THE READER OMAHA MAY 2023

publisher/editor

graphic designers

John Heaston john@thereader.com

Ken Guthrie Albory Seijas

news Robyn Murray copy@thereader.com

production editor .. Michael Newgren spike@thereader.com

lead reporter .............. Chris Bowling chris@thereader.com

associate publisher ... Karlha Velásquez karlha@el-perico.com

report for america

corps member......... Bridget Fogarty bridget@el-perico.com

creative services director Lynn Sanchez lynn@pioneermedia.me

editorial & membership associate Arjav Rawal arjav@pioneermedia.me

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

arts/visual

Mike Krainak mixedmedia@thereader.com

backbeat MarQ Manner backbeat@thereader.com

dish ............................... Sara Locke crumbs@thereader.com

film ................................

Ryan Syrek cuttingroom@thereader.com

hoodoo ................ B.J. Huchtemann bjhuchtemann@gmail.com

over the edge

Tim McMahan tim.mcmahan@gmail.com

theater Beaufield Berry coldcream@thereader.com

How to Get into the CareersFastest-Growing in Omaha

By ArJAv rAwAl

Physical Therapy Assistant

Over the last few years, the Nebraska Department of Labor has focused on promoting high-skill, high-demand and high-wage (H3) jobs, which account for just more than 37% of all jobs in the greater Omaha area and are some of the fastest-growing.

In December, El Perico published a resource guide of how to start a career in the five most in-demand jobs in the Omaha area. This month, The Reader takes a look at the five fastest-growing sectors in the metro area and how to get started with those.

If you’re looking to upskill and make a career move, this is where you can get started.

Information Security Analyst

This position is the fastest-growing in Omaha, with demand projected to grow by nearly 40% by 2026. Information security analysts make an average of $77,051 per year in Omaha, with entry-level professionals making an annual average of $50,680. Typically, this role focuses on cybersecurity measures for a company’s computer networks.

Local options for a career as an information security analyst include a cybersecurity degree through Bellevue University. Metropolitan Community College offers an associate’s degree in applied science, with a cybersecurity concentration. The University of Nebraska at Omaha offers bachelor’s and master’s degrees in cybersecurity.

Occupational Therapy Assistant

Demand for occupational therapy assistants (OTA) is also projected to grow by 40% by 2026 in Omaha. The average annual wage for this position is $56,119, with entry-level annual wages being $35,516. An OTA helps patients develop or redevelop skills needed for daily living and working.

The only programs in Nebraska that offer OTA associate’s degrees are located in Grand Island and Lincoln. Locally, however, many colleges offer advanced programs in occupational therapy, including master’s and doctorate degrees. Go to omahajobs.com to view a full list of accredited occupational therapy programs in Nebraska.

Demand for physical therapy assistants (PTA) is projected to grow by nearly 37% by 2026. The average annual wage for a PTA is $49,248, while an entry-level professional makes $30,458. A PTA helps physical therapists with patients recovering from an injury or illness. Typically, that means assisting them with mobility skills and pain management.

Clarkson College offers associate’s and bachelor’s degrees for becoming a physical therapy assistant. Methodist College and Southeast Community College in Lincoln also offer an associate’s degree.

Statistician

Demand for statisticians is expected to grow by nearly 34% by 2026 in Omaha, although there are not many openings annually. The average annual wage for a statistician is $66,752, while an entry-level professional makes $43,994. A statistician analyzes data and uses math to solve problems, typically in a research and development setting.

The University of Nebraska at Omaha offers a statistics concentration as part of a B.A.

or B.S. degree in mathematics. Creighton University offers an associate’s degree and an undergraduate certification in mathematics.

Software Developer

The need for software developers is projected to grow by nearly 33% by 2026 in Omaha. Currently, the demand for software developers in Omaha is the seventh-highest of all H3 occupations. Entry-level developers make $65,909 annually, but the average annual wage is $94,211. Software developers have a pretty intuitive job description — to design or develop software.

Getting into software development can be done through a bachelor’s and/or master’s degree in computer science, which all major universities in the Omaha metro area offer. Metropolitan Community College offers a two-level career certificate for computer programming, which can help jump-start a career in software development. Other options include Lincoln-based Don’t Panic Labs (DPL), which finds corporate sponsors for those looking to upskill into software development and provides them with a certificate from Doane University. DPL’s website says the program guarantees a job placement with the sponsor.

ProKarma, Inc.

Concentrix CVG Customer Management Group Inc.

Big Data Engineer #322381

Concentrix CVG Customer Management Group Inc. has mult. openings for Data Engineer in Omaha, NE; travel and/or reloc to various unanticipated locations throughout the U.S. is required. Telecommuting may be permitted. Write, update, and maintain software applications; perform production maintenance of code; gather solutions requirement. Req. Master’s degree in Comp Sci, Engg (any), or related tech/analytical field.

To apply, email Resumes via email to Ctlyst_postings@concentrix.com with Job Ref# 322381 in subject line.

ProKarma, Inc.

Concentrix CVG Customer Management Group Inc.

Data Engineer #478039

Concentrix CVG Customer Management Group Inc. has mult. openings for Data Engineer in Omaha, NE; travel and/or reloc to various unanticipated locations throughout the U.S. is required. Telecommuting may be permitted. Write, update, and maintain software applications; perform production maintenance of code; gather solutions requirement. Req. Master’s degree in Comp Sci, Engg (any), or related tech/analytical field.

To apply, email Resumes via email to Ctlyst_postings@concentrix.com with Job Ref# 478039 in subject line.

ProKarma, Inc.

Concentrix CVG Customer Management Group Inc.

Big Data Engineer #328848

Concentrix CVG Customer Management Group Inc. has mult. openings for Data Engineer in Omaha, NE; travel and/or reloc to various unanticipated locations throughout the U.S. is required. Telecommuting may be permitted. Write, update, and maintain software applications; perform production maintenance of code; gather solutions requirement. Req. Master’s degree in Comp Sci, Engg (any), or related tech/ analytical field plus two (2) yrs of exp in an IT/Comp-related position.

To apply, email Resumes via email to Ctlyst_postings@concentrix.com with Job Ref# 328848 in subject line.

ProKarma,

Inc.

Concentrix CVG Customer Management Group Inc.

Project Manager #328877

Concentrix CVG Customer Management Group Inc. has mult. openings for Project Manager in Omaha, NE; travel and/or reloc to various unanticipated locations throughout the U.S. is required. Telecommuting may be permitted. Resp. for analyzing data processing problems, identifying informational or process requirements and needs, providing technical advice or consultation and developing logical solutions to problems for medium to large projects. Req. Bachelor’s degree in Comp Sci, Engg (any), or related tech/analytical field, plus five (5) yrs of exp in an IT/Comp-related position.

To apply, email Resumes via email to Ctlyst_postings@concentrix.com with Job Ref# 328877 in subject line.

ProKarma, Inc.

Concentrix CVG Customer Management Group Inc.

Software Developer #321968

Concentrix CVG Customer Management Group Inc. has mult. openings for Software Developer in Omaha, NE; travel and/or reloc to various unanticipated locations throughout the U.S. is required. Telecommuting may be permitted. Responsible for developing and writing computer programs to store, locate, and retrieve specific documents, data, and information. Req. Master’s degree in Comp Sci, Engg (any), or related tech/ analytical field, plus two (2) yrs of exp in an IT/Comp-related position.

To apply, email Resumes via email to Ctlyst_postings@concentrix.com with Job Ref# 321968 in subject line.

LEAD QUALITY ASSURANCE DEVELOPER

Gallup, Inc. has an opening for a Lead Quality Assurance Developer in Omaha, NE to work with development team to convert the requirements and technical design documents into test plan and to test development work before functionality is released to end user.

Requires a minimum of a Master’s degree or its foreign equivalent in Computer Science, MIS, Information Technology/Engineering or related field plus 1 year experience as a Software Engineer or Quality Assurance Developer including experience in developing automation framework using selenium Webdriver (Python) and performing stress tests for each major software release, executing the authored automation and manual test cases, review, diagnose bugs and formulate solutions on RDS, working with MySQL database., working in Python, developing and optimizing SQL queries, functions, and stored procedures and use of automated test tools and scripting; service-oriented architectures and DevOps.

Gallup is a federal contractor and must abide by President Biden’s Executive Order 14042 concerning COVID-19 vaccinations. As such, all U.S-based employees must be fully vaccinated. Gallup will consider requests for medical or religious exemptions to the vaccination requirement.

Gallup is an EEO/AAP

Employer-Minorities/Women/Disabled/Veterans.

Please apply online at: http://careers.gallup.com or mail resumes to: Lisa Kiichler 1001 Gallup Drive, Omaha, NE 68102.

Nebraska is bright, where a new day is always calling.

energy efficiency Helps HealthierCreateHomes

By Bridget Fogarty

Bianca Johnson had one priority when she became the owner of her green-shuttered Northwest Omaha home in 2019.

“As soon as I moved in, I immediately applied for weatherization,” Johnson said. “I knew the waitlist was relatively long.”

It was in her home state of Illinois that Johnson first learned about weatherization services — upgrades that improve the heating and cooling of a house and can reduce monthly energy bills. Once she became a homeowner, she applied for Habitat for Humanity Omaha’s weatherization program, which surveyed her home, insulated her attic and installed new exhaust systems, among other updates.

Three years later, Johnson estimates her energy bills are about 15% to 25% cheaper than they were before the changes.

“I love that I can be proactive and try to prevent some major expenses in the future,” she said. “And because I qualify, it’s at no cost to me.”

Weatherization not only saves households money, but it also helps reduce the risks of health issues brought on by climate change. Climate change is expected to worsen negative health problems associated with poor indoor environmental quality, according to a report from the Institute of Medicine for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Weatherization also helps lessen a household’s energy burden — the percentage of gross income spent annually on energy bills. In Omaha, low-income households put a much greater portion of their income into their power bills annually than non-low-income households, according to a recent OPPD report that analyzed energy burden trends and solutions for its customers. Renters and customers who live in buildings constructed before 1980 also have higher energy burdens.

Low-income, Black, Hispanic and Native households — the same communities most affected by climate change — have far higher energy burdens than their non-Hispanic white counterparts, according to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, or ACEEE, a nonprofit research and policy

organization. Higher energy burdens correlate with greater risk for respiratory diseases and increased stress and economic hardship, according to ACCEE.

The new Inflation Reduction Act, or IRA, aims to bring energy-efficient changes into millions of homes across the country. Signed into law in August 2022, the $370 billion climate investment will help cover or reduce residents’ costs to improve their house’s air quality and lower their energy bills.

Information and federal funding from the IRA are rolling out slowly to states and local communities. In the meantime, Omahans can take advantage of existing programs and prepare for coming IRA tax credits that will help lower their energy bills and reduce their carbon footprint.

OPPD’s CustOmer AssistAnCe PrOgrAm

A pilot program through OPPD aims to help customers struggling financially by providing assistance in the form of a monthly bill credit. The Customer Assistance Program makes energy bills more affordable and is a recurring financial support, rather than a one-time payment.

The program currently has a capacity of 3,000 customers and is open for homeowners and renters of single-family homes. Customers at or below 100% of the federal poverty line can apply for ongoing bill

nationwide, a 6% energy Burden is considered high, while an energy Burden aBove 10% is considered severe.

by

Bianca Johnson cut energy Bills By 15% to 25% with weatherization. Photo by bridget Fogarty.

graPh

bridget Fogarty.

assistance. Apply at DollarEnergy.com/MyApp or by phone through the Dollar Energy Fund: Call 1-888-282-6816.

Habitat for Humanity omaHa’s WeatHerization Program

OPPD also partners with Habitat for Humanity Omaha to connect customers with high energy burdens with weatherization services. It’s a long-lasting way to help make bills more affordable, according to Britton Gabel, manager of advocacy solutions at OPPD.

“When we put insulation into a home, for example, the money being saved will last for 10 to 15 to 20 years,” Gabel said.

Habitat for Humanity Omaha is one of eight weatherization service providers predominantly funded by the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy (NDEE). It’s the lead organization in Douglas County that provides weatherization services to qualifying low-income households.

In 2022, Habitat for Humanity Omaha performed 150 weatherization projects for seven rental homes and 143 homeowners, a spokesperson said in an email to The Reader. Workers determine what changes are needed to keep the residence cooling and heating as it should without wasting energy, then work with professionals to install the changes free of charge.

Statewide, NDEE has provided $225 million for energy-efficient improvements in 70,714 Nebraska homes since the federal weatherization program started in 1977, an NDEE spokesperson said in an email.

Fifty-one thousand Nebraska households are eligible for weatherization assistance services, according to NDEE’s website. Households with incomes at or below 200% of the federal poverty level may qualify for the services, but preference is given to people over 60, those with

disabilities and families with kids under 6.

Certain qualifications make it more challenging for low-income renters to apply for the program.

According to NDEE officials, while eligible renters can apply for the services, they need landlord approval and some work is restricted. Landlords must also agree not to raise rents within 12 months of the work being completed, according to NDEE.

