There’s some pretty heavenly harmony in “Sister Act” at the Omaha Community Playhouse. The show, which opened Friday under director Kimberly Faith Hickman, really hits its stride when you meet the nuns about a third of the way through the first act. As you might expect if you’ve seen the movie on which this musical is based, their song-and-dance numbers are the highlight of the two-hour production. You have to sit through some plot setup to get to that point: The show opens with lounge singer Deloris Van Cartier (Zhomontee Watson) trying to persuade her married gangster boyfriend, Curtis (Brian Priesman), to let her perform in his club. He tells her she’s not ready, then gives her a garish b
SISTER ACT, playing last night to a packed preview audience at the Omaha Community Playhouse, 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. The musical SISTER ACT, written by Bill and Cheri Steinkellner with additional book material by Douglas Carter Beane, music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Glenn Slater, is based on the 1992 film version starring Whoopi Goldberg. This multiple award-winning creative team has impressive credentials to their name
From now on, people taking classes at the Omaha Playhouse will be enrolled in a program that honors a great American thespian. They will be studying at the Henry Fonda Theater Academy, recently named after a man whom critics have called one of the best actors of all time. Fonda, who grew up in Omaha, got his start at the Playhouse and supported it throughout his life with money and time. He went on to star in numerous movies, but the stage always was his first love, his widow, Shirlee, said in a phone interview from Los Angeles. When Playhouse Artistic Director Kimberly Faith Hickman arrived in June, staffers were in the process of restructuring the theater’s education department. They decid
