A Full Circle Journey

by Brandon Box-Higdem, Associate Artistic Director

Greetings from the Omaha Community Playhouse! (Do you want to know how long I have wanted to be able to scream that from the mountaintops?)

I want to share with you the importance of the word JOURNEY.

My mom always said to me, “Things will happen, Brandon, in your life, that you may not always have the answers to, but the journey may be something you may not understand but are expected to learn and grow from, and to navigate as best you can. It will work itself out and you will see all the reasons later.”

When I left to pursue a “life journey redirect, turning the corner” career in theatre education 16 years ago, I left a part of my heart at the Playhouse. I had fallen in love with the Playhouse from the first day I walked in the backstage door for Nebraska Theatre Caravan rehearsals in 1997. I saw my very first production on the OCP mainstage, which was La Cage Aux Folles, starring the incomparable Jim Boggess and Joe Miloni and was gobsmacked. I kept thinking, “HOW can this be community theatre?” and began to figure out a way that I could invest in its mission and somehow become a part of all things Playhouse. I worked hard to build my theatre directing  resume, knowing someday Carl and Susie would want to retire.

In 2001, I was granted the opportunity to become a member of COHORT 9 at the Actor’s Studio School of Drama in NYC. With an MFA in my future wheelhouse, I felt like I could be even more justified to come home to the Playhouse and join the artistic leadership.

Witnessing New York talent on the Broadway stages, there were moments I saw ensemble folks on those stages just “cashing it in and going through the motions” and I was finding myself so angry. I thought, “I have worked with more dedicated, more talented, more creative folks on Omaha Community Playhouse stages and THEY are volunteers!”

9/11 occurred three weeks into my Actor’s Studio experience and walking into that harrowing moment redirected my life back to more stable ground, back to Omaha, and the folding arms of the theatre community.

Brandon’s new office as Associate Artistic Director brings back memories. It’s where he sat in on his first meeting at OCP years ago as a company member of the Nebraska Theatre Caravan.

Now in a full-circle moment, my journey has brought me back to what feels like home and have been presented with exciting adventures ahead. I can feel that the journey I took getting to this moment has led me to be right here, in this very moment, in the required time-frame, in my what used to be the Nebraska Theatre Caravan office where I had my very first meeting at OCP. And in a full-circle moment I am ready to take on the adventure of a lifetime, becoming your new Associate Artistic Director of the nation’s largest community theatre.

I welcome each and every one of you into its doors, on its stages, and into our classrooms. With gratitude and sincerity, I say, “We are so glad you have chosen to join us on this journey and hope that you will choose to return many times over.”