THE READER OMAHA JAN 2023

photoS

By August Wilson Director Denise Chapman Associate Director TammyRa’

Pulitzer Prize-winning classic.

publisher/editor John Heaston john@thereader.com graphic designers .......... 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 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

Palm, an experimental art-rock band from Philadelphia, played Omaha’s Reverb Lounge last month.

PHOTO BY AmAris stebbing

Nebraska Joins the Nationwide Trend to Increase Minimum Wage

by EllE lOvE

hen Nebraska voters approved Initiative 433, which raised the minimum wage, last November, Gab Rima knew the kind of difference it would make for many workers. The previous minimum of $9 per hour makes an annual salary of $18,720 before taxes. At that rate, housing, food, a car, phone service, medical

crease by $1.50 each year until it reaches $15 in 2026. On Jan. 1, 2023, the minimum wage was raised to $10.50. In 2024, it will increase to $12. In 2025, it will be increased to $13.50, and in 2026, it will be increased to $15 an hour. Moving forward it will be adjusted with the cost of living.

Advocates say the increase is a big step forward, but it shouldn’t be the end of the conversation to ensure all Nebraskans can earn a living wage.

a single person with no kids needs to be making almost $17 per hour to make a living wage in

co-founder of Strongly Worded Letters, a civic engagement or-

y raising its minimum wage, Nebraska joined others in a nationwide trend, moving the lowest earners closer to a decent ut it will be several years before Nebraskans earn the

The state’s $9 an hour minimum will in-

State sen. Terrell McKinney, who co-sponsored Initiative 433, said the community he represents in North Omaha has little access to high-paying jobs and many have to survive on minimum wage. Just the annual cost of owning a new car, which was estimated at more than $10,000 in 2022 by AAA, consumes more than half of a current minimum wage earner’s salary and a third of a person’s salary at $15 per hour. Housing costs are also rising, putting many in a tight spot choosing between essentials.

The initiative passed with 58.7% of the vote, largely because this is not a political issue, McKinney said. Nebraskans, like

“had the federal minimum wage kept pace with workers’ ... minimum wage would be $24 an hour.

across the country, know people

hardly succeed without higher wages, McKinney said, adding this will raise the floor but the conversation should continue.

“Minimum wage has to be increased. It can’t stay what it is,” McKinney said. “If we don’t make those types of changes, how do

Nationally, despite two-thirds of Americans supporting raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, it has stood at $7.25 since July 2009. Since then, it has lost 21% of its purchasing power due to inflation (in 2021 dollars) and 34% since its peak in 1968, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

“In fact, had the federal minimum wage kept pace with workers’ productivity since 1968 the inflation-adjusted minimum wage would be $24 an hour,”

said a representative of the Nebraska AFL-CIO, the state chapter of the national union labor council.

According to MIT, a single person with no kids needs to be making almost $17 per hour to make a living wage in Nebraska. Adding kids to the equation raises the floor as high as $54 per hour for a single parent.

Brielle Brown, who works at Ted and Wally’s, the downtown ice cream parlor, said while some say increasing wages can hurt small businesses or strain an economy likely headed for recession, raising wages is a necessity for many people.

“A lot of people nowadays, especially as young adults are living paycheck-to-paycheck,” she said. “I feel like people aren’t surviving on what we’re making and we don’t have a lot of time for ourselves mentally and physically to adapt to everything.”

ProKarma, Inc.

(dba Concentrix Catalyst)

Business Analyst #104852

ProKarma, Inc. (dba Concentrix Catalyst) has mult. openings for Business Analyst in Omaha, NE; travel and/or reloc to various unanticipated locations throughout the U.S. is required. Telecommuting may be permitted.Work with application development, architecture, technology infrastructure and security teams to ensure commitment on deliverables and alignment on projects. 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# 104852 in subject line.

The Downward Spiral

Caught between Mental health, CriMinal JustiCe systeMs, faMilies struggle to break the CyCle

S TORy AND PhOTOS by Chris Bowling

This is The firsT insTallmenT in a Three-parT series from The reader abouT omaha’s menTal healTh and criminal jusTice sysTems: how They work, when They fail and whaT we can do To make Them beTTer.

Mary Angus wants to know where it all went wrong.

The grandmother wrings her hands from a recliner in a basement apartment while late November snow dusts Omaha. Family portraits overflow corners of the living room. Warm lamp light illuminates princesses and ponies colored with markers. They’re windows into the life she thought she’d have by 69 — too many birthdays to remember, big family dinners, an ever-growing group of grandkids to spoil.

Instead she has to wonder why she’s still alive. Why police stormed her apartment. Why no one helped her grandson — the kid with too many diagnoses, the teenager who got violent, the il-

legal drugs that made everything worse, the young man who went from courtroom to jail to probation over and over again.

The signs never got by Angus. She’s spent her career advocating for those with mental and physical disabilities, working among the state’s leaders in the field with organizations like the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Munroe Meyer Institute and Disability Rights Nebraska. She herself lives with a mental illness and knows healing is not a straight-line journey.

People don’t fail treatment, she often says. Treatment fails people.

So who failed Gage Walter, 27, when, on Aug. 13 of 2022, he allegedly murdered his grandmother and great-grandmother in their South Omaha home with a hammer?

For Angus, the answer is simple. The system failed Gage Walter.

At an October court hearing, prosecutors read off Walter’s criminal history while his attorneys asked for him to be released on bond due to his mental health history. Walter talked about terrorism and nanobots in his brain.

One of the few surprising things about all this to Angus is she’s not dead. Instead it was Linda Walter, Gage Walter’s other grandma, and her 93-year-old mother. Angus was escorted back to her home with police before fleeing to Missouri for safety.

The other surprise is the end Angus hopes for. They tried everything to get Walter help and now the worst has happened. Even though it’s against everything she believes in, Angus sees no other option than to hope her grandson never walks free again.

“We didn’t want to be one of those families that people would say, ‘Look what this guy did. Where was the family during all of this?’” Angus said. “We wanted to make sure we did everything we could.”

‘Adverse Circumstances’

Although the ending may be different, Angus’ story of a family struggling in the gap between mental health care and the criminal justice system is similar to many. Short staffed, underfunded and mired by legal obstacles, Omaha’s mental health system often leaves many with the most serious, per-

sistent mental health issues cycling in and out of local courts and the Douglas County jail, which by default has become the area’s largest mental health facility, costing taxpayers money and leaving many families running in circles.

At any given time, about 20% of people in the Douglas County jail have a serious mental illness — defined as a severe condition that, when untreated, can inhibit someone’s basic life functions. The cost for housing, medical expenses, prescriptions, staff salaries and more is about $2 million annually, according to Douglas County Department of Corrections Director Mike Myers. They also spend almost twice as many days in jail as other inmates and are much more likely to come back, according to county data.

The jail was also never built to treat people with mental illness.

“[We’re] working in a facility that, environmentally and aesthet-

Mary angus has advocated for those with Mental and physical disabilities.

douglas county public defender toM riley.

PeoPle with SeriouS Mental illneSS Stay in Jail longer in DouglaS County

to enact criminal justice reform.

ically, does not promote therapeutic healing,” Myers said. “My staff are doing the best they can under some really adverse circumstances.”

The view inside Nebraska’s state prisons is similar. According to an October memo from the inspector general of Corrections, Nebraska Department of Corrections has zero psychiatrists and a 39% vacancy rate for behavioral health practitioners. The total behavioral health vacancy rate tripled since 2019.

Deputy Director Dawn Renee-Smith said often the department’s salaries can’t compete with other employers and a shortage of

available candidates has tightened the squeeze. In an anonymous survey distributed by the inspector general’s office, most behavioral health workers inside Nebraska’s prisons said they felt unsupported by leadership. One person described the staffing situation as a “meatgrinder.”

“Very, very low morale,” one respondent said. “[We’re] at the point where we just throw our hands up now.”

Meanwhile, Nebraska’s facilities are among the most overcrowded in the nation and the building of a new prison — the cost of which recently climbed to $350 million — seems inevitable after failures

Despite the shortage of resources, Smith said the prison is always improving how it treats its inmates dealing with a serious mental illness, which is about 30% of its population, she said. Care starts at admission with individualized care plans and continues with monthly clinical check-ins and, for some, daily care inside the prison’s specialized mental health units. The prison is also starting a program evaluation with the University of Nebraska at Omaha to dive deeper into its clinical programs and get needed data to make improvements.

“The goal is to make people healthier, and so we want to make sure that’s happening, that we’re doing everything we can,” she said. “So I’ve talked to psychologists about those programs and about this evaluation. And they’re really looking forward to seeing, are we making the difference? Are we doing it well? And if we’re not then figuring out what our next step is.”

reCiDiviSM rateS high for PeoPle with SeriouS Mental illneSS

In 2020, the Nebraska Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights held town halls to hear about the prison’s mental health system.

Jonathan Benjamin-Alvarado, the chair of the committee, found the system did more harm than good.

“In this instance, [Nebraskans are] willing to

waste money warehousing people … You either don’t give a shit or you’re willing to treat people as animals,” Benjamin-Alvarado said. “That’s the problem. If the material condition of those individuals is diminished over the time that they’re incarcerated, then when they go back out into public, what’s going to happen?”

‘There Just Isn’t Enough’

On the outside, a shortage of mental health workers means longer wait times to see a specialist — depending on the service they’re seeking it could take days, weeks or months. That’s not unique to Douglas County or the state as a whole. In fact, Nebraska’s made a serious dent in its shortage over the past decade, but the need remains.

“I think we’ve had some success, but is it to scale? Is it serving as many people as we would like it to? That’s part of the problem … there just isn’t enough,” said Patti Jurjevich, administrator of Region 6 Behavioral Healthcare, which oversees mental health care in Cass, Dodge, Douglas, Sarpy and Washington counties.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t reasons to be hopeful.

Nationwide initiatives like Stepping Up have been adopted locally. The program, which is in 565 counties, provides local governments a framework of solutions to use as they connect the siloed organizations in criminal justice, health care and local government.

The jail, recognizing the need for better mental health services, hired Myers, a licensed mental health practitioner, to run it.

An $89 million behavioral health facility, paid for with private and public money, for kids and teens is expected to open by 2025 on the Children’s Hospital campus at 84th and Dodge streets.

About half of Omaha’s police officers are trained in crisis intervention and the department’s mental health co-responder program

means officers can defer to mental health professionals in non-violent situations. As of November, the department had received 4,638 mental-health-related calls in 2022 (though that number doesn’t include multiple calls for a similar event in a day). Mental health professionals co-responded to 1,155 of those face-to-face when the threat of violence was deemed low enough for them to safely get involved.

