The Omaha Community Playhouse, located at 6915 Cass Street in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, is a nationally recognized community theater.
Founded in 1924, the Playhouse's first president was Alan McDonald, architect of the Joslyn Art Museum, and its first play, directed by Greg Foley in April 1925, was The Enchanted Cottage, which starred Dodie Brando, mother of Marlon Brando. When, later in the Playhouse's first season, the need arose for a young man to play the lead for You and I, Brando suggested that twenty-year-old Henry Fonda, son of her friend Herberta Fonda, contact the director. The Playhouse would later see the acting debut of Marlon Brando, Dorothy McGuire, and Julie Wilson, and appearances by Letitia Baldrige, Glenn Cunningham, and Lenka Peterson.
The Playhouse experienced tremendous growth throughout the 1980s and 1990s under the direction of Charles Jones.
Famous quotes containing the words omaha and/or community:
“The first dead man on Omaha Beach must be a sailor!”
—Paddy Chayefsky (1923–1981)
“As blacks, we need not be afraid that encouraging moral development, a conscience and guilt will prevent social action. Black children without the ability to feel a normal amount of guilt will victimize their parents, relatives and community first. They are unlikely to be involved in social action to improve the black community. Their self-centered personalities will cause them to look out for themselves without concern for others, black or white.”
—James P. Comer (20th century)