— o t HE r En E rgy Effi C i E n C y u pgrad E s — Electric panel or circuit upgrades for new electric equipment*

of cost, up to $600

cost, up to $600 Insulation materials*

of cost, up to $600

of cost, up to $500 for doors (up to $250 each)

Home Energy Audits*

Home Electric Vehicle Charger 30% of cost, up to $1,000

of cost, up to $150

of cost, up to $1,000 **

* Subject to cap of $1200/year

** The IRS will soon publish further information on eligibility requirements related to home electric vehicle chargers, but we know that credits are intended for residents in non-urban or low-income communities.

A list of energy products And services thAt will quAlify for tAx credits between 2023 And 2032 through the infl Ation reduction Act. Graph provided by the U.S. department of enerGy.

inflation reduction act incentives

A big part of the IRA’s promises include helping residents cover the costs of energy-efficient changes in their homes — namely through tax credits and rebates.

Homeowners will find the most opportunities to claim tax credits for their improvements, but renters have some opportunities to get credits, too. While some tax credits were available for 2022, new tax credits will be available for about 18 energy products and services — including heat pumps, air conditioners and windows — from 2023 to 2032.

The best way to start the process of making a home more energy efficient is to contact an inspector to conduct a home energy audit. Homes that take the energy assessment can claim a tax credit for 30% of the cost, or up to $150, starting in 2023.

This professional perspective not only helps people build a strategy to get their basic energy savings needs met, but will also reveal inefficiencies in a home that most owners wouldn’t catch otherwise, according to Larry Emmanuel, who co-owns Future Energy Dynamics, a company that provides home energy assessments to residents across the Midwest.

“You want the best return on your investment,” Emmanuel said.

Residents should get a written report from the auditor.

Later in 2023, the IRA will roll out rebates for electric appliances and retrofits, the process of making changes to the systems or structures inside a building to improve its energy efficiency. These funds are not yet available, according to the Department of Energy, but once they are, all households will be able to access rebates of up to $4,000, and low-income households could receive up to $8,000.

Rebates will also cover the cost of installing electric appliances such as heat pump water heaters and clothes dryers in low and moderate-income households.

There’s much more information to come on the ways to get money back on energy-efficient home improvements. Check whitehouse.gov/cleanenergy for updates.

‘a better sense of security’

For Johnson, weatherizing her house sparked her desire to find more ways to invest in energy-efficiency changes for her home, including the possibility of installing solar panels.

She’s making those changes not only for her finances, but for the health and safety of her family, including two foster children she cares for.

“I appreciate every opportunity I get to only better their experiences,” she said. “It provides me with a better sense of security.”

Students Lead the Sustainability Charge

FighTing For a greener CiT y ComeS wiTh

ViCTorieS & SeTbaCkS For young omahanS

The garbage bags were streaked with ketchup, mustard and mayonnaise. At the bottom sat a compacted, unidentifiable mass — the remnants of hundreds of lunches at Omaha South High School.

While it wasn’t appealing to look at, for South senior Mia Perales, the green bins marked “compost” smelled, metaphorically speaking, like success.

“It’s so awesome to see what you’ve been working for so long come true,” she said. “It’s very rewarding. And it makes me excited for the future. If this could happen, who knows what else we can do?”

After about a year of stops and starts, South started a composting program in March thanks to Perales. The 18-yearold spent her junior and senior years advocating, petitioning and pestering administrators until the school of about 3,000 students, the largest high school enrollment in Nebraska, took the plunge.

So far, it seems to be working.

“It’s taken them time,” said South custodian Shawn Jakes, who helps students divvy up their waste and stack biodegradable trays, “but now, since I’m here, they’re getting it.”

In their first week, South students diverted about 1,100 pounds of biodegradable waste

from landfills where it would have produced methane gas, the second-largest greenhouse gas and a major driver of climate change. Instead Hillside Solutions takes the waste, along with other compostable material from around Omaha, to its compost facilities where it breaks down into nutrient-rich soil.

So far 24 schools, representing about 9,000 students, compost through Hillside Solutions, diverting 15,000 pounds of food waste a week, according to Brent Crampton, the organization’s director of partnerships. Others hope to add their schools to those numbers.

“[It helps] being able to say, ‘We have these other schools in

other districts able to make this work that have more budget issues with more students,’” said Rachel Carraher, a science teacher at Bellevue East High School after touring South’s composting program. “This is doable.”

‘We’re Doing It Because There’s a Need’

What’s most encouraging about Perales’ success is it’s a system change, pushing the fight against climate change off the individual and onto institutions such as schools, governments and companies, said Omaha Central High School senior Chlöe Johnson.

“If everyone was doing every tiny little thing that they could, it would be a drop in the bucket,” Johnson said. “We’re trying to do system change within our schools and within our state.”

Johnson and Perales are both members of Students for Sustainability, a citywide group of about a dozen high school students from Westside, Creighton Preparatory, Elkhorn, Omaha Public Schools and others. Most recently, the group organized its annual climate strike on April 14 that drew about 200 people to Memorial Park, calling on the city and state to apply for federal climate funds, Nebraska to develop a climate action plan and for the Omaha Public Power District to close the North Omaha coal plant.

Johnson said she and other students would rather not have to be the mouthpiece for climate issues, but they don’t feel like they have a choice.

“If we had a city that was doing everything right, we wouldn’t need to have teenagers doing this,” she said. “We’re not exactly doing this because it’s fun. We’re doing it because there’s a need … if we lived in, like, Portland, Oregon, or something, I don’t even know if we’d be in a group like this.”

While the City of Omaha is developing a climate action

S TORy AND PHOTOS By ChrIs BoWlINg

MIA PERALES (FAR LEFT) JOINS OTHER OMAHA SOUTH HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WHO ADVOCATED FOR THE SCHOOL TO IMPLEMENT COMPOSTING.

plan, it’s behind other cities such as Kansas City, Minneapolis and Des Moines. The seeming lack of urgency at the state and local levels is frustrating, students said.

“A lot of people in Nebraska, politicians specifically, want to know why young Nebraskans are leaving,” Perales, who plans on attending Gonzaga University or the University of Oregon in the fall, told senators at the Nebraska Legislature in February. “I can tell you it’s not because the price of property taxes are rising. It is because our voices aren’t being heard, and they aren’t being taken seriously.”

Hitting Walls

Other students in Omaha find their sustainability efforts running into obstacles.

The University of Nebraska at Omaha has several 2030

sustainability goals, including reaching net-zero carbon emissions, diverting more than 90% of campus waste and promoting sustainable forms of transportation. Until recently, the university had a full-time sustainability coordinator to oversee progress. That position within UNO’s Office of Sustainability has been vacant for about a year and is now the responsibility of Zoe Miller, a third-year student who leads the student group Sustain UNO.

“It’s really tough [when you’re] relying on students who have other responsibilities,” Miller said. “I think a lot of the work that [the Office of Sustainability] does falls with [Sustain UNO].”

The students have had some success. Some dorms have composting access. The university bought and gave away 200

passes to Heartland Bike Share, said Sustain UNO member Nate Ostdiek. Through a community garden, the students provide fresh produce to the campus food pantry.

But budgetary restraints have kept a lid on many ideas, Miller and other students said, such as expanding the compost program, which is currently voluntary, or making Heartland Bike Share access-free to all students.

For some UNO students, such as Isabella Manhart, it’s disappointing to feel like sustainability isn’t a priority.

“College is a place where people build skills they’re going to use for the rest of their life … [sustainable skills] are really valuable, and I want for myself and my peers,” Manhart said. “And the picture that I think was presented as I was deciding colleges is maybe not the picture that I’ve seen since coming here.”

Ostdiek said fighting climate change in Omaha as a student can feel aimless at times.

“We partner with a good number of community organizations, but it is incredibly decentralized,” he said. “It’s so hard to find out what everyone else is doing and how we can better support each other.”

A.T. Miller, UNO’s chief diversity officer, understands

students’ frustration. Shortly after Miller was hired in February 2022, they took on the Office of Sustainability. The program, which had subsisted without regular funding, had 67 cents left in its account, Miller said. Miller and others were able to secure three paid student positions for the office, including Zoe Miller (no relation), but the focus in 2023 has been charting a future for the office.

It could be coming at the right time as the University of Nebraska unveiled its system-wide sustainability plan on April 28. A .T. Miller, along with others on the chancellor’s Sustainability Committee, are looking at grants and funding opportunities to bring in a full-time coordinator as well as, ideally, a staff and programming dollars.

“It is, of course, a setback to not have a sustainability coordinator,” A.T. Miller said. “However, to get back to a staffed office, I think it’s far healthier to say, ‘No, we want to get back when it’s a real position that has a future to it.’”

Beth Chalecki is a political science professor and director of UNO’s academic approach to sustainability. She said increas-

A student dumps school lunch disc Ards into A compost bin At omAhA south high school.

eric Kr AKoWsKi is A ssistAnt Vice principAl At duchesne Ac AdemY oF the sAcred he Art, A priVAte c Atholic school .

students mArch during A climAte striKe At memoriAl pArK on April 14.

ingly more students want to learn about climate change and how to impact the systems that perpetuate it. UNO has degrees in environmental science as well as a sustainability concentration and minor. Sustainability and climate science also factor into classes in business, social sciences and the arts. And Chalecki said it’s not uncommon to pursue a new class at a student’s request.

But she said more could be done.

“I think if we had clear direction from the city … then we could make a lot of progress in a hurry,” Chalecki said. “I mean, a hurry as in a few years. We only have less than a decade to bend that carbon curve downward.”

A Word from Above

There is one leader whose clear directives are having effects in Omaha schools.

“The Earth herself, burdened and laid waste, is among the most abandoned and maltreated of our poor; she ‘groans in travail,’” Pope Francis wrote in May 2015.

The pope’s appeal to Catholics to take up the cause of climate change struck a chord with Eric Krakowski, assistant vice principal at Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart. He was an at­home composter and tried to make sustainable choices, but he realized Duchesne, a private Catholic girls school of about 300 students, could do more.

“That’s not a political statement,” Krakowski said, referring to the pope’s comments. “That’s a matter of our religious faith.”

Since then Duschesne has made a lot of progress:

n Students led a project in 2020 to put solar panels on Duchesne’s roof, which powers the school’s STEM lab. Since coming online the panels have generated 11.5 megawatts of power — enough to drive a car from

New York to Los Angeles nearly 17 times.

n In November 2022 the school reached net­zero waste (diverting more than 90% of its waste) eight years ahead of its 2030 target.

n Since 2016, the school, built in 1881, has been awarded an Energy Star rating for its energy efficiency by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Its 2022 certification is proudly displayed under portraits of the archangel Gabriel.

n Much of the perimeter of the building has been converted to gardens that sometimes provide produce for lunch.

n Sustainability and climate change figure into several Duchesne courses, and Krakowski is co­teaching a theology class of Pope Francis’ call to action on climate change.

n In 2020 Duchesne was recognized as a Green Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education for its commitment to sustainability. Duchesne does have an advantage in that it’s a small school that services mostly affluent families. Its solar array, for example, was paid for by school donors. But it’s not about any one school or person doing everything perfectly, Krakowski said. It’s about setting an exam­

ple, whether that’s for students, their families or other schools, and hoping others follow the lead.

“Our hope is our students see what we’re doing, hear what we’re doing, learn about things in the classroom, have their eyes open to things going on in the world around them,” Krakowski said. “That’s the social awareness — that they see a need and that they feel driven, to some degree, in their own lives to act on that.”

The pope’s message around climate change has also been received loud and clear at Creighton University, said Mary Ann Vinton, who oversees Creighton’s environmental science program. After the pope’s declaration, Creighton organized faculty and student task forces, students formed their own advocacy groups, and the university set goals for 2028, including:

n increasing sustainability classes

n halving greenhouse gas emissions

n decreasing campus waste by a quarter

n increasing funding for student­driven initiatives

The progress may not be moving quickly enough for some — in 2019, 86% of students supported a referen­

dum to divest from fossil fuels, which the president rejected — but staying committed to these goals sends a message to students.

“We all want to be part of a larger solution,” Vinton said. “If you can see how your role as an individual or as an institution is nesting within a broader strategy, it’s really good for morale. It’s hard to sustain if you don’t think your efforts are going to make a difference.”

‘Give Us a Couple Years’

Trying to change the world isn’t easy — especially when you’re a teenager in Omaha, Nebraska.

But there are bright moments, schools adopting composting, alternative forms of energy and goals to lessen their impact on climate change. The students know nothing’s going to change overnight, but doing this work together has ultimately made them more optimistic about the future.

“People underestimate the change they can create as one person, especially when they come together as a group,” said Ryan Quinn, a senior at Creighton Preparatory School.

But the students are far from satisfied. When asked what they’d do if they were given control of the city, they quickly rattled off about 20 ideas. Those included expanding transit options, taxing carbon, growing native plants and investing in neighborhoods to make sustainability accessible for all.

