates through our social media accounts. Check out the sidebar to find links and feeds that keep you connected with NRT's 

transforming summer!

  

Reflecting Back on the Season

Today marks the end of the Nebraska Repertory Theatre's 2013 Season.  As the last show, Making God Laugh comes to a close, I thought I'd share the podcast we made to introduce all of the shows.

Thanks to all of the NRT patrons and supporters.  We appreciate that you came to opening receptions to celebrate the start of each show.  We thank you for helping to usher and volunteering your time.  We value all the tweets and facebook comments from you that showed your support of the actors, the technicians, designers, directors, and, very importantly, the shows themselves.

From everyone on the management team, we give you, the wonderful NRT followers and audience members, a standing ovation.

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!

It is Poor Etiquette to Miss "Mrs. Mannerly"

The second show to close is Mrs Mannerly, which has its last performance on Saturday, August 10th at 7:30 PM.  The two leads, Juanita and Mark, have been delighting audiences for three weeks, but they have one more big finale in them.  Plus, it is just a poor etiquette choice to not see Mrs. Mannerly.  How will you learn about place settings, walking correctly, and what you should and should not do at a well-attended DAR luncheon?

But, that is just my opinion.  If you want more reasons, let the podcast below give you many, many more reasons why you should not miss Mrs. Mannerly.

Last Chance to See "Emma"

Emma, Nebraska Rep's first show to open is also the first show to close.  Your last chance to see Emma is August 9th at 7:30 PM.  This means that if you don't see the show tomorrow night, you will have missed your chance to see the wonderful Emma, the dashing Mr. Knightly, and the naive Harriet.  You will also have missed the absolutely amazing cavalcade of costumes that the costume shop spent many meticulous hours crafting, sewing, stitching, and creating.

Just in case you need any more reasons, then watch this wonderful podcast on the production and find many many more reasons why you come see Emma for the first time or again, for that matter.

Closing Week

After several wonderful weeks of shows, lots of applause and happy audience members, and lots of hard work by the actors, crew, and management team, the final week of Nebraska Repertory's 2013 Season is here.  In case you missed a show, or just want to see one of the shows again, here is the schedule of the closing week: 

• Wednesday and Thursday, August 7 & 8: "Making God Laugh" - 7:30 PM - Howell Theatre
• Friday, August 9 - final performance of "Emma" - 7:30 PM - Howell Theatre
• Saturday, August 10 - final performance of "Mrs. Mannerly" - 7:30 PM - Studio Theatre
• Sunday, August 11 - final performance of "Making God Laugh" - 2:00 PM - Howell Theatre

As a way of looking back at this wonderful season, I've created a mosaic collage of all of the behind the scene pics.

Top 5 Reasons to See "Red Line Stories"

Dennis Henry, who directed tonight's Destination show, Red Line Stories (written and performed by Carrie Lee Patterson), has five reasons for you to go see the show tonight at 7:30 PM.

* * * * * * * * * *

"Top Five Reasons to See Red Line Stories" by Dennis Henry
5. Prize Winning Literature:  Red Line Stories is the winner of the 2012 Howard Frank Mosher Prize for Short Fiction.

4. You get 19 stories for the price of one! Take a ride down Chicago’s Red Line train with a peak into the soul of a different character at each stop that reveals the heart of the entire city.

3. It is like taking a Chicago vacation without having to drive through Iowa.

2.  Hey! It’s Tuesday night! We are the only game in town and Red Line Stories is a one-night only performance.

1. Carrie Lee Patterson is a double-threat:  prize-winning author and charismatic professional actor. She has a powerful presence and a golden voice that will transport the audience into a different world.

Countdown to "Red Line Stories"

As I mentioned in Friday's post, this coming Tuesday NRT's second Destinations show, Red Line Stories, will open.   As Ryan did the Monday before the performance of Nocturne, Carrie Lee Patterson will be leading an informal conversation on "Building  a Professional Career."  As well as being a brilliant theater professor, Carrie Lee is an equity actress and has directed many shows.  While Ryan talked about working on both coasts, Carrie Lee will discuss working in Chicago.  The workshop is at 5:30 PM, Monday, August 5th in the Temple Lobby, so make sure to come by.

As with Nocturne, this performance is a staged reading.  However, what is neat about this performance is that you get to hear the author, Carrie Lee Patterson, read her own work.  How fun!  

The reading is free to 2013 Season Pass Holders and is $7 at the door for all others.  You can also do Pay-What-You-Can starting fifteen minutes before the show.

Destinations Podcast

Last Tuesday was the performance of Nocturne, the first of the two Destinations shows.  It was a great success and played to a large and supportive audience.  Ryan Johnston put a lot of heart and emotion into the performance and the amount of Kleenex and tears showed how much the audience responded to the show.

Next Tuesday will be the second Destination show, Red Line Stories.  It is directed by Dennis Henry, a graduate student in UNL's MFA program, and is both written and performed by the UNL Theatre departments very own Carrie Lee Patterson.  The play is based on her own experiences riding the red line of Chicago's L-train.  

For more information, check out this podcast which discusses both Destination shows.