But without more community resources, it’s hard to break the cycle.

“There [might be] no capacity at this service or my insurance doesn’t accept that treatment level of care or what have you,” said Lindsay Kroll, mental health coordinator for the Omaha Police Department, “which then recreates that wheel of, ‘Oh I need help again, [calling the police] is how I access that.”

Some solutions around the country could ease that strain. A Denver program that sends health professionals instead of law enforcement into mental health situations has led to better outcomes and huge cost savings. Tucson, Arizona, has a facility that reroutes people from the criminal justice system to a mental health facility instead.

And probably most pertinent, locally, is the prospect of a new

Douglas County facility specifically designed for the cross section of criminal justice and mental health.

Nebraska PrisoNs struggle to staff MeNtal HealtH Workers

The county has allocated $55 million pandemic relief money toward mental health and it’s likely this new facility would consume the bulk of it. The goal is to create a therapeutic space designed to help people experiencing serious mental illness with 76 beds for incarcerated people and 20 more for others in the community — which, in total, is a little more than a third of the average number of people with serious mental illnesses the jail houses every month.

But while it’s a step forward, some say it won’t go far enough.

“There are too many loopholes in the mental health system. There are too many loopholes in the continuity of care for these individuals,” said the father of a man struggling with mental illness at an Oct. 4 town hall about the proposed facility. “You get them into the hospital and emergency treatment and they’re there for a week or two weeks … but two weeks

isn’t gonna do it. It takes three to six months. We need long-term care for these folks.”

“It’s great that you’re trying to do something positive … But I just don’t even know what to tell you … It’s obvious the laws have to change first,” said another person at the meeting. “People would not be in your jail, sir, or your prisons, if some of these laws were changed, and they helped these people. What’s so hard about it?”

‘It’s Really So Simple’

In 1999, the Supreme Court ruled that people experiencing a mental illness, as well as disabilities, have the right to receive state aid to live in the community rather than institutions. In the 2000s Nebraska began deinstitutionalizing, but many say the vision was never realized as state funds dried up. The behavioral health care system has been operating at a deficit ever since.

Another problem is reimbursements for mental health through Medicaid, federal and state health care dollars don’t cover providers’ costs.

“When you ask, ‘How much is enough?’ Well, right now, the rates … don’t even cover the cost of a provider giving those services,” said Annette Dubas, executive director of the Nebraska Association of Behavioral Health Organizations. “So if we want to

get to a figure, how about we get to just covering costs?”

Solutions can also be challenging because the system itself is so hard to understand. Encouraging programs exist, but there are not enough. Long-term care is out there, but not everyone has access to it. How many beds, or how much money, do we need to move in the right direction? It’s hard to say.

“It’s very complicated,” said Carole Boye, president and CEO of Community Alliance and an employee of the Omaha mental health program since 1981, “but really it’s so simple. We need to have the care people need, when they need it.”

‘The FlowsCrapDownhill’

For Mary Angus, choosing where to start fixing problems is impossible. It all needs to change.

She thinks back to when her grandson was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder, defiance disorder and Asperger’s syndrome in grade school. He went to the doctor so much that year his family’s insurance cut him off.

When Gage Walter was placed in a special education program, teachers and administrators peppered his parents with acronyms like IEP, Individual Educational Plan, a special educational framework for certain kids. That wasn’t

An October 2022 report from Nebraska’s Inspector General of Corrections shows the state’s prison system had vacancy rates of up to 100% for certain behavioral health positions.

Region 6 AdministRAtoR PAtti JuRJevich (left) And diRectoR of cRiminAl Justice And BehAvioRAl he Alth initiAtives vicki mAc A. (Right)

followed, Angus said, and his experience in school deteriorated.

Then he went to an alternative school meant to course correct kids who’ve fallen behind. Then Boys Town. By 18 years old Walter was living with Angus.

By that time he already had a history with the police and drugs. Angus had to call the police on him several times. On one occasion Walter destroyed his room in her apartment, she said. When he got out, a probation officer or case worker always seemed to have a plan, but then someone would get a new job, or her grandson’s case was switched around, and the cycle would repeat again.

Efforts to get him mental health treatment never worked, either.

On one occasion he waited in a Bellevue emergency room for days before being transferred to Douglas County, which declared him stable and sent him home to Angus. She had to call the police again just days later. The family received Board of Mental Health petitions, court-sanctioned ways to force people to receive help if they’re a danger to themselves or others, but those only worked for a while.

At one point he was homeless, sleeping under the Union Pacific railroad tracks in Council Bluffs, and it became hard to connect him with services without a consistent address.

Ultimately Walter cycled through a system in which some

succeed and some struggle. Others, whether they’re dealing with a serious mental health issue, homelessness, substance abuse issues, poverty, a combination or all of the above, end up at the only place that can’t refuse them — as do all the problems of the other systems that failed them along the way.

“The crap flows downhill,” said Tom Riley, who’s served as Douglas County’s public defender since 1996 and been in the office since 1975. “And the criminal justice system is at the bottom of the pile.”

The hard part for Mary Angus is that she knows all of this.

She knows, for instance, that there’s never been enough space, never enough money. That there’s

a fine line between a mental health record and a criminal record.

She hoped her story could be different. But instead her family has become another alarm bell. She just hopes the noise is getting too deafening to ignore.

“I have another friend with a daughter that has all kinds of legal problems,” Angus said. “We look at each other and go, ‘We should not have to do this.’ I shouldn’t know how to put money on his [jail account]. I should never know how to get a hold of the county attorney. I should never know how to make an appointment to come visit him in jail. I shouldn’t ever know those things. No grandmother should have to know those things.”

MCC Board of Governors Scholarship

For Nebraska residents 18 years of age or older, renewable for up to eight quarters

Nebraska Career Scholarship

For Nebraska residents in eligible programs of study, renewable for up to three years

Johnny Rodgers Career & Technical Education Scholarship

For use toward certificate or associate degree programs in technical and applied trades

Metropolitan Community College affirms a policy of equal education, employment opportunities and nondiscrimination in providing services to the public. We are committed to ensuring our websites and facilities are accessible and usable to everyone. To read our full policy statement, visit mccneb.edu/nondiscrimination.

ThrOugh Our EyEs:

Omaha’s MomentsDefining of 2022

By BriDgeT FogArT y

SIDs, taxpayer-subsidized development tools, to build profitable suburban developments out west with government-backed no-interest loans.

In 10 years’ time, what news will shape your memory of 2022? Will you remember when you first heard Russia invaded Ukraine, or will you think of crowds gathered at Omaha City Hall to protest the Supreme Court’s leaked decision to overturn Roe v. Wade? Will advertisements from midterm election candidates play in your head?

Last year was was filled with monumental decisions that forever changed Omaha’s landscape. As 2023 begins, take a look back at the moments that defined the city in 2022 through the eyes and ears of The Reader’s reporters.

Affordable Housing and Bad Landlords

In January 2022, the city shut down an apartment complex near 25th and Jones streets due to excessive code violations, displacing dozens of people. The Reader’s Chris Bowling spoke with former residents of the condemned building and built a database that breaks down code violations in Omaha buildings.

The database showed that in East Omaha, housing code violations run rampant and take longer than a year on average to fix.

The analysis found 40 individuals and companies, less than a percent of property owners cited, account for about 13% of Omaha’s code violation cases since 2015. The city’s biggest housing code violaters include companies with headquarters in the Bahamas and Switzerland, a person found guilty of sexually harassing tenants in 2004 who still owns properties, a former landlord with a reality show, and a company with a Westside address that owns 171 properties almost entirely in North Omaha.

Omaha’s 80,000-unit deficit of affordable housing means many are stuck in a tight rental market, paying too much for often substandard, unsafe housing concentrated in low-income neighborhoods. In another story, The Reader dug into the history of systemic racism that helped build Omaha’s housing crisis. Developers used Sanitary and Improvement Districts, or

As 2022 came to a close, Omaha’s affordable housing crisis stayed front and center. Hours of debates and public comments for and against the city’s proposed Housing Affordability Action Plan, or HAAP, led the Omaha City Council meeting past sunset on Dec. 7, The Reader’s Anton Johnson reported. The HAAP was constructed by the city planning department with community partners and stakeholders as part of a state law that requires Omaha to address the crisis with an action plan. The following week, The Reader reported City Council members voted to approve the plan with a 5-2 vote.

Nebraska Denies Needy Families Funding

As gas and grocery prices rose and low-income families struggled to make ends meet in 2022, Nebraska’s denial rate for public benefits, such as cash assistance, continued at a rate of nearly 16 percentage points higher than the national average, surpassing all but three states in the nation. Our July cover story revealed how Nebraska is sittign on more than $100 million in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, an annual federal block grant given to each state to support low-income families.

The Reader’s Leah Cates found that fewer than one out of every 10 Nebraskans who applied for direct cash assistance via TANF in 2020 received it. Instead, the

money went to Nebraska’s rainy day fund. As of September 2021, that fund’s balance was more than $108 million, according to the state’s legislative fiscal office. The state fund topped $131 million in October 2022, reported the Omaha World-Herald.

“The fact that 90% of families are being turned away is also an active policy choice,” Aditi Shrivastava, a senior policy analyst at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, told The Reader. “Many more families [should be] served.”

Fall 2022 marked the third school year impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, bringing continued disruptions to student learning. While public school enrollment dropped nationwide between the fall of 2019 and 2020, a Reader analysis of public school enrollment data showed white students are disproportionately leaving public schools in districts throughout Douglas County. Reporting from The Reader in collaboration with The Hechinger Report, an education newsroom focused on inequities and solutions, found this to be especially true in the Omaha Public Schools district.

Meanwhile, Black, Latino and Native American students in Omaha’s schools were chronically absent and suspended at higher rates than their white counterparts. More than 19,000 OPS students were chronically absent in 2020-2021, or missed 10% or more of the school year, accord-

Students of Color are Disproportionately Truant

MEMBERS OF THE READER EDiTORiAl TEAM. Photo by ReadeR Staff.

ing to The Reader’s analysis of Nebraska Department of Education data. Of those students, more than 8,000 missed 20% or more of the year. Professionals say students need more support that’s culturally resonant from providers who look like them. Community-based behavioral health programs, such as the Center for Holistic Development, and the GOALS Center, a nonprofit addressing attendance and truancy issues for students in metro schools, are critical solutions to giving youth the care they need.

