Join us for OCP's "Little Shop Of Horrors" Event Series!

Blood Drive:
Wednesday, April 12 | 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Omaha Community Playhouse 6915 Cass St.

As our community grows, so does our need for blood. In collaboration with The Nebraska Community Blood Bank, OCP will be hosting a blood drive this month. Come donate and meet Little Shop of Horrors’ Audrey II in person! By giving blood you can literally save a life! Reserve your spot for the blood drive here.

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Film Screening
Tuesday, April 18 | 6:00 p.m.
Film Streams' Ruth Sokolof Theater 1340 Mike Fahey St.

We're hosting a Little Shop of Horrors (1986) film screening at Film Streams' Ruth Sokolof Theater. Visit the lobby before the show to meet Audrey II! After the screening, OCP's artistic team will discuss the musical's legacy, and the use of puppetry on stage. Purchase event tickets here.

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Audrey II Meet-n-Greet!
Tuesday, April 25 | 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Chlorophyll by Kinghorn Gardens | 1917 South 67th St. Suite 170

It's not every day that you can take a self-portrait with a human eating anthropomorphic plant! Visit Chlorophyll, our Plant Sponsor for Little Shop of Horrors, for an up-close and personal meet-n-greet with Audrey II! If you dare . . . RSVP here.

*Chlorophyll is located Directly across from the Inner Rail Food Hall, Aksarben Village.

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Puppetry In Theatre Workshop
Sunday, April 30 | 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Omaha Community Playhouse 6915 Cass St.
13+ | Cost: FREE

Come meet Audrey II & learn about the art of puppeteering! Learn fundamental puppeteering basics, practice your new skills, and see behind the scenes secrets in our production of Little Shop of Horrors. Sign up for the workshop here.

Immersive Theatre Day with Omaha Central High School

Here's a look back at our Immersive Theatre Day with students from Omaha Central High School. 

Our Immersive Theatre Program offers an inside look at all of the behind-the-scenes magic at the Omaha Community Playhouse. Local middle & high schools spend the day at OCP rotating through the departments that bring our productions to life. They’ll also engage in talk backs with employees who keep OCP a well-oiled machine. These programs are in conjunction with a production in our season.

Participating groups will experience:

• A tour of OCP
• Hands-on activities in our props & paint departments
• Hands-on activities in our lighting and sound departments
• Hands-on activities and demonstrations in our scenic department
• Talk backs with members from OCP’s art, development, marketing, education, finance, and artistic departments
• A catered lunchAn Immersive Theatre Program t-shirt
• Tickets to preview night of the participating show

HOW CAN I GET MY STUDENTS INVOLVED?

Interested schools and community groups can email our Director of Education, Maddison Gilcrease, at mgilcrease@omahaplayhouse.com. There is no cost for you and your group to engage in the program. All groups receive a t-shirt, catered lunch, a take home bag, and we cover the cost of the bus transportation to and from the Playhouse. The program can accommodate up to 25 students and chaperones.

    

Learn more about our Immersive Theatre Program here: https://bit.ly/OCPImmersiveTheatre

Introducing OCP's Associate Artistic Director, Alex Rodriguez

 

Alex Rodriguez is a Cuban-American theatre director, actor, and educator currently based in New York City.  He is a multi-hyphenate collaborator whose work ranges from new-work development to large-scale productions.  Alex is passionate about representation in our stages and shining a light on untold stories. His work has been recognized for its innovation and humanity, and he believes in the power of storytelling to ignite thought, conversation, and change.  

Select directing credits include RENT (SABT, Tobin Center), Havana Music Hall, A New Musical (Workshop/ Associate), Common Ground, A New Musical (NYC Workshop), Little Women, The Broadway Musical (TXST), References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot (TXST), Imagine That! (TXST), Last Five Years (ABET), Five Guys Named Moe (PBTS), A Night with Janis Joplin (ZACH/ Assistant to Randy Johnson), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Associate to Kaitlin Hopkins), Theresa Rebeck’s The Two Orphans (Workshop/ Assistant), and the Northeast Florida premiere of RENT, winner of Folio Weekly’s Best Theatre Production. 

As a teaching artist, Rodriguez has taught acting and directing at Marymount Manhattan College and Texas State University, and served as the education and outreach director at Players by The Sea Theatre. Additionally, he’s served as a freelance entertainment project manager and vocal supervisor for Carnival Cruise Line for the past five years.   

Select performance credits include Juan Julian in Anna in The Tropics (Barrington Stage), Emilio Estefan in On Your Feet! (Prather Productions), Carnival Cruise Line (Inaugural cast manager and vocal captain), The Jacksonville Symphony, Flat Rock Playhouse, and The Alhambra. 

Alex holds an MFA in Directing from Texas State University, and a BFA in Musical Theatre from Jacksonville University. He’s a member of Actor’s Equity Association, and an associate member of The Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.

"I'm honored to join the Omaha Community Playhouse family and serve as their new Associate Artistic Director. I had the opportunity to visit the playhouse during my interview process and experienced compelling work, a welcoming community, and a great vision for the work ahead. I look forward to joining Katie, Stephen, and the entire playhouse staff in delivering artistic excellence for the Omaha community, and to meeting you all."

- Alex Rodriguez

Introducing OCP's NOW Lab Producer, Kara Davidson

Kara Davidson is a performer, playwright, puppeteer and teaching artist. Davidson is excited to collaborate as the Now Lab Producer with the OCP team!

She was previously seen onstage at OCP in Stick Fly. Davidson holds a Master of Fine Arts in writing for stage and screen from the University of Nebraska Omaha and a Bachelor of Arts in theatre performance from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. She was the co-founder and co-director of a new works development incubator, The Lab (Chicago), from 2019 through 2022. Her work as a playwright has been commissioned and produced in Chicago, Minneapolis, Nebraska, Indiana, Kansas, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky. She was the fall 2021 recipient of The Honeybee Prize in Literature for her short play The Farewell Burn, awarded by The Good Life Review. Since 2015, she has taught workshops and performed nationally and internationally with the artistic collective Manual Cinema. This company utilizes puppetry, technology, and immersive sound to create theatrical cinematic experiences for audiences. As a performer, she has also worked with Lookingglass Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, The House Theatre of Chicago, The Actors Theatre of Louisville, and Nebraska Repertory Theatre, among others.

Davidson is also passionate about creating accessible theatre experiences and previously worked with neurodiverse artists as a teaching facilitator with A.B.L.E. Ensemble in Chicago. This company creates theatre and film projects for, with, and by individuals with down syndrome and other developmental disabilities.

Learn about the NOW Lab here: https://omahaplayhouse.com/education/now-lab/.