They know it costs money. And they know change is hard. But they don’t care. If Omaha, Nebraska or the United States doesn’t get with the program soon, it won’t be long before a new generation is in charge.

“Give us a couple years, and we will take over,” Johnson. “We will be the adults.”

Omaha Central high SChOOl SeniOr Chlöe JOhnSOn leadS a Climate prOteSt On tOp Of the dOdge Street pedeStrian Bridge near memOrial park.

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Nebraska AIDS Project Helps Underserved Communities

ImmIgrANt S AND refUgeeS fACe greAter rISkS DUe to BArrIerS

BY Natalie Veloso

While the number of Nebraskans newly diagnosed with HIV and AIDS has declined for the past few decades, officials say refugees and immigrants still face heightened risks due to information gaps, language barriers and less access to medical care.

But the Nebraska AIDS Project (NAP), which provides education, care and advocacy, is changing that, said Enrique Lopez, NAP’s prevention and outreach specialist. From a new location in Benson to more outreach, NAP is spreading the word, Lopez said.

“HIV is not a death sentence anymore,” Lopez said. “Education can prevent someone from having to worry about insurance and a health condition for the rest of their lives. That’s especially important for someone who doesn’t speak English, or for someone who’s dealing with refugee status.”

In 2021, Nebraska minorities were nearly twice to six times as likely to be diagnosed with HIV, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.

Refugees noted language barriers, discrimination and oppression, and access as their greatest challenges to getting health care in Nebraska, according to a Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services survey. A DHHS report from 2021 found only 19.2% of Omaha refugees reported had tested for HIV.

HIV, or human immunodeficiency virus, attacks the immune system. Left untreated, HIV can lead to AIDS, or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, which leaves the body extremely vulnerable to certain diseases and cancers.

Lopez works directly with Latine and Spanish­speaking communities, providing personalized support regardless of immigration or refugee status.

“I’m coming from a background where I was also someone who was in poverty and have parents who are immigrants,” Lopez said. “For outreach, it even helps to receive this information from someone who is also Brown. I think people tend to respond better to someone who looks like them.”

In addition, NAP has hired more bilingual employees and developed a committee of Hispanic and Spanish­speaking people who work under Lopez. But getting information to people is more than just speaking the language.

“It’s not as easy as just showing up in South Omaha and having people listen to me,” Lopez says. “There are so many different things that might make someone completely turn off their ears to the topic I’m speaking about before I get a chance to connect with them.”

Lopez has found success at the Mexican Consulate of Oma­

ha. As people wait in the lobby, Lopez does a brief presentation in Spanish and then takes a seat nearby in case anyone has questions.

Tommy Young­Dennis, outreach manager at NAP, also said the organization tries to keep messaging simple to reach as wide an audience as possible.

“We don’t want to put too much information out there and run the risk of missing the mark when we go to serve those people,” Young­Dennis said. “We don’t want to talk over anyone; we want to give them digestible information.”

NAP also hopes to be more accessible at its new headquarters, which opened April 7 at 63rd and Maple Streets.

Testing is always free, quick and easy, Lopez said, and NAP’s Spanish­speaking staff is available to work with clients, and no paperwork or IDs are required.

Free pop­up testing will be available at the Cinco de Mayo Health Fair this year in partnership with the South Omaha Community Care Council. NAP will have an RV for gonorrhea, chlamydia and HIV testing.

NAP also provides prevention education and case management online and in person. Their Omaha office offers walk­in testing every Monday and Tuesday from 5 to 8 p.m., or you can schedule an appointment at www.nap. org. For direct Spanish information, email Enrique Lopez at enriquel@nap.org

The Nebraska aIDs Projec T’s New heaDquarTers oN 63rD aND MaPle sTreeT s. Photo by Natalie Veloso.

Baader-Meinhof Redux

GalleRy DiRectoR Kyle l aiDiG Raises the BaR foR his Venue anD the DeVelopinG Vinton stReet aRts MaRKet

By

Whether you source the Bible, Alexander Graham Bell or Helen Keller, the idiom “When one door closes, another opens” has worked wonders for prophets, inventors and visionaries of all kinds.

Add Metro arts maven Kyle Laidig to your list. On Jan. 20, Laidig, owner of Baader-Meinhof, an indie art venue in his home on South 6th Street, got the bad news. After two and a half years of operating the arts space, Omaha Premier Property Management ordered him to “close its doors.” Not exactly a vote of confidence for this persevering arts promoter post-COVID.

“It gave notice that, unless I complied with their demands to cease and desist the gallery operations, I would have my lease terminated in two weeks’ time. My first reaction was feeling crestfallen,” Laidig said. “I had moved to Omaha to build a gallery program, and the prospect of having to shut down made me feel defeated. If I am no longer able to run the gallery, what am I doing here?”

Despite the initial setback, Laidig rallied and continued his art-space odyssey until the latest version of Baader-Meinhof landed fortuitously at 2001 Vinton St. with its inaugural exhibit, the aptly titled, “Flowers.” When it officially opened its doors April 14, the new Baader-Meinhof raised its profile and the bar for the developing Vinton Street arts and entertainment market. It did so amidst a perfect combination of good fortune, determination and networking.

It’s an auspicious, yet suitable beginning for a curator/owner who, in the face of adversity, chose to go big rather than go home. Or did the arts gods finally shine a light on him? Was it simply fortuitous, or did Laidig make his own luck because he refused to give up on his quest? Perhaps all of the above.

“The new location at Vinton Street came together very serendipitously,” Laidig said. “For the past two and a half years, I have been operating the

gallery program out of my home, a duplex in Little Italy. It had always been a situation that existed in the gray. How legal was this? When would it all come crashing down?

“I panicked and reached out with full force of existential urgency, and a dear friend, Talia Witherspoon, responded immediately, suggesting I take a look at a property her father owned on Vinton Street. Built in 1947, the building was originally a grocery store. Talia and I sat down, hammered out a plan and got to work.”

The main gallery space is 3,280 square feet divided into two sections: a small entryway gallery and the main floor. There is a back-office area on this floor as well. The building is flanked by two private parking lots on the east and west sides of the building with a two-door, drive-in garage that connects to the basement for receiving and shipping of artworks. By all accounts, the transformation from grocery to gallery was swift and purposeful.

“Preparations for the opening (April 14) took a shockingly

Mike krainak | PHOTOS BenjaMin Langford

Baader-Meinhof gallery director Kyle l aidig in the new venue on vinton Street.

short amount of time,” Laidig said. “Only two and a half months will have transpired, starting with the morning I first visited the space to the opening of this inaugural exhibition. It has been a whirlwind of activity, and I cannot overstate how indebted I am to Talia and the support team who has been instrumental in the smooth development of the space.”

Witherspoon, for whom a love of the arts was instrumental in her career as a Waldorf instructor, said: “Kyle’s need for a new space as well as his enthusiasm and vision were the motivators for my involvement. I will help Kyle manage operations, the building, the build-out, and finances. I will primarily serve as a pragmatic fixture to the gallery.”

The venue is unique, both in regard to other arts venues on Vinton Street and to the Omaha Metro as a whole, Laidig

said, especially with its display and curation.

“For instance, the lighting system we have designed makes use of LED fixtures tuned to a temperature of 5000K, a stark white, which is most optimal for rendering true color and detail. All of this may sound a bit nerdy, but the devil lies in the details, and we have gone to incredible lengths to create a space which allows for a heightened sense of presence with the art.”

The new Baader-Meinhof will allow much more expansive, ambitious programming. The gallery has 11-foot ceilings and over 235 feet of running walls, accommodating art installations at an increased scale. Located at the west end of Vinton Street’s arts district, it will allow for a greater footprint in terms of accessibility and mission, a struggle for the gallery’s initial

residential home on South 6th Street.

The mission of the original Baader-Meinhof had been focused on bringing art from outside the Midwest. With the increase in scale and location, Baader-Meinhof on Vinton will begin to present programming that features artists working in the Midwest.

“One of the most difficult realities has been the frustration that the mission of the program seemed irreconcilable with engaging regional artists,” Laidig said. “After two and a half years of consistent programming, and with some semblance of an international footprint, it feels like the proper time to open the doors up to fostering opportunities and working relationships with artists working nearby.”

“Nearby” also includes Baader-Meinhof’s objective to survive those first critical years at large in the Metro and along the Vinton Street corridor. Laidig’s curatorial skill has served him well in the past as several of his exhibits have featured prominently in The Reader’s annual A-list. They were operated, he said, “on what could

be generously described as an austerity budget — virtually nothing.

“One of the biggest challenges the gallery will face in the year ahead will be finding sustainable models for patronage and support,” he said, “building relationships with community members to help realize long-term funding structures to ensure that we can serve the local community as effectively and expansively as possible.”

Is Laidig up to the task?

Will Baader-Meinhof successfully fit in and stand out in an area comparable to the place Benson First Friday carved out in its share of Metro arts? Witherspoon thinks so, and so does artist Josh Powell, the co-creator of Project Project, which along with venues RBR G and Generator Space uniquely serve Vinton Street.

“Kyle brings unbounded zeal and far-reaching vision,” Witherspoon said. “It’s clear to me that this opportunity to expand into a larger space can bring him within reach of achieving his life’s dream: To own and operate a renowned gallery with a stable brick and

The new Baader-Meinhof, feaTuring an insTallaTion of BenjaMin l angford’s vinyl flowers aBove The enTrance.

creaM lisianThus By BenjaMin l angford, insTalled aT Baader-Meinhof.

mortar location that makes programming nerve-free and can generously accommodate large-scale work.”

Add a large-scale work ethic because, as she says, without Laidig’s “willingness to throw himself into all aspects of the project, niggling details like scraping paint and sourcing building supplies, this wouldn’t be possible.”

Powell agrees that Laidig “will navigate challenges well,” especially establishing a niche benefitting other galleries along with his own.

“Vinton has a neighbor-support-neighbor attitude. I think he understands that and is looking forward to that kind of atmosphere,” he said. “Baader-Meinhof’s original location focused mainly on artists outside of this region, acquaintances of Kyle’s from his time spent on the East Coast. In my conversations with Kyle, it sounds like his Vinton location will consist of a similar method of programming, including local artists as well. So, artists outside of the region will add a new component to Vinton.”

Most of all, Powell is hopeful that regardless of the programming, “A rising tide floats all boats. Vinton seems to have

had a broad range of galleries providing something for all walks of life. I think foot traffic will increase with the addition of Baader-Meinhof.”

If hope does “Spring” eternal, then it’s fitting that the rebirth of Baader-Meinhof blossoms in April with large,

vivid prints of flowers on canvas by Benjamin Langford from Brooklyn, New York. No mere decoration, his floral arrangements simultaneously burst full bloom from their ivory walls and explore the ways in which images supplant one’s sense of the “natural” through increasingly vivid modes of representation, Laidig said.

“This exhibition, ‘Flowers,’ is quite personally meaningful to me,” Laidig said. “Ben is one of my oldest friends and was one of the first people with whom I shared deep kinship with regards to aesthetic philosophy and ideas about art.”

If “Flowers” successful opening is any indication, Laidig and the Metro have much to look forward to and be grateful for with Baader-Meinhof’s second coming. As for the original on South 6th Street, after all parties reached an understanding, Baader-Meinhof will continue to hold exhibitions there but “refrain from listing the street address on the gallery website.”

Looking back at the past three or so years, Laidig can acknowledge that his concept of a gallery “has been built from absolute zero. I had never run a space before and beyond my own interest in art and a minor network of colleagues. I had no clue what I was doing, just some notions and the belief that it could work.

“To be clear, I feel very lucky and very blessed in all of this. I could not have done any of it without the undying support of dear friends and colleagues who have helped me navigate what has been a tremendous learning experience.”

And though Laidig now has “a profound appreciation for the traditional model of working under more experienced individuals before striking out on one’s own,” his own muse has served him well, all the way to Vinton Street.

“That said, the best way to really learn,” he said, “is to try and fail and course correct and try again.”

InstallatIon vIew of BenjamIn l angford’s solo exhIBItIon, “flowers,” at Baader-meInhof.

Yellow narcIssus and red frIlled tulIp Installed at Baader-meInhof.

A Stage for New Plays

GPTC CoNfereNCe ACTS AS TheATer INCubATor, hub for ArTISTS

BY Leo AdAm BigA

The May 28-June 3 GPTC

New Play Conference convenes around theater practice. This 18th annual centerpiece of the Great Plains Theatre Commons presents staged readings and curated conversations. Pieces by 12 featured playwrights were selected from 600-plus submissions.

PlayLab readings, workshops, panels, all free and open to the public, unfold at Metropolitan Community College’s Swanson Conference Center and Mule Barn on the Fort Omaha campus.

Before the conference, playwrights are assigned a director, dramaturg, designer and actors to collaborate via Zoom, often first meeting in-person at the event.

The 2023 crop of plays explores family dynamics and pandemic-tinged issues. Most, as usual, trend serious but with humorous strains. A year after several Korean and African American plays, this year features two Southeast Asian plays.