City

Changes

on the Streets and in the Books

Last year put contentious city decisions on the streets and in the books — threatening the existence of Omaha’s first protected bike lane and demolishing the city’s central public library branch.

In late January 2022, Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert and officials from the insurance company Mutual of Omaha announced plans to move the com-

pany’s headquarters 1.5 miles down the road to 215 S. 15th St., home of the former W. Dale Clark Main Library. Community members pleaded in op eds, City Council meetings and protests at the gates of the central branch to save the building, which advocates said provided essential resources to East Omahans, and for the city to refrain from privatizing the library system.

Reporter Anton Johnson live-tweeted and reported on City Council meetings, documenting decisions to place a temporary library branch downtown and approve a design contract for a new central library at 72nd and Dodge streets. The central branch was demolished in October.

Meanwhile, on Harney Street, Omaha’s only protected bike lane looked like the next casualty for downtown Omaha’s infrastructure.

An evaluation of the Market-to-Midtown Bikeway, a nearly 2-mile long protected bike pilot project between the Midtown neighborhood and downtown, yielded good results in September. The report by advocacy group Bike Walk Nebraska showed that about 20,000 rides took place since the bike lane was established, contributing to a 30% growth in biking citywide from 2019 to 2022.

But despite City Council members’ unanimous support for the protected bike lane, the Metro Smart Cities advisory board, the organization tasked with piloting transit ideas and co-chaired by Stothert, decided in a Sept. 21 meeting not to permanently extend the protected bike lane, The Reader’s Arjav Rawal and Chris Bowling reported. Then, following a “bike-in” held by bike riders in protest of the lane removal, Stothert announced an anonymous donor had stepped in to fund the project until streetcar construction begins.

No matter what 2023 brings Omaha, our team at The Reader remains dedicated to equipping you with quality local news online and in print. And we’re grateful you’re here, too. Until then, here are more essential 2022 reads from The Reader and our collaborators:

The Reader explores inequities and solutions in (Dis)Invested.

Our year-long project dug into the pervasive systemic issues in housing, education, health and the criminal justice system, and solidified our commitment to community-engaged reporting as a newsroom. Explore the entire series here:

SCAN HERE >>>>>

The Reader’s Election Issue was filled with news voters could use on the gubernatorial, congressional and sheriff’s races, along with ballot initiative information that nonpartisan canvassers used in their door-to-door voter outreach.

Past Union President, Now Running For Sheriff, Was Deemed to Have Used Excessive Force. Then Omaha’s Police Chief Stepped In — The Reader’s Chris Bowling reported in collaboration with the Flatwater Free Press.

Omaha’s immigration court has one of the longest average wait times in the country. Lack of legal help and high asylum denial rates can make it harder to navigate the backlogged system, advocates and immigrants told Reader reporter Bridget Fogarty. She documented a morning in the immigration court.

Three years ago, Vinebrook didn’t exist here. Today, the Ohio company is one of Omaha’s biggest landlords. — By Natalia Alamdari, Matthew Hansen and Matt Wynn, Flatwater Free Press and Alexandra Stone, KETV

A North Omaha senator traveled to Africa, toured slave castles and learned something about his hometown. — By J.D. Avant, Flatwater Free Press

Our Dirty Water: Nebraska’s nitrate problem is growing worse. It’s likely harming our kids. — by Yanqi Xi, Flatwater Free Press

Code Violations: The ReadeR’s daTabase allows you To seaRch code violaTion cases by pRopeRT y owneR oR addRess. abouT 40% of omaha’s code violaTion cases since 2015 aRe sTill open, and mosT cRowd e asT omaha buildings.

Graphic by chris bowlinG

lEFT: olivia and son yuseff beasley Talked To bRidgeT f ogaRT y foR The apRil 2022 sToRy “in c aRing foR omaha’s mosT absenT kids, many sTill fall ThRough The cR acks.” riGhT: moRghan pRice and heR kids weRe among The 90% of applicanTs denied assisTance fRom nebR aska’s $108 million TempoR aRy a ssisTance To needy families fund. They shaRed TheiR sToRies wiTh leah c aTes foR heR coveR sToRy in July 2022.” phoTos by bridGET ForGarT y and chris bowlinG

The SeASon Schedule for ViSuAl ArTS iS full of SurpriSeS Watch This Space Watch This Space

BY Janet Farber

As Omahans get acquainted with 2023, they’ll find plenty in the works for visual arts exhibitions in the area. What follows are some highlights. Following the conclusion of its “Monumental” season, Kaneko will showcase another renowned artist whose work graces the sculpture garden at the newly renovated Gene Leahy Mall. “James Surls: Nightshade and Redbone” opens March 24 and runs through Aug. 13. The exhibit includes an array of sculpture, drawings and prints that illustrate the artist’s singular

approach to abstracting the forms and spirit found in nature.

https://thekaneko.org

The UNO School of the Arts jump-starts the year by partnering with UNO’s Fried Academy to bring the virtual reality experience “Nobody’s Listening” to the UNO Art Gallery from Jan. 9-Feb. 23. This immersive exhibition uses art, photography and VR technology to bring immediacy to the ongoing Yazidi genocide initiated by ISIS in 2014 by focusing on the determination and resilience of its survivors. Art Gallery | Art and Art History

| University of Nebraska Omaha (unomaha.edu) and www.nobodys-listening.com.

Over at the Elkhorn campus of MCC, the Gallery of Art and Design will present “Mindscape: Jing Huang” from March 15-April 12. Huang is a ceramicist from China who resides in Charlotte, North Carolina. Her looping and flowing glazed sculptures bridge the physical and cultural landscapes that contribute to her sense of identity. www.mccneb.edu/gallery

At Gallery 1516, the talented stitch-masters of the Omaha Modern Quilt Guild are joining forces with the International Quilt Museum in Lincoln to present “Modern Quilting on the Prairie” contrasting traditional textile conventions with contemporary “no-rules” approaches to technique, aesthetics and narrative. The exhibition of 40 quilts runs from Feb. 17-May 14.

As always, there will be plenty of one-artist exhibitions from which to choose. Following Nancy Lepo’s show at Fred Simon Gallery (see Cool Things to Do, page 26) will be Joe Addison’s “Landscape, Seascape, Some Kind of Escape” (March 17-May 10). Addison’s experimental approach to photography paints

with light while deconstructing traditional darkroom practices. www.artscouncil.nebraska.gov/ explore/fred-simon-gallery/.

The Garden of the Zodiac Gallery welcomes back Christian Rothmann (Feb. 2-April 2). The versatile German artist will present fresh work reflecting his current investigations of landscape and mountain imagery in oil, oilsticks and Japanese ink. Next up in April-May will be Joseph Broghammer with new oil paintings expanding his surrealistically zoological vision. www.facebook. com/TheGardenOfTheZodiac

Fred Simon Show: Joe AddiSon, “L AndSc Ape, Se ASc Ape, Some Kind oF eSc Ape no. 58,” 2021, cyAnotype

pet Shop Show “humAn”: ALySSA Schmitt, “SeLF in opAL ,” 2022, AcryLic on pAneL

On the First Friday side of town, galleries in Benson have a full slate planned. At Petshop, Alyssa Schmitt is organizing “Human,” a multi-media show of lo-

ART PREVIEW

Vinton Street are filling out their schedules as well. The Roberta and Bob Rogers Gallery hosts the Visual Arts Showcase for the Omaha Entertainment and Arts Awards with a show from Jan. 13Feb. 4. It’s a great time to see the nominees in each of nine categories before the awards are given on Jan. 29 at the Hoff Family Arts and Culture Center. www.rbrg. org

At Generator Space, artists Joelle Wellansa Sandfort and Wanufi Teshome are presenting “Drop Stitch,” combining text and textiles (Jan. 13-Feb. 17). A dialogue between friends in installation form, the show reflects on the transmissions and losses of cultural information through an intermingling of text fragments with woven, knitted and altered artifacts. www.amplifyarts.org/ exhibitions-current

cal figurative artists (Feb. 3-March 31). “Voices of Choice” is a group show highlighting the work of participants in a rural billboard project sponsored by BFF Omaha, Planned Parenthood and Nebraskans for Abortion Access (March 3-April 28). An immersive installation featuring Ramon Guzman’s funky faces follows (April 7-May 26). www.facebook. com/bensonpetshop

Down the street at BFF Gallery, Stephen Kavanaugh’s exuberant street-smart art will show from March 3-24, followed by Isabella Janssen’s paintings reflective of life’s serious and comic absurdities (April 7-28). www.bffomaha.org/gallery.

The Second Friday denizens of

Finally, there’s never a shortage of experimentation at Project Project, which has a full menu of monthly offerings. Following Peyton Pearson’s show (see Cool Things to Do, Page 26), multi-media artist Jen Bockelman will weave together found objects, texts and sound (opening Feb. 10). Geometric abstraction dominates the next two shows, with a solo of bright, textural acrylics from Jada Messick (opening March 10), and the return of muralist Nick Miller, whose optically energetic floor-to-ceiling duct-tape patterning transformed this same space two years ago (opening April 14). www. projectprojectomaha. com.

MCC show: Jing huang, “Loop #5,” 2022, gL azed stoneware

gaLLery 1516 show: JaneLLe VogLer, shauna sMith, heather akerberg, Cari aLLen, beth saListean and haLey Fetters, “gtF o,” quiLt top in progress

k aneko show: JaMes surL s, “history waLk,” 2013, wood, 72 x 72 x 246 in. photo: JaMes surL s studio

proJeC t show: Jada MessiCk, “under the sea,” 2022, aCryLiC Mixed Media

oeaa VisuaL arts showC ase noMinee F or outstanding new Media artist: gregory brown, “sMash it up,” digitaL photograph

The Art A-List The Art A-List

A Look At the Most sIgnIfIcAnt events, exhIbIts of the PAst 12 Months

BY Mike krainak

If 2021 was marked by a Metro struggle to re-open, stay open and remain relevant under peaking COVID conditions, 2022 saw signs of optimism despite health, economic and political challenges of its own. The past year saw the promise of political renewal, Husker Rhule and urban redevelopment with rumors of real retail for those who call downtown home and not just a place to visit and party.

Visual arts plays its part opti-

mistically every year with significant happenings and exhibits, some planned, some unexpected, and 2022 was no exception.

The Reader’s A-list recognizes Metro arts contributions annually, beginning the review of 2022 with three major events, each of which will have cultural impacts for years to come.

