Go-To Character Actor John Beasley Lived His Purpose
A latecomer to acting, he had a rich, varied, decades-long career onstage and on screen, not only as a performer but as a mentor, teacher, and leader.
Stories by Leo Adam Biga
Norm Lewis, Reporting for Duty
Now on tour in a meaty lead role in ‘A Soldier’s Play,’ the versatile actor-singer talks about his unlikely start and his dawning realization that he’s blazed trails for others, much as others did for him.
‘Theater of the Mind,’ Sure, But How About a Theatre Accessible for All Bodies?
More than just an immersive show about the senses, the new David Byrne/Mala Gaonkar experience in Denver has been built for folks of all sensory abilities.
How Megan Terry and Jo Ann Schmidman Made Magic in Omaha
How 2 veterans of New York’s 1960s-’70s avant-garde theatre made edgy, alternative theatre in a conservative state, and what enduring lessons their example may hold out for others.
The Evolution of Anthony Davis’s ‘Malcolm X’ Opera
The Met Opera-bound revival, directed by Robert O’Hara, plays this weekend in Omaha, where the influential Black leader was born Malcolm Little in 1925.
Robert O’Hara Puts Nothing on a Pedestal, Least of All the Canon
This busy writer-director, known for new works, is now staging ‘A Raisin in the Sun’ at the Public, but it’s more a case of continuing a legacy of Black iconoclasm than a new career phase.
John Beasley Is Ready for the Role of a Lifetime
Broadway-bound for the first time at 79, working actor Beasley feels that his role in ‘The Notebook’ came along at just the right time.
Kevyn Morrow’s Road to ‘Hadestown’
Currently touring as the low-voiced underworld kingpin Hades, Morrow is drawing on a lifetime of triple-threat experience on Broadway and on the road.
A Vibe Shift at the Great Plains Theatre Conference
In streamlining its offerings, the annual Omaha new-play gathering has gained what visiting artists see as an increase in collegiality, support, and breathing room.
David Mamet and the ‘Stupid F***ing Words’
Like the characters in his language-lacerating work, the Chicago-bred playwright often spoils for a fight, even when the topic isn’t his increasingly conservative politics.