Anya Pearson’s “Without a Formal Declaration of War” is part of a play cycle transferring Greek drama into 1960s urban Oakland.

Previously workshopped at GPTC, the Rachael Carnes play “Practice House” is getting a full PlayFest stage production. It dramatizes a real-life experiment that saw orphanages lease babies for women training in new scientific parenting methods. The May 31-June 2 world premiere performances are at 7:30 p.m. at Yates Illuminates, 3260 Davenport St.

The Seattle-based Carnes completed the first draft in 2018. It was selected for the 2020 GPTC conference that was canceled due to the pandemic. Even during that limbo time, Carnes said, “GPTC’s commitment to craft and collaboration helped me to feel connected. From the artistic side to the caring, supportive administrators, GPTC feels like family. And in that humane, artist-centered world, we can take risks, explore, learn and grow. ‘Practice House’ would not be the play that it is without this team.”

Nurturing has brought the play full circle at GPTC.

“A playwright doesn’t know what they have until they hear it,” she said. “GPTC provided the first opportunity to workshop the script. Working with the creative team, a committed

dramaturg, director and stellar cast enabled me to get to know the play like never before, and together, we slid any last puzzle pieces into place.”

Getting her “living, breathing” play on its feet are director Susie Baer Collins, who directed it in ’21, setlight designer Bill Van Deest, costumer Denise Ervin and prop-mistress Hannah Clark.

“It’s exciting when a play evolves from a reading to being realized in full production. It’s really moving from one mode of communication to another,” said playwright and GPTC Community Connector Ellen Struve.

The conference is among few venues focused on the fragile new play development practice,

“There are not as many places, even nationally, for new plays as there used to be,” said GPTC Manager Quinn Metal Corbin. “The Humana Festival no longer exists in the form it did. Sundance Theatre Lab is no more. The Lark Theatre has closed. Those are all places that emphasized new play work.

“It is a tricky, often illusive, lesser-known part of theater,” she said. “It’s less commercially risky to produce classics by playwrights no longer living than to nurture the living organism of work still in process.”

GPTC tries filling the gap. “Because new play development is a special thing it’s always been fairly limited and unfortunately is a bit more limited now, so we’re really thankful to be able to be doing that work.”

Playwright Nayna Agrawal, whose “Dharma” is being read, said, “GPTC is one of those rare opportunities where playwrights are made a priority and set up for success. It’s not just valuable, it’s transformative. The immersive experience is such a gift. Feedback from your peers and mentors can be incredibly rewarding. I hope to build new relationships, support other playwrights and artists and determine what can and should change in my next draft.” Her dramedy imagines

The play “prac Tice house” by r achael c arnes dramaTizes a reallife odd prac Tice of orphanages leasing babies To Train women in modern parenTing.

Indian siblings conspiring their immigrant parents’ divorce.

Feeding playwrights’ bodies happens courtesy MCC’s Institute of Culinary Arts. Feeding their spirit is a communal effort. Corbin said pains are taken to create opportunities for playwrights “to become their own cohort” through group activities.

That cohort extends beyond playwrights. Dramaturg Jihye Kim, who works in her native South Korea and America, describes the conference as “a summer camp for theater professionals.” She’s back after participating last year. “They put us in a nice hotel, take us to a very pretty campus, feed us with amazing local culinary arts, and shower us with programs that guarantee a quality time. I met wonderful artists from all over the world. I’ve become very good friends with two of the playwrights and two of the directors. This kind of artistic companionship is rare and I’m very grateful.”

“One of the magical things about the conference is the amount of collegiality,” said Struve. “Playwriting begins as a solo endeavor. The conference creates a really strong bond among the playwrights. For them to feel supported by one another is really important.”

Quinn said returning artists often refer peers to it. Native Nebraska talents return to participate. Some use the confab as a networking tool to forge or enhance professional relationships.

Wai Yim, managing director of Token Theatre in Chicago, ran Aetherplough in Omaha and still takes directing gigs here. He will direct Miles Orduna’s play “Lola” at the conference. Coming home, he said, “kinda resets my clock and feeds my soul. I love working on new plays. I’ve been fortunate enough to be in the rooms of many at GPTC and New Stages at Goodman Theatre in Chicago. You learn a lot just by being in the room. It certainly helped me with my playwriting.”

New York producer, actor and activist Sierra Lancaster of Omaha is back directing “Dharma.” The former Kennedy Center Fellow was a co-producer of “Pass Over” on Broadway.

GPTC is a catalyst for artists like Eva Quam to study drama and Kim Louise to begin playwriting. It welcomes younger generations of practitioners and aspirants. A May 30 performance of a one-act by GPTC Young Dramatists grad Phoenix Nehls is set for 7 p.m. at MCC. Her SHERRIE reimagines Sherlock Holmes and Watson as young women.

The conference is also a landing spot for national artists such as Madeline Easley, a Wyandotte performer and writer whose work converges at the intersection of magical realism and tribal sovereignty. Her Four Directions playwright residency is being hosted by GPTC.

The conference draws on the greater Omaha theater community for actors, direc-

tors, et cetera. Year-round, GPTC presents plays and workshops at partner venues. “We can be a uniting space for all the different theaters and generations and backgrounds,” Corbin said. “That cross-pollinization is healthy for the theater ecology.”

Despite Nebraska Shakespeare’s absence, the ecosystem is growing with the addition of Benson Theatre, the Shirley Tyree Theater opening next fall and the growth of UNO’s musical theater program and Summer Musical Theatre Academy.

“Good theater is good for all theater,” said Struve, adding GPTC has a “special mission to provide access, connection and a creative home for everybody, regardless of what theater they normally work at or their experience with theater.”

The laboratory model, Corbin said, offers an insider’s glimpse of work in flux. “It’s a very live, organic process of plays changing, designs evolving. It has a whole other feel to it.”

“Omaha’s really embraced the staged reading, and I think it’s actually quite popular and not as niche as it may once have been,” said Struve.

The conference is also intimate enough for artists and audiences to interact.

A workshop by Ollie Webb Center and Circle Theatre will explore creating plays with artists who have physical and intellectual disabilities.

Representation at GPTC is far more evident today than a decade ago. “I think they are on the right track, and I really appreciate them for trying hard. It will take time, but it is a must,” Yim said.

“Our free programming provides opportunities to engage folks that might not be able to go see a touring Broadway show,” Corbin said.

GPTC’s reputation carries far.

“I’ve known about GPTC for years. It’s the holy grail,” the Oregon-based Agrawal said.

“It’s known as a conference that sets the standard for an artist-centered approach,” Carnes said, “and a place where new plays are discovered and supported.”

For schedule details, visit www.gptcplays.com/the-conference

EllEn StruvE, Playwright and gPtC Community ConnEC tor

Quinn mEtal Corbin, gPtC managEr

thE roStEr of fE aturEd Playwright S at gPtC’S nEw Play ConfErEnCE rEPrESEnt S gEndEr, EthniCity, gEograPhiC and thEmatiC divErSity.

Deserves‘Everyone to Be Represented’

Drag BenefiT HigHligHT s neBraskans’ figHT againsT anTi-lgBTQ+ legislaTion

The smell of Mexican food and hairspray filled the air. Backpacks overflowed with wigs, heels and makeup as performers traced eyeliner or snacked on catered chips. A portrait of a buxom and big-haired Dolly Parton smiled approvingly.

Maria Corpuz stepped through the curtain into the improvised backstage. The drag performers gathered around her in their sequin dresses, multicolored wigs and crisp suits.

“Let’s hope we all receive some healing tonight,” she said after running through the night’s schedule.

Outside, a crowd of about 30 people at Tiny House in Little Bohemia on April 15 was seated for a benefit organized by Corpuz and Megan Malone, co-owner of Tiny House. The night’s goal was to raise money for kids who would be affected by any Nebraska legislation to ban gender-affirming care for transgender youth as well as ban minors from drag shows.

But the mood Saturday night at Tiny House wasn’t somber or angry.

The crowd laughed over cocktails. Drag performers greeted old friends. The venue filled with loud music, dancing and a flurry of dollar bills. What they’re fighting against might be new, but the attitudes underneath it, and the way the community stands together, is business as usual.

“Everyone deserves to be represented,” said a performer who goes by Azalea Spanx. “What makes us any different?”

Nebraska has found itself at the center of a national debate over LGBTQ+ legislation. Introduced by state Sen. Kathleen Kauth of West Omaha, the Let Them Grow Act would ban minors from receiving gender-affirming care. And LB371, introduced by state Sen. Dave Murman of Hastings, would ban minors from drag shows. As of this writing, both were

being debated in the unicameral.

During floor debate on April 13, Sen. Kauth cited the International Journal of Transgender Health’s standards of care, which says while there is a growing body of evidence supporting gender-affirming care for kids, there is little longterm research on outcomes into adulthood.

“We cannot give these to kids,” Kauth said. “We need to protect the children from getting these types of cross-sex hormones, puberty blockers and surgeries. We need to encourage them to get the therapy they need to deal with the issues that they’re experiencing.”

STORY & PHOTOS BY Chris Bowling

CC Pebbles throws dollar bills in the air as the Crowd at tiny house in omaha Cheers.

Justin witthuhn in drag as b abygirl t. uChuwi.

While other states have passed similar legislation, filibusters from Democratic Nebraska senators have made national headlines for bringing the Legislature to a standstill. Despite that, the Let Them Grow Act has still inched to a final vote as of this writing. Opponents say legislation like this will worsen already much higher rates of depression, anxiety and suicide among LGBTQ+ kids.

“I grew up not being able to express how I felt or not being able to show any signs of femininity,” Spanx said. “It’s extremely damaging to children. I just don’t think they’re aware of what they’re doing.”

While the debate on LGBTQ+ legislation rages in Lincoln, the performers in Omaha fight back in their own way.

Donna Resuscitate hit the floor in pink heels. Pike Heller, who performs as Annie Christ, stripped to the sounds of Finnish glam metal. CC Pebbles took the crowd’s dollar bills in

a satin leopard-print nighty.

Justin Witthuhn, who performs as Babygirl, sashayed to Diana Ross’s “Carry On.” Dakota Chambers, who performs as Trade, flashed his abs as Bando Jonez sang “Has anybody sexed you lately?” The crowd screamed as Celeste Starr Quinn stripped down to little more than lilac platform heels. Spanx ended the night with a back handspring into the splits.

The event raised about $3,000, according to Corpuz. That was split among Youth Emergency Services (YES), which helps homeless youth in Omaha; Omaha ForUs, an LGBTQ+ organization raising money to create a resource center; and OutNebraska, a statewide advocacy organization.

For Corpuz and Malone the night was exactly what they’d hoped it would be — a celebration of community.

“[The people] forcing this divisive issue are wrong,” Malone said. “The community is stronger and wider than they can imagine. And we’re not going backwards.”

Other states have already moved forward with similar, or more restrictive, legislation.

In March, Iowa made it illegal for minors to receive gender-affirming care as well as for trans students to use bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity. Heller has a friend in Missouri who had to stop transitioning after the state severely restricted gender-affirming care for both minors and adults in April.

Speaking out on these issues can also carry side effects. Heller was bombarded with hateful comments on social media after posting about performing at a trans rally in Iowa in early April.

One question they don’t have to grapple with is whether or not they want to stay in Nebraska to stay in this fight.

“I feel like I would just be leaving a bunch of people just like me basically defenseless,” Spanx said. “Every voice needs to be heard.”

It also feels like this is an important moment in history, Chambers said. Like those who fight for civil rights, workers rights, voting rights and all other social movements, the members of this community are not only fighting for themselves but also for future generations.

“I think that [conservative politicians] are used to being the loudest people in every

room,” said Donna Resuscitate. “And they’re finding out very quickly … that we are very good at being louder, and we will continue to do so until they finally turn their hearing aids on.”

It’s why events like those at Tiny House are important, Heller said. They bring the community together to celebrate, focus their anger or be themselves in a welcoming place. They refuel the drive to spread the message that someone, somewhere accepts you for who you are.

“The more that we have events like this, the more people will eventually realize we’re here,” Heller said, “and we’re not leaving.”

Caught in a Culture War, Nebraska Trans Kids Fight for Acceptance

By Leah Cates

In the summer of 2021, the culture war around trans kids hadn’t reached critical mass. But the first signs were starting to appear in Nebraska — a clash over state sex education standards as well as new policies from the Archdiocese of Omaha Catholic Schools on gender identity — which prompted Reader reporter Leah Cates to dive deeper. Many of the experiences captured in her story “Caught in a Culture War, Nebraska Trans Kids Fight for Acceptance,” still ring true nearly two years later. In light of that, The Reader wanted to bring attention back to Cates’ story and the people who shared their experiences with her. We’ve also updated the story with new insight from the sources. Find it on thereader.com

DONNA RESUSCITATE PAUSES FOR THE CAMERA AT A DRAG BENEFIT SHOW.

PIkE HEllER PERFORMING AS ANNIE CHRIST.