After celebrating its 90th anniversary with a significant reappraisal of Karl Bodmer’s portraiture, Joslyn Art Museum made

the bold decision to close its doors to the public in May due to the start of its extensive expansion and renovation. Scheduled to reopen in 2024, it will be worth the wait to see the impressive Phillip Schrager Collection being added to its permanent display of contemporary art. joslyn.org/expansion

The newly revamped Gene Leahy Mall opened to great fanfare in July, completing the first phase of Omaha’s RiverFront reimagination. An open, active and family friendly space, it’s also home again to sculpture, albeit a largely different selection than it housed previously. The new “sculpture garden” includes one permanent installation — the festive “Wind Sculpture” by Yinka Shonibare — as well as works on extended loan by Bruce Beasley, John Clement, Linda Fleming, Richard Hunt and James Surls. theriverfrontomaha. com/visit-the-riverfront/gene-leahy-mall/.

Omaha’s urbanscape continues to be transformed by a variety of mural projects. Since The Reader’s coverage of developments in the last two years thereader.

com/2022/05/03/painting-thetown/, public works continue to be added at lightning speed. Aksarben Village and the New North Makerhood are particularly vibrant; this fall alone Millwork Commons joined forces with Omaha by Design to engage Dan Crane, Tyler Emery, Sarah Hummel Jones, Betni Kalk and Sarah Rowe to create 17 exterior murals at the new Hello Apartments, and Weston Thomson painted a mural at its neighborhood playground, all in the spirit of the area’s youthful, artsy vibe. https://www.facebook.com/artplusinfrastructure/.

What then were the most significant contemporary art exhibits of 2022 seen and written about by yours truly and The Reader’s staff of arts writers, including Kent Behrens, Janet Farber and Jonathan Orozco? The so-called A-list is comprised of three levels: Best in Show, Runners-up and Honorable Mentions. Best in Show is included below, but in the interest of space, Runners-up and Honorable Mentions can be found online at thereader.com.

The A-list is not the last word on the “best in art” in 2022.

Joshua abelow: 1982 – 2022, e xhibition View

hannah Demma, “a tune without the worDs,” 2022, mixeDmeDia installation

“nebraska: Flatwater,” by aDam l arsen

Nor do we claim to have seen or written about all art events and exhibits. But the majority were and have been considered via the criteria of most creative, unified and realized work based upon original intent. In addition, every attempt has been made to emphasize exhibits featuring local or regional artists and/or curators who organized such.

The Best in Show in 2022 featured another overwhelming group show from Gallery 1516, its first Regional Photography Biennial, www.gallery1516.org/ current-exhibition. No Metro venue has made a bigger commitment to Nebraska artists, and while quality of the work varies, a second visit after the popular opening may find you agreeing with judges’ selections.

The best curated photo exhibit of 2022 belongs to Thomas Wharton’s “Windows and Keys” shown at the Garden of the Zodiac Gallery, thereader.com/2022/10/27/ windows-and-keys/. Mixed media overall, critic Behrens emphasizes its photography with “Wharton’s work is challenging at first, but the reward is a short course in seeing. It is photography about photography, art about art, and it is a solid examination of an idea.”

Speaking of curation, no one in the Metro works harder at it then Baader-Meinhoff’s Kyle Laidig, and his efforts resulted in two of the best exhibits in 2022, Joshua Abelow’s “It’s Personal” thereader.com/2022/04/21/its-personal/

ART REVIEW

and “If It Die,” by Henry Belden www.baader-meinhof.org/if-itdie. Laidig has put B-M on the Metro art map. Put his exhibits on your calendar, and you will find them personal and provocative.

The Union for Contemporary Art made a big comeback in 2022, opening its doors to viewing that is, by bookending its gallery season with two fine tribute exhibits, both coincidentally with late significant printmakers, New Yorker Mavis Pusey, www.u-ca. org/exhibition/mavis-pusey and Omahan Wanda Ewing.

Pusey’s self-titled exhibit of “urban renewal” in bold geometric forms showcased this “leading abstractionist” of the 20th Century.

Fittingly, Pusey exhibited in the Wanda Ewing Gallery, whose own show, “Growing up Black, Growing up Wanda,” focused on the nine image/text diptychs that comprised her 1997 thesis book from the San Francisco Art Institute.

www.u-ca.org/wanda-dewing-gallery. In this work, we clearly see the roots of not only her socio-political vision but her self-aware sense of humor and recognition.

The most impactful 3D event was part of Kaneko’s exhibit umbrella, “Monumental,” a survey of Richard Hunt’s paradoxically fixed and flowing sculpture, one of which helped to anchor the Gene Leahy Mall’s sculpture garden. In “Monumental,” Hunt explores the narrative of African culture — its historical origins and global movement — through large-scale, abstract public artworks, still on display in January.

Smaller venues also contributed at this level, including Project and the BFF Gallery in Benson. The former continues its underground, incubator status in the Metro, but its marvelously original installation of reflective color, pattern and texture, “Prism Cell” by Hannah Demma, was its most impressive. Likewise, BFF Gallery offered the most successful two-person exhibit of 2022, Jeff King’s provocative, expressionistic portraits with Josh Powell’s subtler but equally disturbing, futuristic narratives in “and After All of This.” thereader. com/2022/05/31/fatefulattraction/

Three exhibits in Best in Show are arguably the “best of the best” for their scope, vision and aesthetic: Gallery 1516’s visually stunning immersive video, “Nebraska: Flatwater,” was created by videographer Adam Larsen, www.gallery1516.org/

nebraska-flatwater. Deserving of permanent installation, it surpassed the popular Beyond Van Gogh Immersive Experience seen in Council Bluffs last summer.

But an even more conceptual and partially immersive installation is the “Monumental” exhibit “Unseen” of Charles Kay, www.charleskayjr.com/UNSEENInstallation-Kaneko-/1/thumbs .

Like “Nebraska: Flatwater,” Kay’s ethereal video and photography are transcendent, but the experience of the latter is more interiorized, both seen and “Unseen.”

This past year climaxed with its Best Group Show, the aptly titled “Opulence,” at Bemis Center, curated by Jared Packard, exhibitions manager, www.bemiscenter.org/exhibitions/opulence. It’s subtitle and subtext, “Performative Wealth and the Failed American Dream,” continues Bemis’ preference for socio-political themed exhibits, but this one best lived up to its promise with a mix of multi-media art -- from 2D to 3D, from video to fashion -- as interesting as its premise. A truly rewarding exhibit that makes opulence look good.

Gene Leahy MaLL with yinka Shonibare “ wind ScuLpture,” 2022, diGitaL photoGraph photo by ivan Micek

betni k aLk, “Sepik FLoraL MuraL ,” 2022, at heLLo apartMent S Photo by Janet Farber

“ view oF the p ooL in SuMMer” by thoMa S wharton, 2022, oiL on canva S, pLexiGL a SS, wood, 20” x 16”

richard hunt, “pL anar and tubuL ar,” 2012-20, StainLeSS SteeL , in the Gene Leahy MaLL . Photo by Janet Farber

The stage is set for 2023

and lOcal prOducTIOns

TheaTer seasOn

BY Leo AdAm BigA

It’s said theater is the truest, most direct window into the human condition. By that measure, Omaha has a kaleidoscopic view of comedy and tragedy courtesy of a depleted but still robust theater landscape for 2023.

Though the Shelterbelt and SNAP Productions! have yet to recover from losing their shared space, the Union for Contemporary Art theater series is on hiatus until its new digs open and Nebraska Shakespeare is regrettably no more, Omaha’s still rich in all-the-world’sa-stage offerings.

Three new players bolster the scene. Anastasis Theatre Co. develops community-based work. Benson Theatre is both a venue and presenting group. Omaha Mobile Stage offers a movable feast.

Not to be forgotten, Opera Omaha stages world-class productions of new and classic operatic works.

The Omaha Performing Arts (OPA) 2021-2022 Broadway touring season brought one mega show after another, including “Cats,” “Hamilton,” “Hadestown” featuring Omaha native Kevyn Morrow, “Wicked” and “Anastasia.” The 2022-2023 season is equally loaded, highlighted by Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Feb. 7-12, starring Richard Thomas as Atticus Finch.

The rest of the Broadway season at the Orpheum TheaTer is a parade of past and present hit musicals: “Six” January 3-8

June 6-11

OPA brings Omaha native Broadway talents home for workshops and special commissions. Last year Morrow, Q Smith and Ray Mercer brought their stagecraft back. Q’s primed to return for OPA programs. Mercer’s coming again, this time to choreograph “Dreamgirls” at the Omaha Community Playhouse (March. 3-26).

The Playhouse, whose “Ain’t Misbehavin’” under Kathy Tyree’s direction dominated the Omaha Entertainment and Art Awards, is extending diversity-equity-inclusion to its first staging of an August Wilson play, “Fences,” Jan. 20-Feb. 12. Special programming is scheduled around the play (see story on page 20)

The remainder of the playhOuse season features a pair of Mainstage blockbusters and a more adventurous work in the Howard Drew Theatre:

“Rent”

Feb. 10-march 19 (Howard Drew)

“Little Shop of Horrors”

aprIl 14-may 7 (Mainstage)

“Pretty Fire”

aprIl 28-may 21 (Howard Drew)

Playwright and actress Charlayne Woodard’s one-woman celebration of life, her own, is a relatively little-known but acclaimed work that won L.A. Drama Critics and NAACP awards for best play and best playwright.

“In the Heights”

June 2-25 (Mainstage)

The bluebarn TheaTre is Omaha’s way-stop for those fancying something other than mainstream, and it shouldn’t disappoint in 2023.

“What the Constitution Means to Me”

February 2-26

The complex relationship between the U.S. Constitution and the lives of four generations of women

is interrogated for all its humor and pathos by playwright Heidi Schreck. The New York Times called her Tony-nominated work the best play of 2019.

“The Chinese Lady”

march 30-aprIl 23

Questions of identity, exploitation and self-determination animate this true-life tale of Afong May, the first woman from China to enter America. Exhibited as a curiosity and disconnected from her homeland and heritage, she waged a lifetime struggle to find her true self amid the cruel narratives imposed on her and to reckon with colonizing practices.

“Dance Nation”

may 25–June 25

Girl power as personified by prepubescent competitive dancers intent on world dominion takes center stage, but they must first nail their routine to win the Boogie Crown Grand Prix Finals. This 2019 Pulitzer Prize finalist for drama features a multigenerational cast as the 13-year-old heroines.

“Musing: A Storytelling Series”

Curated by Seth Fox

aprIl 19

“Miscellanea Volumes One & Two: Storyteller’s Choice” – a onenight-only event in the tradition of “The Moth Radio Hour” and “PBS Stories from the Stage” in which tales are woven and spoken by the people who lived them.

bensOn TheaTre is making its dramatic arts mark by delivering its first full season of stage works.

