Sarah on theater

A much-beloved holiday tradition celebrates its golden jubilee. Only three Scrooges in fifty years! Omaha Community Playhouse is a venerated local institution, established 1924—a 500-seater which has seen the professional debuts of Henry Fonda, Marlon Brando, and Norbert Leo Butz, among others. Here, Cork Ramer brings deep-bass gravitas to the humbugger-in-chief after many years playing the part in the affiliated touring company, Nebraska Theatre Caravan. He’s a highlight, as are the sets and costumes, which are suitably grand after so many years’ incremental enhancement. The show’s a leisurely celebration that interlaces the play with Christmas tunes sung by large adults’ and children’s ensembles. You could really call it a holiday program, by and celebrating the community, and part of the joy is flipping through the program and seeing names you recognize. (And the sponsoring local bakery hands out free loaves after the show.) As a late bloomer on theater, I enjoyed poring over the photo mural of past productions in the lobby—it’s backlit and visible from the street as you drive by and seared into my memory—all these wonderful shows I’ve come to know, and could have known, but for my apprehension at stepping out of my shell. The time, as ever, is passing. Happy holidays. ☺️