May 7

to do in MAY

May 11 Buddy Guy: Damn FarewellRight

Holland Center

Poetry and Music Project

Benson Theater

Have you ever wanted to see a little more conversation between poetry and music? Don’t miss the sixth annual Poetry and Music Project at the Benson Theater on May 7.

This free event will showcase 16 original poems by Nebraska students performed to music composed by two nationally prominent musicians and creators: Brooklyn-based Gabrielle Herbst and J.E. Hernández of Houston.

Experience poetry and music in person or via the live-streamed event online. The concert begins at 1 p.m.

At age 86, Buddy Guy is one of the living blues legends -- just ask his several Grammy and Lifetime Achievement awards.

Guy is one of the innovators in the Chicago electric blues guitar style. And his experimental impact continues to resonate, with well over 1 million monthly listeners on Spotify.

Special guest singer-songwriter/drummer Tom Hambridge will help transform the Holland Center into a lively venue with a flick of the wrist.

Tickets cost $49-$79 for this 7:30 p.m. show. Doors open at 7.

May 12

Noisefest

Omaha Mobile Stage

options of food draw around 50,000 attendees annually.

The Cinco De Mayo festivities take place on Friday from 5-10 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m.-10 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m.9:30 p.m.

You can register for the parade, which takes off at 10 a.m. on Saturday; sign up online at cdmomaha.com

May 19 – July 12

If you’re a noted fan of experimental music, Noisefest might be your next big event.

Taking place on May 12 at Omaha Mobile Stage, Noise Fest is an experimental music festival that presents touring acts with an emphasis on local performers. Over half the bill belongs to Omaha experimental, noise, and electronic-based musicians.

Even though kicking back to noise rock is underrated, nothing beats the ability to unfold the wild umbrella of experimental music in person.

It costs you nothing to attend this 5-10 p.m. event.

May 12-14

Cinco de Mayo Omaha

24th Street, South O

Solo exhibit by JannesariShabnam

Fred Simon Gallery, Nebraska Arts Council

A weekend celebration of Cinco De Mayo will take place from May 12-14 on 24th Street, from D to L streets.

The three-day event represents one of Omaha’s largest festivals. The parade, carnival, live music, exhibits, and endless

Nebraska Arts Council’s Fred Simon Gallery will show work by Shabnam Jannesari, visiting instructor of art at Hastings College. An artist’s reception is scheduled for June 1.

Jannesari is an Iranian artist whose colorful paintings and drawings express her story of being born and raised in Iran’s patriarchal society. Informed primarily from intimate personal memories, the work explores and reacts to the plight of all Iranian women whose lives are defined by a restrictive Islamic culture.

Contact the gallery at 402595-2122 for hours and for more information.

May 19-20 Benson Film Festival

Benson Theatre

Here’s an opportunity to find your new favorite filmmaker.

The Benson Film Festival will take place at Benson Theatre on May 19-20 – making for two days of creativity and cinematic inspiration.

The annual showcase brings together the creative film community by shining a spotlight on local and national filmmakers, and there is something for everyone.

Films show on Friday from 5-7 p.m. and on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Visit bensonfilmfest.com for more information, including specific show times.

May

20

Omaha Corgi Races

River’s Edge Park, Council Bluffs

high-energy breed of canine lives to run and play.

If you agree, you will be delighted to attend the Omaha Corgi Races at River’s Edge Park in Council Bluffs on May 20.

It will mark the third year that corgis and their families have come together for a series of neck-to-neck time trials.

You do not have to pay to watch the races, which sound off at 11 a.m. Entry begins at 10.

May 20 - September 17

Eat Bitterness by Jennifer Ling Datchuk

Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts

As part of a dual opening to usher in the summer exhibits, the Bemis Center presents “Eat Bitterness,” by Jennifer Lynn Datchuk.

Datchuk is an artist and educator living in San Antonio. Trained in ceramics, the artist works primarily with porcelain. Her installations often include other materials and items associated with traditional women’s work, such as textiles and hair. Her practice discusses fragility,

beauty, femininity, intersectionality, and identity “as a woman, a Chinese woman, as an American, as a third-culture kid.”

Opening concurrently is a group exhibit, “Presence in the Pause: Inferiority and its radical immanence.” Both exhibits run through September 17.

The opening reception is May 20 from 3-6 p.m. Go to bemiscenter.org for more information.

May 20-September 17

Presence in the Pause: Interiority and its Radical Immanence

Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts

After feeling stuck indoors because of Covid, it’s easy to appreciate the psychological limits of confinement. For the group of female and non-binary artists represented in Bemis Center’s new exhibition “Presence in the Pause: Interiority and its Radical Immanence,” interiority has a different dimension.

Collectively, these 11 mid-career artists express challenges from one’s body, memories, needs and desires for fulfillment, describing different paths to being oneself.

The artists are: Mequitta Ahuja, Lilli Carré, Andrea Joyce Heimer, Kyoko Idetsu, Kathy Liao, Danielle McKinney, Maia Cruz Palileo, Molly Prentiss, Preetika Rajgariah, Celeste Rapone and Becky Suss.

Who can’t get behind showing more love to dogs?

Corgis are not only one of the most intelligent pups, but this

The opening reception is 3-6 p.m. on May 20. Go to www. bemiscenter.org for more information.

May 22

Katie Silberman

Film Streams’ Ruth Sokolof Theater

Check out the Millwork Conversations at The Dock (inside the Ashton building) on May 24.

Millwork Conversations is a free event in a happy-hour format, designated to host a variety of local artists, thinkers, and visionaries.

This month, Shonna Dorsey leads the conversation. Dorsey, from Omaha, works to cultivate community development initiatives. As executive director of the Nebraska Tech Collaborative, she is concerned with creating a more inclusive and equitable technology industry.

Tickets are $20-$30 for this 6-9 p.m. show. Doors open at 5.

May 25 – June 25 Dance Nation

BlueBarn Theater

tion on May 26 from 6:30-9 p.m. The Gold Medal award will be presented at 7:30.

Experience Katie Silberman’s film “Booksmart” at Film Streams’ Ruth Sokolof Theater on May 22.

Silberman, originally from Omaha, is a notable screenwriter, producer, and recipient of the Independent Spirit Award. Her newest movie stars Beanie Feldstein, Kaitlyn Dever, Billie Lourd, Lisa Kudrow, and Jason Sudeikis.

A reception will begin the night, starting at 5:30, featuring a catered event from La Buvette. The screening will take place at 6:45 p.m., followed by a discussion.

Tickets cost $20 for the screening or $50 for access to the entire night of festivities.

May 24 Millwork Conversations

The Dock

Doors open at 5 p.m., with the conversation kicking off at 5:10.

May 25 Curtis Salgado Waiting Room

Showings of “Dance Nation” will take place from May 25–June 25 at BlueBarn Theater.

“Dance Nation” is a play written by Clare Barron; its story centers on talented teens who find themselves preparing for a dance championship in Florida.

Along the way, the dancers learn more about their inner feminine power through expressions of love, dance, and sisterhood.

The focus of “New Masters,” which will be an annual program, is on varying forms of realism in art, including portraiture, landscape, figure studies and still-life subjects.

Professional artists from across the nation were encouraged to apply, though participation is expected to draw mainly from the region. Fifty-two artists were selected for inclusion in this year’s exhibition.

Go to www.paceartsiowa.org/ exhibits for more information.

May 27 Art Battle Omaha

Culxr House

Nine-time Blues Music Award-winner Curtis Salgado will play the Waiting Room on May 25.

The Portland, Oregon-based singer-songwriter has received praise from NPR, Billboard, and Blues Music Magazine for his musicianship and soaring voice.

Salgado’s track, “Walk A Mile In My Blues,” won the 2018 Blues Music Award (BMA) for Song of the Year. And in 2013, the musician won the coveted B.B. King Entertainer of the Year at the BMAs.

Salgado’s backing band lays it down, too.

But will their dance routine be enough to win the Boogie Crown Grand Prix Finals?

General admission costs $37 before fees, and tickets are free for season members.

May 26-September 30 PACE New Masters

Hoff Family Arts & Culture Center

Following its inaugural juried exhibition in 2022, the Hoff Family Arts & Culture Center in Council Bluffs presents a new edition of “PACE New Masters.” The show opens with a recep-

Another picturesque installation of the buzzing Art Battle Omaha series will take the main stage at Culxr House on May 27.

Here, 12 talented underground artists will create spontaneous works of visual art against one another in the name of the community and friendly competition.

The crowd helps choose the winner over three back-to-back rounds of painting.

After the competition, the pieces will get auctioned off –– folks can take home a oneof-a-kind piece of art and an unforgettable story.

Tickets cost $20-$30 for this 7 p.m. event. Doors open at 6.

May 30 Trivium

The Admiral

The heavy-metal band Trivium will co-headline a thrashing night of music alongside hard-

core punk rockers Beartooth at The Admiral on May 30.

Trivium, from Orlando, Florida, has released 10 studio albums in 20-plus years, most recently “In the Court of the Dragon” (2021).

Beartooth, from Columbus, Ohio, has released four studio albums, beginning with “Disgusting” in 2014.

Also on the bill are metal bands Archetypes Collide from Arizona and Malevolence from England.

Tickets are $45-$50 for this 6:30 p.m. show. Doors open at 5:30.

This event is open to all ages.

— This reporT was compiled by Matt Casas, Janet L. Farber and Kent behrens

Winging It 10 OF ThE BEST WINGS OMAhA hAS TO OFFEr

By Sara Locke

For a casual night out, a quick dinner, a convenient grab-and-go lunch, or emergency tray for a work or neighborhood potluck, the wing is king. This month, we’ve put together a list of the most innovative and delicious wings Omaha has to offer. Did we miss your favorite? Drop us a comment or send an email with your grievances to the uncultured swine who didn’t include the best wings in Omaha. (It’s me, I’m the swine. Sara@TheReader.com.)

Nite Owl

3902 Farnam St.

disappointed by the creative twists, sauces, spices, and sides served with Nite Owl’s sweetand-savory wings.

Moran’s Grill

3909 Twin Creek Dr. Ignore the fact that Moran’s has a full menu of irresistible options, a fun, relaxed atmosphere, and a miliary and first-responder discount. We are single-minded in our pursuit of wings, and Moran’s delivers. Wings are served traditional or charred. Sauces include buffalo, mango habanero, BBQ, parmesan garlic, diablo, sriracha, teriyaki, sweet chili, spicy honey, bourbon, spicy bourbon or naked. Feeling extra saucy? For an extra dollar, you can ask them to dip your wings in two sauces.

The Choo-Choo Bar and Grill

14240 U St.

Modern Love

3157 Farnam St.

lishment recently hosted what it called Sauce Drop Madness. The tourney pitted Everett’s naked, fried and tossed, or fried and grilled sauced wings against one another, cajun cowboy vs. el jefe, Carolina gold vs. honey BBQ, Asian BBQ vs. general Tso. Who was the winner? Everyone who had a chance to be part of this judging process. Oh, and the Jamaican jerk wings took top contender.

Mouth of the South

1111 Harney St.

What flavor, exactly, are Nite Owl’s wings? Depends. The seasonal menu comes with new surprises all the time, but it would be impossible to be

Choo-Choo is more than fun to say, it’s fun to do when your mouth is full of sticky sweet mango habanero sauce. Simply made, but sauced with some sass, the wings come in flavors that include mild, medium, hot, xtra hot, nuclear, honey mustard, spicy garlic, BBQ, teriyaki, cajun dry rub, sweet chili, Thai peanut, garlic butter parmesan and Caribbean jerk dry rub.

No gathering is complete without an option for your vegan, vegetarian, gluten free, or dietarily restricted guests. Modern Love offers crispy buffalo cauliflower wings or rosemary crusted seitan wings, both served with vegan house ranch. Modern Love’s wings can be better described as “buffalo-spiced” rather than “buffalo-sauced,” and the texture is better for the adjustment.

Everett’s on Maple

8807 Maple St.

Everett’s slings such a sauce that it has found its greatest competition in … itself. The chef-inspired pub food estab-

House smoked and charred, these wings don’t need a sauce to make them sing. All the same, MOTS serves yours tossed in a choice of buffalo, way hot, BBQ, Abita turbo BBQ, orange habanero, and jerk sauces.

Jukes Aleworks

20506 Elkhorn Dr.

Naked wings served crispy, deep-fried, and bone-in with choice of house buffalo, ninja juice BBQ, roasted garlic parmesan, sweet Thai chili sauce and choice of ranch or bleu cheese.

Oscar’s Pizza & Sports Grille

17330 Lakeside Hills Plz.

There is no better place to catch a game, a beer, and a bite than Oscar’s. While the pizzas may be the draw, it’s the wings that keep customers coming back for more. Order yours traditional or boneless, charbuffed or double dipped, and tossed in buffalo, BBQ, teriyaki, Kujo (HOT), Thai chili bourbon, garlic parmesan or naked.

