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The Omaha Community Playhouse has long been known for showcasing local, non-professional actors on its stages. But scores of OCP performers have had professional careers, including three best-actor Tony winners and two best-actor/actress Oscar winners. Here’s a partial list of artists whose work at the Omaha Community Playhouse preceded or followed notable professional work:
From the Nebraska Theatre Caravan:
Tracy Michelle Arnold, longtime company member at American Players Theatre, Spring Green, Wis., and regional theatre actor
Carl Beck, longtime OCP artistic director and professional actor, TV programming creator and production work for TBS in Atlanta
Jim Boggess, longtime OCP music director and singer/actor
Jon Anker Bow, actor-singer recently in the national tour of “Cats”
Chad Bradford, former Scrooge for the Caravan based in New York. Current associate artistic director, Shake on the Lake Shakespeare in western New York
Norbert Leo Butz, Tony winner for “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” and “Catch Me If You Can.” Other Broadway and NYC credits: “The Last Five Years,” “Wicked,” “Big Fish.” Also a singer-songwriter with many film and TV credits
Kathy Callahan, Broadway credits include “Mary Poppins”
Joe Cassidy, Broadway and NYC credits include “Showboat,” “Catch Me If You Can,” “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” “If/Then,” “Waitress”
Susan Baer Collins, longtime OCP associate artistic director, interim artistic director, acting and voice teacher, award-winning stage actress, Caravan playwright, TV programming work for TBS, TV voice work
Fran Curry, Broadway dresser for “The King and I,” “The Bridges of Madison County,”
“Frozen,” “Titanic,” “Waitress,” many more. Acting credits in 20 Broadway shows, six national tours, extensive TV credits
John Foley, former Scrooge for the Caravan, writer for the BBC, voice work on more than 200 audio books and BBC shows
Laura Freeman, award-winning professional singer in Chicago cabaret
Nils Haaland, Omaha actor, former Scrooge for the Caravan, co-founder of Omaha’s Blue Barn Theatre
Katherine Hammond, producing artistic director/associate professor at Warehouse of Theatre/Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va.
Andy Harvey, former Scrooge for the Caravan, commercial voice-over artist
Bill Hutson, former Scrooge for the Caravan, retired professor of theatre at Creighton University
Kevin Lawler, former Scrooge for the Caravan, producing/artistic director of Great Plains Theatre Commons, co-founder of Omaha’s Blue Barn Theatre
Jerry Longe, professional actor who played many roles at OCP, including Scrooge for 17 years on the main stage, and for the Caravan
Jayden Lund, professional actor with TV, film credits in Los Angeles
Carolyn Rutherford Mayo, singer-actress and longtime Caravan manager
Kevyn Morrow, Broadway actor and Olivier nominee for “Ragtime” in London
Scott Moreau, national tour of “Million Dollar Quartet,” noted Johnny Cash impersonator
Cork Ramer, former Scrooge for the Caravan, current Scrooge on OCP’s main stage.
Gail Rastorfer, regional actor based in Chicago with theatre, TV and film credits, commercial work
Don Richard, Broadway credits include original casts of “Urinetown,” “Jane Eyre”
Dan Rodden, actor based in Chicago, contributor on “The Onion” podcast
Greg Scheer, OCP production manager and longtime Caravan producing director
Don Hook, retired longtime OCP technical director
Thom Christopher Warren, Broadway credits include “Once Upon a Matress,” 15 years in “The Lion King,” acting teacher at New York Film School and at Otterbein College, Columbus, Ohio
Arts and other professionals who have appeared in or worked on OCP productions:
Henry Fonda, Tony- and Oscar-winning actor
Dorothy McGuire, Oscar-nominated and Broadway actress
Jane Fonda, Oscar-winning actress
Peter Fonda, Oscar-nominated actor
Timothy Shew, Broadway actor, “Les Miserables”
Alex Rodriguez, director
Stephen Santa, director
Hilary Adams, director
Kimberly Faith Hickman, director
McGuigan, rock revue performer, founder of Rave On Productions
Camille Metoyer Moten, singer-actress
Kathy Tyree, director, singer-actress
Jill Anderson, director, singer-actress
Susan Clement, Blue Barn Theatre executive director
John Lloyd Young, Tony winner for “Jersey Boys”
John Gibilisco, longtime OCP sound designer and master electrician
Tim Burkhart, sound designer
Q Smith, Broadway and national tour actress (“Mary Poppins,” others)
John Bennett, former longtime OCP music director
Joanne Cady, choreographer
Becky Noble, singer-actress, Dundee Dinner Theatre founder, current OCP executive director
Michelle Garrity, choreographer, singer-actress
Roxanne Nielsen, choreographer, singer-actress
Greg Ryerson, singer-actor
Emmy Gifford, actress, teacher, former OCP staffer and co-founder of what became the Rose children’s theatre in Omaha
James Harbour, onscreen movie actor and voice work
Alexandra Hunt, opera singer at the Met, La Scala
Charles Jones, longtime OCP artistic director
Charles Karen, opera singer at the Met
Anne Winsor, Emmy-winning costumer for “St. Elsewhere”
Dick and MariJane Mueller, founders of Firehouse Dinner Theatre
John Beasley, actor in films including “Rudy” and “The Apostle,” TV series “Everwood,” later founder of the John Beasley Theatre in Omaha.