“Old Bat”

In collaboration with Great Plains Theatre Commons

March 23

This is another original creation of Omaha’s first lady of playwrights, Ellen Struve, whose “How to Build an Ark” premiered at The Rose last season. Here she brings us Kira, an Everywoman voyager in the elemental depths of the mythological other world. Transformation becomes her only chance at survival.

Siri and Cortana Enter a Juke Joint”

In collaboration with Radio Theatre Omaha

april 30-May 2, May 6-9

Omaha playwright Kim Louise plays with time, place and female prerogatives in this radio play in which virtual reality becomes reality and Black women just want to have fun.

Writing the Short Play with Rob Urbinati

april 10-15

Prolific New York-based director-playwright Rob Urbinati, who has strong Nebraska ties, will lead a week-long workshop whose participants will complete a short play. The plays will be workshopped and showcased in staged readings at the end of the residency. Urbinati is director of New Play Development at Queens Theatre in New York, where he curates New American Voices.

He’s the author of “Play Readings: A Complete Guide for Theatre Practitioners.”

“The Inheritance, Part I”

June 1-4, 7-11, 15-17

In collaboration with Voices in Alliance Set in the post-AIDS epidemic era, three generations of gay men in New York City attempt to forge a future for themselves amid a turbulent America. Eric Glass is a political activist engaged to his writer boyfriend, Toby Darling.

Omaha’s longest-lived independent theater company, The circle TheaTre, is an inclusive space for differently abled individuals. Its new year lineup includes “Stronger Than Strong! Great American Tall Tale Heroines,” “You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown (REVISED)” and a special Art of Imagination partnership program with Ollie Webb Center.

GreaT plains TheaTre coMMons nurtures playwrights and new works in year-round programs.

GPTC 2023 New Play Conference

May 28-June 3

Metropolitan Community College, Fort Omaha Campus

This convening of local and national playwrights, actors, directors, dramaturgs and designers around workshops, panels, readings and performances exposes audiences to theater’s new voices.

GPTC is staging 2021 New Play Conference favorite “Practice

House” from May 31-June 2 at Yates Illuminates.

Playwright Rachael Carnes delineates a real chapter in American education that found infants leased from orphanages for the purpose of training women in the new and improved “scientific parenting methods.”

Classic theater fans still have the BriGiT sainT BriGiT to lean into.

Irish Festival The Field

FeBruary 17-19, 24-26 & March 3-5

Annual Passover (Jewish-Themed Series)

March/april Full producTion – TiTle/daTes TBa

Spring Production

May Full producTion – TiTle/daTes TBa

Check for updates at www. bsbtheatre.com.

Suburban theater offerings can be had at several venues, including Ralston Community Theater, which stages an annual summer musical.

Bellevue liTTle TheaTer presents: An eclectic schedule: “Spider’s Web”

January 13-29 “A Little Night Music” March 10-26 “Girls’ Weekend” May 5-21

Chanticleer Theatre in Council Bluffs has a schedule of stage chestnuts: “Plaza Suite”

January 13-15 & 20-22

“Into the Woods”

March 10-12 & 17-19

“Pirates of Penzance”

May 12-14 & 19-21

Last year UNO Summer Music Theatre Academy launched. This free, by-audition-only training ground for high school musical theater performers and theater tech students culminates in a full staged musical.

Don’t sleep on university theater productions, where some of Omaha’s best new talents shine.

uno TheaTer features:

“Men on Boats”

FeBruary 23-26, March 2-5

A (somewhat) true theatrical exploration of the Green and Colorado rivers in 1869 by a one-armed captain and his dedicated crew, with all the twists and turns of a rafting trip. History reconsidered, with a cast of non-binary and female performers.

“The Tragedy of MacBeth”

april 20-23 & 27-30

Whether you call it The Scottish Play or The Bard’s Play, something wicked this way comes in this bloody tale of hubris run amok.

creiGhTon TheaTer:

“title of show”

Studio Theatre FeB. 22-26

This musical chronicles its own creation as an entry in the New York Musical Theatre Festival. Over a three-week period the creative team wrestles with inconvenient stage and life events leading to the show’s production.

“Vive Paris!”

Lied Education Center for the Arts Mainstage

april 20-23

The Creighton Dance Company channels Gene Kelly in “An American in Paris” for this ballet tracing life in The City of Light and Love. Featuring the music of Jacques Offenbach and Leroy Anderson.

Omaha theater happenings worth tracking in 2023 include the expected opening of The Union’s new black box theater in the fall and any new Shakespeare-presenting organization that emerges to fill the gap left by Nebraska Shakespeare’s closure.

“Alexa,

“Dreamgirls” at the Omaha COmmunity PlayhOuse is DireC teD by Kathy t yree anD ChOreOgraPheD by r ay merCer.

‘Fences’ Going Up at the Playhouse

August Wilson’s Accl Aimed drAmA revolves Around internAl And externAl struggles

By Leo AdAm BigA

As the American theater grapples with making more inclusive spaces on and off stage, the Omaha Community Playhouse mounts its first production of an August Wilson play, “Fences,” Jan. 20-Feb. 12 on the Hawks Mainstage.

Two leading Omaha theater artists, Denise Chapman and TammyRa’, are co-directing.

Critics may note OCP should long ago have embraced Wilson, but in this better-later-than-never move it’s filling a gap left by the John Beasley Theater & Workshop’s closure a decade ago. JBT produced Wilson’s entire ten-play American century cycle. Wilson plays have been absent locally

since, which is why TammyRa’ said, “This is a really big deal.” As a JBT stock player, she acted in five Wilson works, including “Fences” twice. “To help be able to bring this story alive from a different side is wonderful and exciting,” she added.

The acclaimed drama of embittered former Negro Leagues player Troy Maxson, long-suffering wife Rose, best friend Bono, sons Cory and Lyons and brother Gabriel is perhaps Wilson’s best-known work.

“So much is covered in this one play,” TammyRa’ said. “It talks about infidelity, family, losses, broken dreams, endurance, strength, friendship, life, death, spirituality. It definitely takes you on a journey. August has a definite rhythm and style to his language. It’s like poetry.”

OCP’s collaborating with The Union for Contemporary Art, Great Plains Theatre Commons and Metropolitan Community College on opening weekend programs related to Wilson’s themes and craft. Guest panelists include Wali Jamal, an actor who’s performed in all Wilson’s plays, and theater scholar Khalid Long, dramaturgical consultant for the show.

“My association with August’s work has changed my life and enhanced my entire career,” Jamal said. “It is an honor and a privilege to have performed in so much of his work. One of the reasons I’ve been able to perform in all of his plays is that I’m a character actor.

I’m nobody’s leading man. I love to support. I’ve played the good guys, the bad guys.”

“‘Fences’ was not necessarily August’s favorite play,” Long said, “but I think in many ways it’s the most accessible. He had just produced ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’ on Broadway to great acclaim, and then he was critiqued. Critics said he was unable to write this Great American Play in the tradition of Eugene O’Neill, Arthur Miller and Lorraine Hansberry that centers one person in the tensions and issues of the characters and times. And he set out to prove them wrong with ‘Fences.’ In many ways it’s his most accessible play because it follows the Great American formula.”

Like “Long Day’s Journey Into Night,” “Death of a Salesman” and “A Raisin in the Sun,” it revolves around a central protagonist’s internal and external struggles with life, family, friends, job, social ills. The dramatic arc of “Fences,” like the others, reads like an American tragedy. Characteristic of Wilson, Long said, “‘Fences’ looks at the everyday person or Everyman. And that is what makes it so personal and intimate – looking at the vulnerabilities, joys, frustrations of being a Black American, acknowledging American history hovers over the story.”

Because it’s set in the 1950s, he said, “Were looking at the development of the civil rights movement with regard to equal employment and so forth, at the Negro Leagues,

which was quite important and popular at that time, at Black education through his son Cory, at the emergence of Black art through his other son Lyons.” While Wilson doesn’t specifically address the movement or protests, Long said: “If we link what’s happening in the play to greater details of American history, it is clearly evident.”

Unable to move past his indiscretions and traumas, Maxson destroys himself as his friends and family look helplessly on. “It’s really sad,” Jamal said.

Nothing less than full humanity is laid bare.

“August Wilson built roles for Black men that have dignity,” Jamal said. “He never failed to point out

Wali Jamal has acted in all of august Wilson’s plays.

scholar Khaldi long has made a study of august Wilson’s WorK.

“fences” is the first august Wilson play to be staged at the omaha community playhouse.

the dignity that these characters – all of them – possess. It’s never neglected.”

Jamal calls Maxson “a very challenging role.” Newcomer Anthony Montegut essays the role at OCP. Stage veteran Kerri Forrester plays Rose.

The depiction of women in Wilson plays has been criticized, which is why Long said, “I feel it’s important we have two Black women directing this work. As they think about the way Black women show up in his work, I’m providing information to help them curate that.”

TammyRa’ is eager to explore the female perspective and how Wilson’s “women characters endure, they go through things, and they still come out strong.”

For Jamal, Wilson plays offer an indispensable window into the human condition through their “poignant, historical and socially substantive themes.”

“He covers it, he just does, and in such entertaining ways. That’s

why he’s known as our Shakespeare, not Black people’s Shakespeare, the American Shakespeare. That’s him.”

Indeed, Long said, “Many people are unfamiliar with the depth of his work and what he was attempting to do with his plays and social activism through drama and theater. He was pushing towards a just world, especially within the context of theater and performance.”

Indicative of that, Jamal said Wilson signed a script of “Jitney” for him and wrote under his name: “The struggle continues.” Jamal said Wilson’s legacy is “claiming what is yours and knowing your history.”

“If you don’t know where you’ve been,” Jamal said, echoing Wilson, “you really have no idea where you’re going.”

For opening weekend details, visit www.omahaplayhouse. com/productions/augustwilsonsfences/

August Wilson Events

JanUaRY 20

Pre-show lecture & panel discussion with scholar Khalid Long, actor Wali Jamal and directors Denise Chapman and TammyRa’ 6–6:50 p.m.



Omaha Community Playhouse, Hawks Mainstage

Free and open to the public. No reservation required.

 Opening night of August Wilson’s “Fences” 7:30 p.m.

OCP Hawks Mainstage

COMMUNITY INTEREST FUNDS

Apply Now

Up to $845,000 available to nonprofits supporting Black, Latino, refugee, and LGBTQIA2S+ communities, along with neighborhood groups. Average grant award is $10,000.