Caddyshack

2076 North 117th Ave.

Tossed, char-buffed, or naked, Caddyshack’s wings are served with your choice of hot, medium, BBQ, spicy BBQ, sweet Thai, teriyaki, or garlic parmesan.

Ray’s Wings Pizza & Drinks

200 S 31st Ave.

Buffalo-style pizza plays second fiddle to the wings that

put Ray’s on the map. Sauces listed on the Scoville scale from mildest to most likely to make you cry are as follows: garlic parmesan, toasted sesame teriyaki, lemon pepper rub, mild, honey BBQ, Jamaican jerk rub, sweet chili, bourbon sriracha, lunchbox buffalo and BBQ, buffalo medium, tequila lime, Korean BBQ, BBQ hot, buffalo X hot, buffalo XX hot, buffalo XXX hot, and the buffalo challenge. Whether you want to go full punisher mode on your tastebuds or just want to sink your teeth into something new, Ray’s has more wings and combinations than you can shake a tail feather at.

Team flats here, dying to hear from you about your favorite wings, where to find them and what makes them worth the sweat. Drop us a comment or email Sara@TheReader.com.

Thanks Omaha for voting us BEST BREWPUB, AGAIN

Proud pioneers of the fermenter-to-table movement.

It would be wrong to say the freshest beer is automatically the best beer. But the best beer almost always tastes its best when it is, in marketing speak, at the peak of freshness. And it’s hard to get any fresher than beer brewed thirty feet away from your table. And it’s doubly hard to get any better than when that table is here at Upstream. But we suspect you already knew that.

Catching Up w ith Omaha’s names w ithout n umbers

20 Years On, Band MeMBers Talk new single, eMO and TaYlOr s wifT

By MarQ Manner

Names Without Numbers are doing music their way after 20 years together. The Omaha rock band has been releasing singles when the inspiration sets in and the need to collaborate comes around. They are set to release the new single “Winter Wars” on May 19 on streaming services. This follows the release of the single “Florida” in January. Names Without Numbers will perform on June 23 at Maloney’s in Council Bluffs.

When starting as a young band, the dream is making it big, sharing the stage with your influences, and having labels, publicists and booking agents do all the boring stuff. Later in life, the dream for many musicians is balancing their craft with families and jobs. Many bands call it quits long before attempting that balancing act, but Names Without Numbers have persisted.

In a phone conversation, vocalists and guitarists Dave Owens and Ryan Cruickshank were asked if releasing singles at their own pace instead of full albums was satisfying. “It seems like everything that we do is a slow process,” Owens said, “but I guess that is what happens when you get older

and have kids and families. One of our goals this year is to continually release new music. This single is out in May, then another single after that, and then personally I would like to have an EP out.”

Cruickshank joined in. “I think back in the day we were trying to make it or get a record deal,” he said. “There is not much of the caring of what people think like we used to. Now, it is more ‘let’s write songs that we like,’ and if people like them, great. I just think that now I am in a healthier place creatively because I am doing what I like.”

After winning Outstanding Rock Band at the Omaha Entertainment and Arts Awards in 2020 and 2022, the band might be getting more attention than earlier in its career. “It’s very humbling that even now, 20 years later, we may be getting recognized even more than in our heyday of the early 2000s,” Owens said. “Even back then, we had a bigger fan base outside of Omaha, and we were always playing shows. We were playing over 100 shows a year at one point.”

The song “Florida” was released in January. “It’s about kind of ignoring the craziness

of the world,” Cruickshank said. “There are so many things that you see on Facebook that are happening, and it is really hard not to be worked up by them. It’s a song about letting go, and being OK with things as they are, because there is only so much you can control. The main thing we can control is our reaction to things, so it is a song about letting your reaction be OK with everything around you, because you can’t stop it.”

The new single is called “Winter Wars.” “It is a little political,” Cruickshank said. “It is about the 1% out there who are getting richer by the year, by the day, and ignoring people that are living in poverty and kind of the injustice of that. Billionaires are out there hoarding this wealth and having yachts and mansions all over the country when there are a bunch of people that live under the poverty line and how that could be spread out a little bit.”

When asked about the songwriting process, Cruickhsank said, “So it is like a collaboration of Dave bringing the cake and me bringing the frosting. He has a better grasp of chord structure and theory and what

Names Without Numbers’ publicity shot. Photo credit: Zach BroBst PhotograPhy

works in a song. After all of that, it is a canvas for me to paint on, where I put melodies, lead guitar parts and jangly guitar parts, and lyrics over that.”

“Our drummer, Jay (Blayney), I am a drummer as well, he gets mad at me a lot because I tell him how to play and what to play,” Owens said. “It actually turns out really good, because he is a way better drummer than I am, and he will take a simple idea that I have and make it better.”

On bass player Joel Schlegelmilch, Owens said, “He is sneaky good. He is solid and will come up with these bass riffs out of nowhere that are super tasty and fit the song very well.”

Names Without Numbers have evolved musically from starting in more of a pop-punk vein and then emo before maturing musically to more of a power-pop sound.

“We started out in sort of the punk kind of thing, the pop punk like Blink-182 or MxPx and that style,” Cruickshank said. “Now, over the years, we’ve had to replace members who left and kind of upgraded ourselves along the way. We are much better musicians now, so we can do a lot more of what we wanted to do back then. We went through an emo period, and I still think we have a little

BackBeat

bit of that flavor, which a lot of bands — I don’t know if they still hate that term — but they did back then. It was faux pas to call yourself emo or other people to call you emo, but whatever you want to label us, that is fine. We still have a flavor of that, but I think we have evolved to more power pop. We have come back from punk pop to more power pop with some rock sensibilities in there.”

IF YOU GO: Names Without Numbers

o Where: Maloney’s, Council Bluffs

o When: 8 p.m. Friday, June 23

o Tickets: $10 advance, $12 at the door

on the day of this interview, Owens was asked for his thoughts on the emo revival. “It shows that good songwriting is good songwriting,” he said. “It also shows that it is still relevant. People of all ages still like Jimmy Eat World, and they are one of my favorite bands and one of my biggest influences.

It also doesn’t get much more popular than Taylor Swift at the moment. The band recently released a rocked-up cover of Swift’s song “Style,” complete with a video that found the group and the Easter Bunny hanging out at Beercade in Benson. “I am a big Taylor Swift fan,” Cruickshank said.

With emo music going through a revival the past few years and even being the focus of a “CBS Mornings” segment

It is nice to see that bands like that still put songs on the radio, still tour and still have people of all ages come out and make it relevant.”

“She is a hell of an artist and songwriter, which I think she does a lot of, and her marketing and how she presents herself and is in control of her persona and music. We were like, ‘This could be a rock song.’ It is pop the way that she does it, but I hear guitars in there that are crunchy. It was just fun. Our producer was trying to talk me out of doing the whole gender thing — there are a lot of gender references — and I was like, ‘I don’t know,’ gender is fluid anymore to me, so it was kind of fun to do that.”

23 for ’23: A Curated List of Summer Movies

FroM IndIe JoIntS to Indy’S JowLS, Here’S wHAt you’LL be wAtCHInG

BY Ryan SyRek

Get in, we don’t have much time to talk. We have almost two dozen movies to preview, because I pulled a list of films I was curious about this summer, and it happened to be exactly 23. If I want to say something snappy and informative about each, this intro has to end so fast that it may feel abrupt. So, uh. Bye!

Fast X

(In theaters May 19)

The finale to this 20-yearold franchise is being split into two parts. The better one better be “Furious X” or I’m crashing Vin Diesel’s next D&D game to mock him.

The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future

(In theaters May 19)

This has been described as a “folkloric meditation on the relationship between humans

and the environment, mother and child.” I’m guessing it may draw a different audience than “Fast X.”

The Little Mermaid

(In theaters May 26)

“Live-action” Flounder looks like a discarded toy from “Skinamarink,” but Melissa McCarthy looks Divine, and I only wish all live-action Disney remakes made racists mad.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

(In theaters June 2)

A sequel to maybe the best comic book movie of all time. Who isn’t excited to see the legion of Spider-Men and Spider-Gwen once more blast us in the face with the multiverse?

Past Lives

(In theaters June 2)

Writer/director Celine Song’s debut film is an A24 joint about childhood sweethearts reunited decades later. Watching this cast untangling puppy love from complicated adult relationships is gonna hurt so good.

The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster

(In theaters June 9)

Written and directed by Bomani J. Story, this reimagining of Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” sees a young antihero trying to resurrect her brother. I’d be really sad if my sister died, but I likely wouldn’t do necromancy about it. Sorry May-May.

The Flash

(In theaters June 16)

Ezra Miller didn’t do crimes for like a month or two, so they’re finally releasing this attempt to reset the “status quo” in the DC Universe. Who cares about continuity? All

that matters is more Michael Keaton Batman!

Pixar’s Elemental

(In theaters June 16)

It has been a minute since Pixar had a big hit. This romcom featuring beings made of fire and water who fall in love could be the spark it needs or another dousing of said flame.

Asteroid City

(In theaters June 16)

It’s a Wes Anderson movie that appears to have aliens involved. You’re in or you’re out based on that much info.

Extraction 2

(On Netflix June 16)

June 16 is bangin’ huh?

Chances are, you’ll wait to watch Chris “The Australian Hammer” Hemsworth somehow return from appearing very dead in the first film to do more creative murdering in this sequel. It’s like “John continued on page 36 

Dundee Bank financed my dream property. I was able to level-up an already successful acupuncture practice that continues to grow and transform to provide a healing environment to our community.

Donna Huber | Thirteen Moons

Wick” if he enrolled in more humanities classes.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

(In theaters June 30)

What Shia LaBeouf? I may not have hated “Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” as much as most, but that doesn’t mean I’m not absolutely in the tank for Phoebe Waller-Bridge joining Indy on a time-travel adventure. That’s like “Fleabag” on “Doctor Who.” Did they read my fan-fic?

Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken

(In theaters June 30)

I’ve said it a thousand times: We do not do enough with abominable sea monsters. This coming-of-age tale features a crazy voice cast: Toni Collette, Annie Murphy, Jane Fonda, Will Forte, Sam Richardson, and Colman Domingo. I would let them read

me the phone book, let alone mythical creature adolescent narrative fiction.

Joy Ride

(In theaters July 7)

A road-trip comedy through Asia featuring Stephanie Hsu? I’m in. This looks like the kind of movie dudebros have gotten to make a billion times but women have gotten to make, like, once (“Booksmart”).

Barbie

(In theaters July 21)

Cue Werner Herzog’s voice: This is, in fact, Barbie’s world. We are powerless before the pink palette. We are humbled by Margot Robbie. We will allow Ryan Gosling.

Oppenheimer

(In theaters July 21)

There have been a hundred thousand “Christopher Nolan actually blew up an atomic bomb” jokes. They

are jokes, right? Whatever, he hasn’t made a great movie in a long-ass time, and I’m not interested in another “whathas-science-wrought” movie. But it has Florence Pugh. I’m there.

They Cloned Tyrone

(On Netflix July 21)

A stylish sci-fi, pulp-noir tale featuring a cast this dope? I must be dreaming. The plot is still vague, just “eerie events” and a “government conspiracy,” but I was there on the title alone.

Passages

(In theaters Aug. 4)

I find the acting of Ben Whishaw to be so nuanced, delicate, and heartbreaking that knowing this movie will explore a long-time samesex couple dealing with one of the men having an affair with a woman has made me melancholy.

Gran Turismo

(In theaters Aug. 11)

Director Neill Blomkamp hasn’t lived up to “District 9,” but I keep hoping. Is it likely this adaptation of a video game about cars that go in a circle will do it? Uh …

Blue Beetle

(In theaters Aug. 18)

It’s going to take a lot to love another superhero origin story, this time about a guy who gets a super-suit from a scarab. Still, the trailer had enough cheeky in it, like calling Batman a fascist, to make me DC curious.

Landscape with Invisible Hand

(In theaters Aug. 18)

Talk about pushing my buttons: Overt colonialism critiques stuffed inside a sci-fi movie about an alien invasion is as much my thing as sarcasm and puns. That is saying something.

The Equalizer 3

(In theaters Sept. 1)

Denzel Washington never made a sequel until the last “Equalizer.” This will likely be his only trilogy. We owe it to the man to see it through after all he’s done for us, right?

My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3

(In theaters Sept. 8)

Exploiting intellectual property isn’t just for video game and comic book adaptations. I barely remembered that there was a second “Big Fat Greek Wedding,” but they’ve made 23 James Bond movies, so this is fine with me.

The Nun 2

(In theaters Sept. 8)

I can’t lie: I’m not excited about this. I had it on the original list because I wanted to make a joke about “sequel September.” Then I saw it represented the 23rd movie of the 2023 Summer Movie Preview. So here’s “The Nun 2.” It is a movie. It will be released. The best thing it did was make this theme work.

Got an idea for a Ryan?

Tell

This summer’s offerings range from a hero aTTempTing To wipe crysTal skulls from our memories To a funky pulp Tale abouT doppelgangers. There’s someThing for all of us.