Tom Wees, actor in best-pic Oscar winner “Terms of Endearment”
Dave Wingert, radio host and singer-actor
Marsha Kaye, Nashville recording artist
Delaney Driscoll, movie (Alexander Payne’s “Election”) and stage actress
John Durbin, film and stage actor; casting director for filmmaker Alexander Payne
Kendrick Wilson, longtime OCP artistic director
Gary Johnson, seven-time Daytime Emmy winner as a TV quiz-show writer for “Hollywood Squares,” “Jeopardy” and others
Dick Christie, TV series actor and film writer
Terry Kiser, movie and television actor
Bill Bailey, vaudeville veteran
Nancy Duncan, actress-director
Leo Hartig, Sioux Falls television news anchor
Esther Paeper, Broadway actress
Don Saroyan, film actor and ex-husband of Carol Burnett
James Milhollin, film and Broadway actor, “No Time for Sergeants,” also TV work
Rift Fournier, TV writer and producer
Joy Hodges, Broadway actress, singer with Harry James Orchestra
Tom Kennedy, Broadway and Orson Welles’ Mercury Theater radio actor
Lawrence Forsythe, Broadway and Los Angeles NBC radio station manager
Ray Suber, NBC Radio actor
Lenka Peterson, Broadway, film and USO actress, Tony nominee for “Quilters”
Russell Baker, Broadway actor
Howard Fischer, Broadway actor and stage manager
Glenn Cunningham, Omaha mayor and U.S. congressman
Jean Borglum, actress and niece of Mt. Rushmore sculptor Gutzon Borglum
Rudyard Norton, actor who had a local theatre named for him
Hudson Shotwell, Broadway and film actor
Damian O’Flynn, Broadway actor
James Allison Flynn, actor, World-Herald artist and scenic designer
James R. Flynn, actor (34 roles at OCP, 1934-50)
Donald Morton, vaudeville veteran
Grant Wood, set designer and famed painter of “American Gothic”
Letitia Baldrige, chief of staff to First Lady Jackie Kennedy and Miss Manners syndicated columnist
William Dozier, vice president of Screen Gems, producer and narrator of “Batman” and “Green Hornet” TV series. Married actresses Joan Fontaine, Ann Rutherford
Bernard Szold, director, Hollywood acting tutor
Gregory Foley, director, NBC radio producer in New York City
Sam Reynolds, appointed U.S. senator after Hugh Butler’s death, city councilman
Ray Suber, Chicago professional actor, stage and radio
Mary T. Johnson, movie actress
C.A. Sparks, vaudeville performer in Georgia
Frances Fintel, Los Angeles actress
Hart Jenks, Chautauqua and New York City actor
Adolph Brandes, stage actor
Lawrence Forsyth, Broadway actor
Paul Reese, RKO headliner and network radio anchor
Hudson Shotwell, Broadway actor
Lauren Gilbert, stage actress
Rose Webber, Broadway actress
Louise Fitch, CBS Radio actress (“Ma Perkins”), also TV and film
Adolph Schneider, NBC News
Eldon Anspach, TV pioneer
Harold Clizbe, Chicago radio
Joy Hodges Doorly, Broadway and movie actress
Virginia Huston, movies
Jack McBride, Nebraska public television
Harriet Walker, radio and stage actress
John Dennis Johnston, movie actor
David K. Johnson, stage actor
Lyle DeMoss, radio actor
Don Schoenberg, former manager of the Guthrie Theatre, Minneapolis
Stella Adler, soap opera actress
Marc Antony, Voice of America radio