Deadline March 1 omahafoundation.org/CIF



Post-show opening-night celebration

9:30–10:30 p.m.

OCP Owen Lobby

Free and open to the public. No reservations required.

JanUaRY 21

Kim Louise, Facilitator 

Call & Response: August Wilson Workshop

Khalid Long, Facilitator



The August Wilson Artists’ Corner

Wali Jamal, Facilitator

“Deepening Your Creative Practice” Theatre and Playwriting Workshops



JanUaRY 22

 “On the Ground on Which I Stand”

12:30-5:30 p.m.

Metropolitan Community College Fort Omaha Campus, Building 22

Registration required.  Chopped: The Playwright’s Edition

Union for the Contemporary Art

Screening of featurelength documentary about August Wilson followed by talk-back. Noon–2:30 p.m. Registration required.

Good Vibes Only

Omaha NONprOfit iNcrEasEs accEss tO music fOr LOw-iNcOmE schOOL s

Emiliano Carrera-Ybanez dreamed of joining the All-State Band. Every year the group attracts the most talented high school musicians around the state, and as a sophomore at Bryan High School in 2017, Carrera-Ybanez hoped he could be among them. But to be the best of the best usually means money for private lessons and access to quality instruments. Carrera-Ybanez never had formal lessons outside of the time he spent assembled in a classroom with dozens of other kids. Up until that point, YouTube was his go-to source for violin information. The audition music for All-State seemed out of reach.

That’s about when Judy Divis came into the picture. The longtime Omaha Symphony violist knew the school’s music teacher, lived in the area and had sent her own kids to Bryan. She knew money was tight — getting kids’ instruments to sound good requires resources that can be scarce for parents and school budgets.

That’s when she had an idea. What if someone else could cover the cost?

That initial idea is what is today called Good Vibrations, a nonprofit that provides Omaha’s low-income schools with new or repaired instruments while also bringing together

students and mentors from the Omaha Symphony.

For Carrera-Ybanez, who is now studying music performance at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, Good Vibrations cemented the once unimaginable.

“I really just owe it all to the Good Vibrations program … all these accomplishments that I’ve had … The Good Vibrations program gave me the first step and everything else just fell into place,” Carrera-Ybanez said.

The project grew out of Divis’ work with the Omaha Chamber Music Society. Founded in 2000, the society set a goal of bringing full-length, low-cost performances by top

local musicians to underserved areas. Divis, then the nonprofit’s acting vice president of education, thought to take it a step further and bring Omaha’s best players to the classrooms of local Title 1 schools. Title 1 schools receive additional funding from the Nebraska Department of Education, due to having high percentages of the student body that come from low-income backgrounds.

Omaha Public Schools, a district of 87 schools, has 73 schools that are Title 1 eligible.

“Especially the first time [the symphony musicians] come, the kids are, like, mouths open … amazed,” said Rudolf Semar, the music teacher at Bryan Middle School.

STORY AND PHOTOS BY Isaak BelongIa

“They go nuts,” Divis said.

The aim of bringing the professionals in, a program called Music Mentors, isn’t a one-off performance, though. Rather, Divis hopes students and players form relationships that lead to more effective learning beyond the classroom.

But there were problems inside the classroom to address. During the visits, Divis noticed the kids were playing with stringed instruments in various states of disrepair. She thought of her experience as a young musician.

As a child, Divis was encouraged by her father to follow music. He brought up the family on a tight budget, but always made sure Divis had the instrument to follow her passion.

“Every time I opened up my violin case, I knew that somebody cared about me — because the instrument was beautiful,” she said. “And I knew [my father] couldn’t afford that, but he made sure it happened … This is what I want to do for kids.”

So in 2018, Divis founded Good Vibrations, which professionally repairs and refurbishes student-owned instruments from these schools, and procures donated and restored instruments to give to those who can’t afford to buy their own. It has worked on over 200 instruments since its inception.

For the kids whose instruments get fixed via Good Vibrations, the process begins with a conversation. Divis sits with each student, examines the instrument and has the student type a record of its condition.

“No matter what kind of shape the instrument is in, I treat it like gold,” Divis said. “Because to those kids, that’s what it is.”

Good Vibrations works with Sarah Kluge (née Gray), a professional luthier with a special-

ization in string instrument restoration and maintenance in order to service each of the orchestra instruments that work their way through the program.

The investment means a lot more than making the instrument look and sound better. Getting good instruments and seeing good players is an investment in kids’ confidence.

That was Carrera-Ybanez’s experience. He began his junior year in the fall of 2018, when Divis introduced him to Kevin Tompkins, a violinist with the Omaha Symphony. Tompkins gave Carrera-Ybanez private lessons for the next two years until he graduated, and Good Vibrations found sponsors to foot the bill. The results came quickly.

“After taking lessons — it was just two months at that point … [The audition music for AllState] seemed almost way too easy for what I was thinking just a couple weeks prior — that I wouldn’t be able to play it at all,” Carrera-Ybanez said. “That’s also when my confidence started growing.”

For Carrera-Ybanez’s lessons, Good Vibrations also outfitted him with a high-quality violin as a loan.

“They handed me the instrument, and it sounded completely different. It sounded — alive, in a way. Something that could touch people’s emotions,” Carrera-Ybanez said.

Carrera-Ybanez took that instrument to the All-State Band in his junior and senior years at Bryan, and to perform as concertmaster (the principal violinist) in the All-City Band.

“They saw some potential in me that I couldn’t see in myself,” Carrera-Ybanez said.

As a senior, he also performed a solo debut alongside the Omaha Symphony. After that performance, Divis essentially gifted Carrera-Ybanez the violin he’d been playing for the past two years. He paid a small fee — a fraction of the instrument’s value — to hold onto it.

“This costs more than a car,” Divis told him, “so take care of it.”

As Good Vibrations has grown, its services continue to include classroom visits from symphony musicians as well as educator workshops on string instrument care, and even private lessons for teachers who don’t have backgrounds in strings.

And things only seem to be getting better, Divis and luthier Kluge said. Just this past summer, KVNO Radio, a local classical station, reached out to Divis to set up an instrument donation drive that ultimate-

Judy divis (left) and sarah Kluge (née gray) near good vibrations’ stocK of instruments.

ly exceeded expectations and brought in 80 instruments to the nonprofit.

With those donated instruments, Good Vibrations is experimenting with servicing more than just strings. It’s also been able to donate a variety of instruments, including band instruments and even a banjo, to students and educational programs. Even donated instruments in conditions too poor to restore, Good Vibrations has found ways to use them — such as renting them as props to local theaters.

This past May, Good Vibrations and Sarah Gray Restoration acquired a suite in the Flatiron Building in downtown Omaha, under funding from a foundation called SEAK, which connects resources to various nonprofits to support outstanding local musical artists.

This new space, called the Flatiron Luthier Cooperative, is the first permanent home for Good Vibrations. It is located at the western end of the Flatiron

Building, and includes Kluge’s workshop; a larger, mostly open space outfitted with a shiny Yamaha baby grand piano (another recent donation); and a nook with wire shelves housing roughly 100 instruments waiting to be serviced or distributed to students. A flier for the nonprofit, signed by the Beach Boys, hangs on one of the walls.

Divis and Kluge envision it becoming a space for rehearsals, small gatherings and more as they continue to add the final touches.

Carrera-Ybanez, a third-year student at UNO pursuing a double major in music performance and biology, credits Good Vibrations for making his budding career possible.

“It gave me confidence to play, and showed me that I am capable of playing at the collegiate level,” said Carrera-Ybanez, who plans to graduate in 2025.

As for Semar, since he initially welcomed Good Vibrations into his classroom, he has joined the board of the Omaha Chamber Music Society, which hopes to expand the ways it promotes access to music education. Other schools the society has recently worked with include Fontanelle Elementary, Marrs Middle and Omaha North and Omaha South high schools. Just recently, the nonprofit donated 20 instruments to the North Omaha Music and Arts Academy.

For Semar, the value of Good Vibrations’ services goes beyond musical. Accessibility affects one’s self-esteem. And when you help empower students it leads to more recognition and inclusion in the community.

“When the students see five or six professional musicians from the Omaha Symphony come to their school — and give their time, and their talents, and their teaching — I think what it says to them is that these pro-

fessionals think what you are doing is important,” Semar said. “I think that says a lot to these kids, and that can’t be overstated.

“There are a lot of things that happen in a kid’s life that … make them feel insignificant. But this is, like, a big thing — for you. This is for you,” he added.

Divis also emphasizes the more personal role that she hopes Good Vibrations can play.

“I really don’t care if [the kids] ever play again,” she said. “In their file of memories, I just want anything that has to do with music to be in the positive category. Because when you get to be at my stage in the game, those are the things that matter the most.”

You can visit www.omahachambermusic.org/good-vibrations, or reach out to Divis at judydivis@gmail.com for more information or to connect with the program.

Judy divis (left) and sarah Kluge stand near a donated piano in the new flatiron luthier Cooperative spaCe.

January 3-8

Six:

The Musical

Orpheum Theater

“Six: The Musical” will delight fans of musicals, humor and history at The Orpheum Theater from Jan. 3-8.

“Six” is a Tony Award-winning musical that humorously follows the six queens and wives of Henry VIII during his English rule in the first half of the 16th century.

Jamie Armitage and Lucy Moss direct, with Moss also composing original music for the program alongside Toby Marlow. Choreographer Carrie-Ann Ingrouille is an Olivier Award nominee.

Prices start at around $100$120, depending on the date.

Show times vary, starting at 1, 2, 6:30 and 7:30 p.m.

— Matt Casas

January 7

The

Impulsive

The Waiting Room

The Impulsive is an Omaha-based, hard-rock band that released its most recent single, “Closure,” in July 2022. Destrophy is a 20-year-old epic metal band from Iowa, From This Day Forward is an Omaha metalcore/melodic hardcore band, and Desiato is a hardrock trio from Papillion. a

Tickets are $10-$12. The all-ages show starts at 8 p.m., with doors at 7.

— Matt Casas

Jan. 10 -- March 5

Ivan Micek: Through My Eyes

La Casa Pizzeria

twilight. Micek prints some images directly, while others are manipulated to pull out particular abstract or pictorial qualities.

Go to ivanmicek.wixsite. com/2015 for more information.