IMAGE: A stIll froM NEtflIx’s “ thEy CloNEd t yroNE”

There’s Gore Galore but More Snores in Store

‘Renfield’ iS SnoozieR Than a VaMpiRe aT lunchTiMe

The appropriate reaction to watching Dracula’s manservant impale enemies through the chest with bones taken from severed human arms is definitely not boredom. yawning through “Renfield” either tells me something wildly upsetting about myself or about director Chris McKay’s misguided attempt at irreverence. The thing about a horror-action comedy is that, and hear me out, it probably needs to be funny.

“Renfield” confuses stupidity and absurdity with having actually created something humorous. It is a joke premise without a punchline. yet I hesitate to synopsize it. because a description of it is going to sound like a madcap, goofball romp. Nay! Although it will make you mad enough to blow your cap, as it feels like balls get romped. Sigh. Movie-reviewing bylaws are strict, so here’s what happens …

After ages spent procuring victims for Dracula (Nicolas

by Ryan SyRek

Finally, a Film that let nicolas c age be himselF, you know? in a diFFerent world, this gory, horror-action-comedy misFire is a cult classic. iF that world has decent snacks, i’m moving. image: Still from “renfield”

Cage), Renfield (Nicholas Hoult) has developed a conscience. He resents himself and is repeatedly referred to as an “empty husk” that his boss fills with evil. When vampire hunters reduce Vlad to a sickly, icky, picky eater, the pair flee to New Orleans. There, Renfield joins a support group

for codependents who are beholden to vile narcissists. you’d think Dracula would be the worst of the abusers, but there’s a woman whose boyfriend really loves ska.

Somehow, and that single word does more to explain things than the script does,

Renfield runs afoul of the baton Rouge mafia, led by raspy-voiced scaremonger bella Lobo (Shohreh Aghdashloo) and her doofy son, Teddy (ben Schwartz). Rebecca (Awkwafina), the only noncorrupt cop in the state

continued on page 38

Felix Vasquez at Cinema-Crazed.com says: “Awkwafina actively struggles to pin down the movie’s tone. Only Hoult and Cage seem really to grasp it. Or in the case of Cage, define it.”

Katie Smith-Wong at Flickfeast says: “There is an abundance of bone-crunching, gory-as-hell action sequences that are boosted by the inventive efforts of ‘Daredevil’ stunt coordinator Chris Brewster.

Although they are few and far between …”

Travis Hopson at Punch

Drunk Critics says: “The tone is schlocky and silly, the gore is

insanely over the top as limbs are ripped, heads stomped and exploded with reckless abandon … It provides the perfect platform for Cage to go wild, even channeling the great Bela Lugosi.”

of Louisiana, wants to avenge her father’s death at the hands of the Lobos. So she buddies up with Renfield, who gets superpowers when he eats bugs, while Dracula joins the mob. Severed limbs are tossed like confetti, and blood sprays fountains like tears in the rain.

The audacity of a movie with that summary to frequently attempt sincerity feels like watching a billionaire tell jokes on Twitter. Why are you doing a thing that you very much do not have to do and that no one enjoys? We came here for Nic Cage fanging scenery and Jean-Ralphio as a tattooed naughty-doer. Awkwafina is repeatedly asked to produce pathos. Because when you think “This scene needs emotional legitimacy,” your next thought is always “Thank goodness we have Awkwafina doing this.”

They spent money on this, folks. They spent like $100 million making Nicholas Hoult’s eyes glow when he munches on a cricket. The fight scenes have colossal scale, with a motel battle that results in a mountain of corpses. Why is it so dull? How is it both rushed to the point of incoherence and listless? What was the thinking behind presenting Renfield as “the most prolific serial killer of all time” and then asking us to treat him like Spider-Man with cockroach breath?

“Renfield” had more than promise. It had a Nicolas-Nicholas sandwich filled with gore and whatever I think “camp” is. Alas, just as vampires can’t eat human food, no humans should devour this vampire feast.

Grade = D

CUTTING ROOM

By Ryan SyRek

He’s done it again. The “fun” thing about the current state of the world is that it immediately made you think about a handful of people doing something terrible. Nope! I am referring to film historian Bruce Crawford, who has announced his 48th tribute to classic films. Unlike that month when we were really worried about shooting down balloons, this event has a confirmed “E.T.,” because Crawford will be screening Steven Spielberg’s 1982 “family” flick that gave every kid nightmares. Saturday, May 13, at 7 p.m., head down to the Omaha Community Playhouse to watch the beloved movie with special guest Robert Macnaughton, who played “Michael.” Tickets are available at omahachristianacademy.org/movie or by calling 402-399-9565. Proceeds benefit the Omaha Christian Academy. Hopefully, between now and the showing, Spielberg doesn’t do what he did when he digitally replaced FBI agent guns with walkie-talkies and swapped “E.T. phone home” for “E.T. left you on read.”

On Sunday, May 22, Film Streams wants you to smarten up. They don’t find your intellect wanting, they’re just screening “Booksmart,” one of the best comedies of the last few decades. You can tell screenwriter Katie Silberman I said that, as she’ll be there for a post-screening discussion. The event at the Ruth Sokolof Theater starts at 5:30 with a reception catered by La Buvette, which I believe is French for “get in my mouth, food.” The film will be shown at 6:30, and the discussion kicks off at 8:30. You can be in bed by 10, like a decent person. For more

info, head to filmstreams.org/ films/booksmart. Ted Lasso plays a teacher who drives an uber? What’s not to love?

Speaking of smart books: Tom Haverford on “Parks and Rec” once created a dating profile for a man whose “favorite movies are books.” Given the recent book-banning bonanza, will the opposite hold true? Either way, we should probably support our local libraries is what I’m saying. One of them, Gretna Public Library (736 South St.), is wisely positioned on the intersection of cinema and literature: It’s showing “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” on Friday, May 26, at 4 p.m. This is a chance to get primed for the sequel, which arrives a week later. It’s also a good time for parents to tell their kids that, once upon a time, before Marvel made every other movie in theaters, Spider-Man appeared on paper. 

a Benson Film Festival is … held at the Benson Theatre, so you can get Yoshitomo before or after you go. On Friday, May 19, or Saturday, May 20, you can catch five film blocks and a couple of happy hours. I would argue that my happiest hours are watching film blocks, but I digress. You can get more info at bensonfilmfest. com, including details about the after-party. And after the after-party is the … thoughtful, in-depth discussion about film, art, and community.

Woot-woot! Am I right?

Cutting Room provides breaking local and national movie news … complete with added sarcasm. Send any relevant information to film@ thereader.com.

Ain’t no film festival like a Benson Film Festival because

Check out Ryan on KVNO 90.7 on Wednesdays and follow him on Twitter @ thereaderfilm.

A queSTiON fOR fOlKS WRiTiNg dRACONiAN, NONSeNSiCAl, ANTi-dRAg legiSl ATiON: Will AN upCOmiNg mOVie eVeNT ThAT feATuReS e.T. iN A dReSS ViOl ATe ANy l AWS? IMAGE: A stIll froM “E.t. thE Extr AtErrEstrIAl”

Blues ‘n’ Soul

CurtiS SaLgado returnS to the Metro aS Part of a BuSy May CaLendar

By B.J. HuCHTEMANN

Local audience favorite Curtis Salgado plays The Waiting Room on Thursday, May 25, 6-9 p.m., as part of the BSO Presents Thursday series. Based in Portland, Ore., Salgado is a world-class vocalist, a multiple Blues Music Award winner and regular nominee. NPR calls Salgado “an icon” with “a huge voice.” Salgado is a lifelong performer, and his rich soul-blues music is informed by a deep understanding of classic blues and soul. His band is always among the best in the Pacific Northwest. His most recent record is 2021’s “Damage Control” (Alligator Records). See curtissalgado.com for more information.

Meanwhile, Harper & Midwest Kind kick off this month’s BSO series at The Strut on Thursday, May 4, 6-9 p.m. Harper mixes blues and world music delivered with traditional blues harmonica stylings and the folk didgeridoo of his longtime Australian home. VizzTone Records’ Big Al & the Heavyweights from Louisiana are up Thursday, May 18, 6-9 p.m., at Philly Sports Bar and Grill.

The Blues Society of Omaha hosts its annual public meeting Saturday, May 6, 5 p.m., at The B. Bar. Find details at facebook.com/bluessocietyofomaha. Topics include volunteer opportunities, 25th anniversary merchandise, event updates and the latest on In the Market for Blues.

There is no BSO show on Thursday, May 11, due to the legendary Buddy Guy’s show

at Holland Center at 7:30 p.m. The performance is part of what is being billed as Guy’s farewell tour. Get tickets at ticketomaha. com.

In the Market for Blues

Saturday, Aug. 5, marks the annual In the Market for Blues Fest that also celebrates the Blues Society’s 25th anniversary. The headliner is Chicago bluesman and Alligator Records artist Toronzo Cannon. The event offers 14 hours of music from noon to 2 a.m. at 10 downtown, Old Market and Capitol District venues. Other national artists announced include Hadden Sayers, Hurricane Ruth, Josh Garrett, Kevin Burt, Polly O’Keary, Tony Holiday and In the Market for Blues’ original founder, Héctor Anchondo

A number of local and regional artists will also perform with artists still being added to the more than 30 acts booked. Event tickets are $25 in advance until July 15, then they’ll be $35 from July 16 - Aug. 5. Tickets are available at omahasbluesfest23.eventbrite.com. Look for updates on the In the Market for Blues event page at facebook. com/bluessocietyofomaha.

“Remember the Drumstick” in Omaha

Cathy Lohmeier’s cinematic love letter to her brother Tim Lohmeier and her family’s Lincoln chicken-restaurant-turnedrock-nightclub, The Drumstick, is coming to Omaha. The documentary chronicles the period when rising rockers played

regularly at the club along with local and regional acts. Some artists went on to become stars, from Joan Jett to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, R.E.M., Dwight Yoakam and Steve Earle, to name a few. The documentary is available for online streaming by making a donation at rememberthedrumstick.com, and DVDs are available to preorder. (Full disclosure, I sat for a brief interview on my memories of The Drumstick for the documentary.) “Remember the Drumstick” will play one time only at The Benson Theatre on Thursday, May 25, with showtime at 6 p.m. Tickets will be available at bensontheatre.org.

Hot Notes

Curtis Salgado also gigs at Lincoln’s Zoo Bar on Wednesday, May 24, 6-9 p.m. Find the latest Zoo Bar bookings at facebook. com/zoobarblues.

Paul Nelson Band plays The B. Bar on Friday, May 12, 5:308:30. Nelson has a long career as a blues guitarist, including working with Johnny Winter’s band.

Texas multi-instrumentalist

Hamilton Loomis plugs in at The Jewell on Sunday, May 21, 6-9 p.m. Find all The Jewell’s weekly bookings at jewellomaha.com

North Omaha Music & Arts at 2510 N 24th St. is hosting free open jams on Monday and Tuesday nights, 7-10 p.m. Executive Director Dana Murray anchors the evenings with his Dana Murray Trio and an emphasis on jazz on Monday

nights. Tuesday nights feature Dana Murray & Manifesto and a focus on contemporary music. Open jams follow the band performances. For more info on the venue and its mission, including a variety of Music Club classes for various instruments, visit northomahamusic.org.

Kris Lager’s Conduit Live rock ‘n’ roll variety show comes to Lincoln’s Bourbon Theatre on May 20, 8 p.m. Joining Lager & the Assembly of Assassins are Jackson Stokes, Aly Peeler and Kristen Taylor. A DJ, comedian and magician will also be featured. Find tickets under the event name at ticketweb.com

Country legend Willie Nelson plays Stir Concert Cove on Friday, May 19, 8 p.m. Tickets are available at ticketmaster. com

Early warnings for notable June shows include iconic Texas singer-songwriter James McMurtry at Lincoln’s Royal Grove on Thursday, June 15, 7 p.m.

Up-and-coming artist Charley Crockett is at The Admiral on Thursday, June 22, 8 p.m. No Depression website calls Crockett’s music “Gulf & Western,” describing it as “a geographic stew with a hearty helping of Texan country … mixed with noticeable dashes of New Orleans and Southern soul.”

