A Deeper Look: Julie Enersen

The Omaha Community Playhouse is known for drawing in talented people in the local area. Julie Enersen, however, is not so local. Living in Lincoln, Julie wanted to be in the show so much that she commutes to all the rehearsals, oftentimes eating her meals in the car. “I wear a big t-shirt as a "bib" and use a large spoon for ease in eating. I pretty much feel like a toddler driving down the road!” The distance doesn’t stop her from being in the ensemble of such a great show.

Julie first became interested in musicals back in junior high, if not initially for the singing. “At that time, I quickly realized that if I did shows, cute boys would be forced to hold my hand and sing to me,” she said. “I was hooked!” Singing became a much bigger part of her life over the years, which lead her to earn a Music Education degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She taught vocal music at a local middle school and eventually directed the Scarlet and Cream Singers at UNL. Since 2005, she has been the Worship Arts Director at the Unitarian Church of Lincoln.

Through all of that, she continued to do musicals at various local theaters. She even met her husband, Steve, at the Lincoln Community Playhouse, and their two kids, Alex and Meredith, are involved in productions there. This year, they are hosting a German foreign exchange student, Narin, and even she has already spent some time volunteering at LCP.

Julie became interested in the OCP through her friend and OCP veteran Jim McKain. “I was always impressed with the building, the production values and the reports from Jim about the professionalism of the organization.” She knew she wanted to be in a show there one day, but also knew it would be tricky to find the time. This fall, everything fell together perfectly: Julie decided to take a sabbatical, she already had the music memorized from a LCP performance of the show earlier this year and she was inspired by the fact that Susie and Carl would be co-directing this show prior to their retirements. She and her family knew the time was right!

Even though she was #13 out of 360 who auditioned and did not have much hope for being cast after seeing all the talent at the callback, Julie was thrilled when she got the call from Susie offering her a role in the ensemble. Though that meant a lot of travel back and forth from Lincoln to Omaha, Julie said there were quite a few things to do in Omaha that were on her bucket list anyway. “But honestly, the main reason the commute is fairly easy is because I really enjoy the rehearsals and my fellow castmates. I'm happy to get in my car and head there every night.” This enthusiasm, optimism and dedication are just a few of the things that make Julie a wonderful cast member and performer.

You can see Julie Enersen in her role in the Ensemble at the Omaha Community Playhouse’s Les Misérables, running Sept. 20-Oct. 27, 2013; Wednesday-Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2:00 p.m. Tickets are $40 for adults and $24 for students. To purchase tickets, or for more information, call (402) 553-0800 or click here.

Story by Shannon Kern