-- Janet L. Farber

January 13 – February 3

Spring Tides, new fabric

works by Peyton Pearson Project

Project opens 2023 with new ikat weavings by fabric artist Peyton Pearson. This exhibit features work that was developed during the artist’s six-week concentration at the Penland School of Craft. Each piece in “Spring Tides” was hand-dyed and woven using traditional natural dyes and color, achieving bright pinks through crushed bugs, deep blues from the leaves of shrubs, and soft reds from the roots of plants.

You knew La Casa Pizzeria cooked up tasty Italian fare, but did you know it also provided delights for the eyes? Visitors will enjoy its latest artistic serving, “Through My Eyes,” featuring recent works by photojournalist Ivan Micek, in its dining rooms from Jan. 10-March 5.

Pearson is based in Omaha. He shifts his focus to the natural world, finding harmony with the Earth through weaving. Project is located at 1818 Vinton St.

Go to projectprojectomaha. com for more information.

-- Kent Behrens

A stacked hard-rock and metal showcase will take place at The Waiting Room on Jan. 7.

The lineup features headlining band The Impulsive, with support from Destrophy, From This Day Forward and Desiato.

Having relocated after living in Chicago, Nebraska native Micek is a recent addition to Omaha’s creative community and has been on his own intrepid journey of discovery, capturing the patterns of the urban and natural landscapes in their long predawn shadows and during

January 13

Phandemic

Slowdown

Experience a far-out night filled with classic jams and slammin’ bands at the Slowdown on Jan. 13.

Phandemic will headline the event, after supporting acts Jerry Pranksters and Usual Suspects entrance the audience.

Phandemic is a funky, progressive Phish tribute band that started during the COVID-19 shutdowns and continues to run strong. Usual Suspects will perform classic cover songs from 7:30 to 8:30, followed by Jerry Pranksters playing their beloved, eclectic mix of catchy, spacey Grateful Dead songs.

Tickets are $15-$20. The all-ages show begins at 7:30 p.m., and doors open at 7.

— Matt Casas

Led by Ken-David Masur, the Omaha Symphony will perform exciting renditions of Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 and Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4.

The classical genre, like any genre, occasionally gets a bad rap, but the music speaks for itself, especially in a theatre. Experience Mozart and Bruckner’s songs in person, with the orchestra washing over you and Masur and crew breathing new life into timeless pieces.

Tickets range from $20-$81, and the shows start at 7:30 p.m.

— Matt Casas

January 19

Boyz II Men Orpheum Theatre

January 13-14

Masur Conducts Mozart & Bruckner

Holland Center

Don’t miss the sounds of Mozart and Bruckner at the Holland Center in January.

Boys II Men will bring their signature tunes and harmonies to the Orpheum in this exciting production.

The vocal harmony group formed in the late Eighties and flourished during the Nineties, thanks to songs like “End of the Road” and “I’ll Make Love to You.”

Hailing from Philadelphia, the Boyz quickly became a dominant force on Billboard, topping the U.S. charts for a cumulative 50 weeks. The group has taken a few forms but has remained a trio since 2003.

Tickets are $64-$124.50, and the show starts at 7: 30 p.m.

— Matt Casas

January 19

Spatial Distance, works by Nancy Lepo

Fred Simon Gallery/Nebraska Arts Council

Join in for the Doodling and the Unconscious virtual event on Jan. 19. London Drawing Group will lead the class in dedication to Louise Bourgeois, one of the group’s all-time favorite female artists.

Bourgeois was born in Paris in 1911 and lived to be 98. She became renowned within her lifetime for her sculptures, installations and paintings, most of which displayed surrealist and feminist themes.

You will receive an invitation to the event once you RSVP at www. eventbrite.co.uk. Please note there is a recommended donation fee of 20 Euros (or roughly $21.31).

The class will start at 12:30 p.m. Have paper and red and black drawing utensils nearby.

— Matt Casas

Nebraska Arts Council kicks off its new season with “Spatial Distance,” a solo exhibit featuring work by Nancy Lepo, from 5-7 p.m. on Jan. 19.

Lepo’s intricate and ethereal drawings address the intersection of art and science, finding inspiration from astronomy, space exploration and quantum ideas. Her work results from meticulous methods of drawing that combine techniques of stippling, shading and layering to obtain a rich variety of tones.

The opening reception is free. This exhibit runs through March 8. The Fred Simon Gallery is in the lower level of the historic Burlington Building, 1004 Farnam St.

Visit artscouncil.nebraska.gov for more information.

--Kent Behrens

January 19 & 26

Live @ Low End

Bemis Center

January 19

Doodling and the Unconscious

Virtual Event

Two talented performance artists will take center stage at the Bemis Center this month.

The Bemis Center’s in-house music venue, The Low End, will spotlight performances by Sarah Davachi on Jan. 19 and Circuit des Yeux on Jan. 26.

Davachi is a minimalist chamber artist and soloist composer whose music explores harmony, texture and space. Circuit des Yeux is a four-octave-range singer and 12-string guitar player who, among albums, has composed soundtracks for films.

a shore

Both events are free, but the venue recommends that you RSVP online.

— Matt Casas

January 20 – May 13

Washed Ashore: Art to Save the Sea

Lauritzen Gardens

Are you passionate about saving the planet? You can combine your love for art and ocean life by visiting the “Washed Ashore” exhibit at Lauritzen Gardens starting Jan. 20.

“Washed Ashore: Art to Save the Sea” features massive, captivating sculptures made from marine debris collected from Oregon.

The visual art speaks volumes about harmful plastics and other human-made materials that actively destroy the balance in our marine ecosystems, calling on us to change.

Tickets are $15 and become automatically included with the price of admission.

— Matt Casas

January 21 & March 8

Curator-led Tours

Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts

are slated for Saturday, Jan. 21, at 2 p.m., and Wednesday, March 8, at 6 p.m. The Bemis requests an RSVP at bemiscenter.org/events.

--Kent Behrens

January 21

Distant Worlds: “Final Fantasy” Anniversary35th

Holland Center

Since the release of the first “Final Fantasy” by Nintendo in 1987, millions of gamers have likely sunk millions of hours into the activity. The longtime composer of the franchise, Nobuo Uematsu, specially curated the program.

Tickets are $45-$70, and the show starts at 7:30 p.m.

— Matt Casas

January 28-29

Maestro and the Music of John Williams Holland Center

The two exhibitions, which opened Dec. 8, are: “Elizabeth Kley: Minutes of Sand,” and a group offering, “Opulence: Performative Wealth and the Failed American Dream,” featuring works by eight artists. Both shows are on view through April 16. The tours

The 35th anniversary celebration of “Final Fantasy” will visit the Holland Center on Jan. 21. The lively orchestral performances will act as a retrospective of the musical scores across over 100 games.

If you’re a fan of blockbuster movies made in the last 40 years, chances are you will enjoy Maestro and the Music of John Williams at Holland Center on Jan. 28-29.

Join Rachel Adams, chief curator and director of programs, and Jared Packard, exhibitions manager, for a tour and discussion of new exhibitions at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts.

Washed

Led by Music Director Ankush Kumar Bahl, the Omaha Symphony will explore the sounds of Williams, the famous composer/frequent Steven Spielberg collaborator.

The full orchestra will transcend the auditorium with musical selections from “Star Wars,” “E.T.,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and “Jurassic Park.”

Tickets range from $20-$89, and the shows start at 7:30 and 2 p.m.

— Matt Casas

January 31

Fitz and The Tantrums

The Admiral

If you enjoy pop music but feel like it doesn’t translate well into a live concert, check out Fitz and the Tantrums.

The Los Angeles band crashed onto the pop charts in 2010, fusing indie-pop flavors with neosoul depth, scoring a string of hits since.

Two lead singers, Mike Fitzpatrick and Noelle Scaggs, front the band, belting and harmonizing flawlessly on record and in concert. Meanwhile, the band is rock solid, featuring saxophones, flutes, and other unconventional poprock instruments.

BabyJake will open the show, which starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are $34.50-$75.

— Matt Casas

In what has become our annual tradition, The Reader looks forward with a weary yet hopeful eye at what food trends and flashes in the pan await us in the new year. While food costs and supply-chain issues continue to be driving factors in the culinary climate, curious and creative chefs, tech solutions and technique promise that Omaha dining will always be an experience to savor.

Meta Meal?

This one may seem far flung at first blush, but as travel becomes a less easily attainable goal for many, expect tech to step in.

After all, the Metaverse and remote-attendance are taking the place of in-person education, health care, and group fitness classes. While we are edging ever closer to the virtual reality of “Total Recall,” one simply cannot remote-digest a meal. Rather, expect to have your experience to be downloaded while you dine. Look for theme meals that will transport

BY Sara Locke

you to the farthest reaches of the planet, and beyond. Dine in Italy, in Omaha. But why stop there? A meal on the moon? In the past? The future? When your destination is downloadable, there is no limit to how you can experience whatever happens to be before you.

Charcuterie

While the very grownup version of a lunchable has enjoyed its Renaissance, there’s a new snack board in town. Chefs and artists are having a heyday with the presentation and are creating charcuterie celebrating everything from butters to biscuits. You will find yourself anything but bored with a flatbread, nut butter, or bonbon board to take to your next gathering. Grazing boards may house fruits, nuts, jam flights, cheeses and breads, while savory spreads may feature sizzling meats, roasted garlic, and flavorful dipping oils and vinegars.

The butter board is of particular interest to me, as compound butters turn a slab into a veritable melting pot of flavors. Think fondue, sans flame. Swipe crusty breads, hot meat, or if buttered noodles are the dish du jour, serve your board with a variety of hot pastas.

Don’t Call it a Depression

As high-demand ingredient prices continue to skyrocket, expect to see many chefs and cooks reaching back into grandma’s bag of tricks to keep food flavorful. This will mean using a lot of slow-cooking techniques to develop flavors, overnight marinades to soften tough cuts of meat, and wasting absolutely nothing. Expect smaller cuts of meat on the menu, while all-day soup specials and creative rice incarnations take the entrée. While getting creative with a budget meant throwing everything but the kitchen sink into a Jell-O

mold in historically hard times, culinary creativity has come far. Food science has unlocked countless cooking techniques to get the most out of everything from vegetable peelings to cheese rinds.

Waste Not

Out-of-control food waste has been a drag on landfills for years, but now that food costs are climbing (due, in part, to said waste) people are starting to think outside the box. Or, inside it rather. The to-go box, at least. While food rescues like Saving Grace have been doing their best to collect leftovers from farms, grocers, and restaurants before they’re thrown

Casserole To Go has ComforT food down To an arT. Image vIa Facebook.