Curtis salgado plays Wednesday, May 24, at linColn’s Zoo Bar and thursday, May 25, at the Waiting rooM. Booth shoWs are 6-9 p.M. PHOTO CREDIT: JEssIC a KEavEny

Mixed Emotions —

by Matt Jones

Across

1. “Pee-wee’s Playhouse” genie

6. Wing measurement

10. Rack purchases, briefly

14. Burger topping

15. “Pam & Tommy” streamer

16. Singletons

17. One of the “Friends: The Reunion” attendees

20. Boo-boo

21. March time

22. Filing target

23. Yang’s complement

25. Dept. of Justice agency

26. Setting the new mark, as in the Olympics

35. Book, in France

36. Felt badly

37. “La ___” (Debussy opus)

38. Stuff in batteries

39. Chunk of grass

40. Upcoming Paramount+ series based on a video game

41. “Volare (___ Blu Dipinto Di Blu)”

42. Absolutely not

43. “___ the Mirror” (song in the Broadway musical “MJ”)

44. Call center activity

47. “Winnie-the-Pooh” character

48. “No Time to ___” (2021 Bond film)

49. Grad

51. Kiss, in British slang

54. Song from “Turandot”

58. Like Peru and Mexico

61. Sex Pistols’ genre

62. Vital spark

63. Gate part

64. Planet dwellers of film

65. Indicate boredom

66. Stated further

Down

1. Reduplicative name in a “Bizarre Adventure” manga

2. Over again

3. Smaller version

4. Cemetery

5. “Here Comes the Hotstepper” singer Kamoze

6. Lawnmower’s building

7. Untarnished

8. “What a shame”

9. Sister or mother, maybe

10. Art made of tiles

11. Prefix for body or gravity

12. Earth sci.

13. Tax ID

18. Foreign film ender

19. Asleep, usually

24. Actor Barinholtz

25. Worry (about)

26. Mel who voiced Yosemite Sam

27. Houston campus, for short

28. Bad things

29. Gullible

30. Charitable person

31. “Zut ___!”

32. Sultanate inhabitant

33. Historical object

34. Aerial photography aid

39. Audition tape

40. Give birth, informally

42. “Prometheus” actress Rapace

43. 3-D screening

45. Certain swimwear

46. Do landscaping work

49. “___ Named Scooby-Doo” (cartoon spinoff of 1988)

50. Daily Planet reporter

51. “Transformers” actor LaBeouf

52. “Clicker beware” letters

53. Not hidden

55. Fruit peel

56. “Bus Stop” dramatist William

57. Like some steaks

58. Relaxation spot

59. Shifty

60. “A clue!”

© 2022 MATT JONES

AnsweR to l A st month’s “FRee sPIn”

COMICS

Garry Trudeau

Jeffrey KoTerba

Jen SorenSen

RobeRt Dewey “bob, PoPPo” HuDson

1942 – March 13, 2023

Publisher’s Note: The annals of the founding of The Reader are anchored in a youth-led effort to save Sokol Hall on 13th & Martha in 1990 from a questionable fire-safety inspection. Bob Hudson had the courage, and some might say mischievousness, to encourage this effort, playing a critical role in not only saving Sokol, but launching this youth effort into what became The Reader. He also helped feed the launch of Omaha’s nationally recognized alternative music scene. We might not have The Admiral (or The Reader) if it weren’t for Bob Hudson.

Robert (“Bob”) Hudson, known as “Poppo” to family, died in his sleep Monday, March 13. He was a loving husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle and a generous and steadfast friend.

Born and raised in Omaha, he returned home after four years in the Army to launch his career with the Omaha Fire Department. Bob had a passion for helping others and serving his community, quickly rising to district chief. After an illustrious 28 years with the Fire Department, Bob retired in 1994, and he and his wife, Bobbie, enjoyed two years of travel. There was white-water rafting in Colorado, camping in the Black Hills and canoeing down the Niobrara. They finally settled along the Front Range of Colorado.

He taught his kids through his life: Be honest, help others, be loyal, be brave, be kind, and be true. Live your life to the fullest. And live a life full of laughter and joy.

Although Bob was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 1997, it did not deter him from hiking in Colorado, grandbaby-sitting, attending grandchildren’s birthday parties and graduations. It’s hard to remember being around Bob without smiling and laughing. It was the way he spread joy in this world.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Bob’s name can be made to the Parkinson’s Association of the Rockies (parkinsonrockies. org).

— John Heaston

MeGAn teRRy

July 22, 1932

– April 12, 2023

Uncommon describes the late American playwright Megan Terry. As a young woman she became a leading feminist and experimental theater light in 1960s New York. At the height of her fame and powers there, she left for love and creative freedom in Nebraska, where her life and artistic partner, Jo Ann Schmidman, founded the Omaha Magic Theatre. They made OMT a home for their own and others’ avant-garde work. They toured select OMT productions across Nebraska, the greater Midwest, nationally and internationally.

Born in Seattle during the Great Depression, Terry heeded an early call to the stage that took her to Canada and New York. Her “Viet Rock” is credited as the first rock musical and popular artwork dealing with the Vietnam War. Her “Approaching Simone” off-Broadway won an Obie. Rockefeller and National Endowment for the Arts funding helped her build a career as a theater practitioner and educator.

“Megan Terry’s life as she lived it and her legacy are a force of light and energy,” Schmidman said. “Her discoveries using transformations of person, location, situation and language changed the American theater and all of the arts. Her more than 50 published works for the stage are published singly and in prestigious drama anthologies, studied by high school and college students worldwide.”

Omaha theater director-educator Amy (Harmon) Lane is among many artists who got their start at OMT under the watchful gaze, nurturing guidance and uncompromising spirit of Terry. “Megan was fierce, supportive, fearless,” Lane said. “She fostered my love for experimental, groundbreaking art. Omaha theater owes her a great debt.”

— Leo Adam Biga

Megan Terry, righT, wiTh Jo ann SchMidMan.

Saturday, May 13th, 7:00 p.m., Omaha Community Playhouse

Hawks Mainstage Theater on the stage wide screen! 6915 Cass St, Omaha, NE 68132 Tickets $25.00 on sale NOW

Buy online: http://www.omahachristianacademy.org/movie Call 402 399 9565

Limited tickets available at the door. Doors Open at 6 p.m

Book It and They Will Come

WITh ITs OpEnIng May 12, sTEElhOusE hOpEs TO puT OMaha BaCk On ThE TOur Map

By Tim mcmahan

Everything about the new Steelhouse Omaha music venue, operated by Omaha Performing Arts (O-pa), will be state of the art — the lights, the sound, the overall experience. The 3,000-capacity downtown venue, which is designed for standing concerts (mostly, there are also balcony seats), will celebrate its opening night May 12 with a performance by alt-rock band The Killers, a show that, despite its $75-plus ticket price, sold out in minutes.

The quick sellout proves more important than stateof-the-art facilities is booking quality acts. Last January, O-pa President Joan Squires was interviewed by local media saying one of the project’s motivations was to attract young patrons, specifically between the ages 18 and 45. “The entire venue is

going to be an experience that will really help this city attract people this age,” she was quoted as saying.

I was a little bummed. After all, I’m in my mid-50s, well outside that target range. I envisioned a constant stream of TikTok-style pop acts playing in front of a huge, squirming crowd of squeaky-clean youngsters, all holding up cell phones for one giant Instagram moment.

However, after a few weeks of Steelhouse show announcements, it turns out I might be at the lower end of the target age. Among the acts announced so far: ’90s alt-rock legends Counting Crows, hair-metal bands W.A.S.P and Cinderella’s Tom Keifer, ’70s funk icons Parliament Funkadelic, 68-year-old

singer/songwriter Elvis Costello, and The Flaming Lips performing an album released more than 20 years ago. In fact, all the above performers’ heydays were more than 20 years ago.

Oh, it’s not all legacy acts. Steelhouse is also hosting “fresh” hip-hop performer $not (pronounced Snot), Japanese novelty Babymetal and indie darlings Fleet Foxes, whose breakthrough debut was released 15 years ago, but that’s it for new-ish artists. So, what exactly is the venue’s booking strategy? Squires and Erika Hansen, director of booking for Steelhouse, said these early bookings are just that: early bookings.

“We’re just starting, Tim,” Squires said. “We’re certainly going to continue to move

in a younger direction. This just happens to be who’s got opportunities to come to Steelhouse right now.”

Hansen, 48, who hails from Sioux City and has been booking gigs for 20 years, agreed, saying booking summer months was a challenge, because many acts had already been booked for festivals and outdoor gigs. “Not that this lineup is anything to be down about,” she said, “but it is a different type of crowd that we’re probably looking at for the first few months, and then we’re really going to start to get into the diversity that we’ve been talking about. If I showed you everyone who’s holding dates at Steelhouse, it’s a much different look than what you’re seeing right now on sale.”

Brandon Flowers oF The Killers, who sold ouT sTeelhouse F or a May 12 concerT.

sTeelhouse oMaha has a capaciT y oF 3,000, MosTly sTanding.

Working with Live Nation

To power booking efforts, Steelhouse via O-pa signed an exclusive contract with Live Nation, the country’s largest concert promoter. “We felt they could work with us to ensure we get bands as they route them across the country,” Squires said, pointing out Omaha falls in the gap between Denver, Chicago, Kansas City and Minneapolis.

Headquartered out of Beverly Hills, the publicly traded company boasts “bringing 40,000 shows and 100-plus festivals to life” per year and works with just about every successful pop artist, from Alice Cooper to the Zac Brown Band.

Hansen said she’s in contact with Live Nation multiple times a day. “They definitely will suggest artists they know are touring that they think might be a good fit for Omaha and will work with the venue space,” she said. “It’s a two-way street, though. We definitely have suggested to them, ‘Hey, can you check out this artist or can you look for more artists that are within this genre and see who’s out there?’”

Steelhouse’s real goal isn’t putting on shows that target a specific age group. “(Steelhouse) was built with philanthropic dollars and really is open to everybody,” Squires said. “The target is to attract the bands that have been missing our city because there was no venue of this size.”

“We are absolutely looking at artists that have never played Omaha before or that maybe have played much smaller venues in the market and are now getting to the size where they could fill a venue like Steelhouse,” Hansen added. “I think the purpose is really to add to the music scene in general in Omaha. We want Omaha to be a destination for artists so that

all of the agents looking at tour stops think of Omaha as a hot music scene.”

Building awareness is one of the challenges. Squires said Hansen and Live Nation have been busy telling agents and artists that there’s a new kid in town. “Part of it is just getting the word out,” she said. “And the more we book, the more we’ll book.”

and the fan.” But, “we’re not wanting to step on anyone else, either. If some other venue in Omaha has a great opportunity to book a show and it’s a better fit for their room, by all means.”

What about local acts? I suggested local bands could be

Steelhouse Omaha, 1100 Dodge St., is hosting a free Open House on Sunday, May 14. It will include tours and a performance by the Central High School Jazz Band, Nebraska All-Star Rock & Roll Band, Omaha Girls Rock, Salem Baptist Church Choir and Enjoli & Timeless. For more information about this and other community events, as well as the latest concert lineup, go to steelhouseomaha.com.

the marketing, for the fans, for the experience.”

The almost immediate sellout of The Killers concert left many fans venting their frustrations on social media. Squires said they expected a very quick sellout because The Killers play 20,000-capacity arenas. “We were sorry people were frustrated,” she said. “It was a demand question. We just hope people will stay with us to come back and try something else.”

“I think sometimes Ticketmaster takes kind of a rap for ticketing issues in general,” Hansen said. “Demand is always going to be a problem if you have an artist that has a demand that’s greater than the number of tickets available. That’s not necessarily a Ticketmaster thing.”

Squires and Hansen were both eager to hear my list of bands I’d like to see play Steelhouse, a list that includes Lana Del Rey, Yo La Tengo, Shame, Gorillaz, Boygenius, Yeah

What about Indie Music?

As an indie music fan, I had to ask if the venue’s 3,000 capacity will prevent booking important up-and-coming indie artists who draw fewer than 1,000. Squires said the space may not be appropriate for those shows, which would be a better fit for small O-pa-operated venues like the Holland Music Club. However, Hansen said Steelhouse is flexible and has options, including the use of retractable risers.

“We’re playing with the space,” Hansen said. “I think we will be able to do some smaller shows in there and make it feel full and really cool for the artist

great openers for larger touring acts. O-pa has done this in the past. Local singer/songwriter Matt Whipkey, for example, opened for the band America at the Holland Center last year. Hansen said artists typically decide who will open their shows, not the promoter, but “if there’s an opportunity, we’ll absolutely do that.”

Ticketmaster ‘the right choice’

I couldn’t let them go without talking about Ticketmaster, a subsidiary of Live Nation that has been embroiled in controversy concerning ticket-selling practices. Just ask Taylor Swift, who appears to be fighting a one-woman battle against the company. Squires said it was O-pa’s decision to use Ticketmaster because “we felt Ticketmaster was the right choice for

Yeah Yeahs, Alex G, M83, The Strokes, Beck, Angel Olsen, Wet Leg, Everything But the Girl, Ladytron, Death Cab for Cutie and Nation of Language — all touring acts that as of now do not have Omaha as a stop.

They promised to share the list with Live Nation. They’re looking for your suggestions, too. You can provide them by following Steelhouse on social media, the best place to see the latest announcements.

“This is going to evolve,” Squires said of Steelhouse Omaha’s bookings. “We’re just getting open. We’re going to continue to reinvent and reevaluate. It’s going to keep moving.”

Over The edge is a mOnThly cOlumn by reader seniOr cOnTribuTing wriTer Tim mcmahan fOcused On culTure, sOcieT y, music, The media and The arTs. email Tim aT Tim.mcmahan@gmail.cOm