The realiT y may be virTual, buT The flavors will be presenT and aCCounTed for. Stock Image.

a GrazinG board from Goldenrod CharCuTerie. Image vIa Facebook.

out, many restaurants can’t afford to lose that revenue at the end of the day. Tech is providing a solution to this problem as well, with apps like Too Good To Go, Karma, and FoodCloud putting food rescue right in your hands. Grab great discounts on the last of the day’s donuts, split a produce share your household won’t manage to get through, or pick up leftovers from local restaurants and score a great

discount while taking a bite out of the climate crisis.

Comfort Classics

Comfort eating may be a habit you’re trying hard to break, but food like mom used to make can be the key to self-care when just

about nothing else is working. Nostalgic dishes are more needed than ever, and “nothing fancy” may be just the luxury you’ve been looking for. TikTok trends are putting cream-of-everything back on the menu, and casseroles are quickly becoming haute cuisine. While communicable diseases may have removed family style dining from the menu in most gathering places for the foreseeable future, casseroles bring all of the comfort of sharing a meal without the cringe of sharing germs.

Costs Continue to Rise

It turns out that humans believe they should be able to pay rent and buy food on the wages they make working all day. With that, restaurants are having a harder time keeping staff without imposing costs on their clients. The tipping system has always been flawed, and allowing diners to skimp on

tips because of an over-cooked steak or a cold cup of coffee is not only archaic, but it’s more power than consumers should hold in the first place. That said, expect an upcharge on your dining-out experience as owners scramble to cover rising costs and still pay a living wage to the person bringing you your third water refill while you peruse the menu.

The Biggest Change

That, I’m afraid, is going to have to be on us. Making the decision to support local every chance we get matters, every single time. Buying gift certificates to local small businesses, ordering the appetizer and always tipping on pre-discounted totals, and putting an end to food waste and shipping costs are all steps we can take every day to support the local culinary culture for which Omaha is proud to be known.

for

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.

A Lot of Deuces: The 5 Worst Movies of 2022

Here’s Hoping 2023 is THe pLAce To Be

by Ryan SyRek

By now, I hope you know the drill: Hollywood still invokes playground rules and hangs out only with the cool kids. The best movies often time travel to the Midwest from the previous year, after being rolled out as “limited releases” exclusive to nepotistic regions filthy with the family of industry members. I don’t want to look like a dumb, idiot loser by leaving off flicks with aggressively unrotten tomatoes. This means that while I wait for cinematic splendor to finally arrive to our humble hamlet, the first thing I do each year is look back on the worst movies the previous 365

days had to offer: because bad things are always readily available. That should really be the slogan of modern life …

The year 2022 was a doozy of deuces, with a few of the most upsettingly terrible films I’ve seen in recent years. Many critics believe “naughty lists” that count down misfires are mean-spirited at best and actively monstrous at worst. I have been called worse on both counts. The reason I believe in doing them is because it is a form of cultural accountability that furthers discussion. Saying you didn’t like something

opens no doors. Saying something was “one of the worst films of the year” prompts debate. b eyond that, we should be allowed to have a bit of cheeky fun purple nurple-ing products that bring profits to billionaires. God knows that we are far more often the nurples that are purpled. Anyway, let the textual twisting begin!

Honorable mentions

I will never understand why they done what they done to “Halloween Ends,” but it was more perplexing than upsetting. “Moonfall” was a fever dream, an impression of a bad movie that I would have sworn came out years ago.

“Uncharted” had the audacity to make Tom Holland bland and operated under the delusion that anyone likes Mark Wahlberg. “Don’t Worry Darling” would have made the top five, but Dame Florence Pugh would not allow it. “Jurassic World: Dominion” was violently upsetting at the time but has been lost in time like urine in the rain. Finally, although it served as a painful reminder of Jared Leto’s continued existence, “Morbius” has almost fart-cloud teleported into the “so bad, it is watchable” realm. Enough awful appetizers, bring on the malignant main course!

5. “Black Adam”

Maybe it was Dwayne Johnson’s promotional hubris, but something about the latest DC misfire felt more

It turns out that makIng a gIant, bIllIon-dollar blockbuster about grIef whIle also furtherIng a colossal soap opera about spandex enthusIasts Is kInda hard. IMAGE: MArvEl And dIsnEy

galling. Every time he bragged about how he single-handedly willed this adaptation onto the big screen, it was a reminder of how close we all were to simply never having to have thought or talked about it ever. The film is a galactic catastrophe of cliches and gibberish featuring the world’s most popular actor as an unlikable murder lover. It was the first and only time that I have wanted to scream at a movie’s score to “Just shut up for one second!” So that’s groundbreaking, I guess?

4. Ambulance

Over time, I have come to hate this movie more than I thought possible. During its shenanigans, it felt like it was daring me to either have a seizure or run away. With the

manic energy of a 3 a.m. post from Don Jr., Michael Bay’s tale of star-crossed brothers misuses Jake Gyllenhaal, which is absolutely the eighth deadly sin. This is real: On multiple occasions since I watched the film, I got inexplicably angry when I saw an ambulance in real life. If I am horrifyingly injured, nobody call one. Call Jake Gyllenhaal. Only he can save me.

3. The Black Phone

Seeing this on the list of “best horror movies of the year” makes me angrier than the thought of a child having a normal adolescence makes Stephen King. Clunky kiddie performances bump up against recycled plot points from King “classics,” leading to what is

one of the all-time stupidest final five minutes of a spooky flick I’ve ever seen. And I have a subscription to Shudder. Don’t worry, it is also offensive at times, so there’s that to look forward to!

2. Resurrection

If you haven’t heard of this, I beg you to trust me and keep that streak going. No matter how cool an A24-style movie with Rebecca Hall and Tim Roth sounds, this ain’t cool. The central “metaphorical” conceit is as upsettingly obvious as the film is plodding and redundant. It is almost as though having a man write and direct a movie about an allegorical experience that could be fully understood only by a woman was a mistake. If I could unmake this movie, I would do it. I would unmake it so hard.

1. Vengeance

This is on Variety’s best films of 2022 list, which is like telling on yourself in the worst way. BJ Novak wrote, directed, and stars in a movie about a podcaster, which is all I should have to say for you to know how up its own ass it is. But the ending … The bulk of it is just run-ofthe-mill bad, the kind in which someone thinks he is making a smart point but is really just regurgitating a word salad. You know, it’s like listening to podcasters talk about their podcasts. But the last few minutes are so maniacally self-serious, so preposterously and laughably stupid as to make this a shooin for the year’s worst film in my book. Hats off, BJ! No, literally. That cowboy hat you wear at the end is a visual violation of the Geneva Conventions.

Murder by disoriented excess

‘Glass OniOn’ is a sequel tO Kill fOr

By RyAn SyRek

the only problem with “Glass Onion” is that Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc doesn’t sport a different accent than he did in “Knives Out” without any explanation as to why. Just imagine if he showed up here with a thick Hungarian accent or “Pahked his cah near the Dunkin Donuts.” Oh, how that would have been absurdly divine! That is the sole acceptable criticism of writer/director Rian Johnson’s otherwise flawless sequel, which has launched a successful satirical franchise about the evils of capitalism.

Perhaps as karmic atonement for participating in the Bond films’ explicit celebration of colonialism and misogyny, Craig is now the figurehead for a series determined to out the rich as fickle, bigoted morons who will engage in foul play before they would consider working hard. The connective tissue between “Knives Out” and “Glass Onion” isn’t just its central clue collector. It is “deadly fun and games at the expense of the new American elite.” It is 86ing the 1%, and it is 100 times more entertaining than you could imagine.

With apologies to Marple and Fletcher, Murder Mysteries have never had it so good. tWisty Whodunits loaded With satire? don’t Mind iF i “ Who-do!”

IMAGE: A stIll froM NEtflIx’s “Gl A ss oNIoN”

The pool of suspect-victims this time out gathers at the house of Miles Bron (Edward Norton), who is basically an Elon Musk-ish figure. When Johnson wrote the film a while back, he was perhaps thinking he exaggerated Musk’s nekkid emperor vibe. Then, you know … Twitter happened …

Siddhant Adlakha at Joy Sauce says: “It’s also the rare piece of modern media where ceaseless pop-culture references and recognizable cameos aren’t just a lazy affect. Rather, they’re a fitting background detail for these specific characters, who pride themselves on where they stand in the global celebrity hierarchy.”

Bron assembles an all-star assortment of assholes. This includes:

✱ Birdie Jay (Kate Hudson), an influencer prone to casual racism.

✱ Duke Cody (Dave Bautista), a Joe Rogan impression with more integrity.

Mattie Lucas at From the Front Row says: “This is one franchise I would be happy to see continue indefinitely, if Johnson can continue to maintain this level of freshness; like a modern answer to ‘The Thin Man,’ with its sparkling dialogue, copious amounts of alcohol, and a new setting and mystery each time.”

✱

Claire Debella (Kathryn Hahn), a more-corrupt-thanusual politician.

✱

✱

Lionel Toussaint (Leslie Odom Jr.), a tech-and-science genius who humors Bron.

Andi Brand (Janelle Monáe), Bron’s scorned former partner.

Andres Cabrera at Geeks of Color says: “This close examination of current culture is a difficult task. Yet, Rian Johnson does so ingeniously — balancing relevant trends and articles with a sense of self-awareness and clever takedowns.”

Blanc shows up to the private island for a murder-mystery party thrown by Bron, who swears he didn’t invite the detective. Before long, there are shenanigans afoot and sleuthing to be sleuthed. The reveal is less shocking than it is wholly satisfying, as the entire affair holds together like it was glue-gunned by someone with pathological anxiety.

The fact that every performer is pitch-perfect is a nod to not only every performer (and the casting director) but to Johnson’s directorial mastery. The dude somehow gets left off of all the “best filmmakers working today” lists despite having not made one single misfire in his career. For Pete’s sake, he made a “Star Wars” movie so brilliant that it exposed incels like rats spewing out of a high-pressure sewer. This series though is where he’s at his uniquely gifted best.

How so? It combines his love of detail-laden, noir-adjacent plot-boiling with an absolutely essential point of view that has to do with disempowering real-world oligarchs by mockery. Yes, Craig’s Blanc remains a genuine delight and Monáe in particular demonstrates she is more exceptional as an actress than perhaps previously suspected. But “Glass Onion” mostly sings because it makes “big-timers” look so small and stupid. Just as in “Knives Out,” the moral is that integrity is not inherited wealth or crass capitalism but honesty, compassion and dignity. The result of this magnifying-glass perspective is not only guilt-free murder solving, but it also is silly entertainment with surprising substance. Please make 100 more.

CUTTING ROOM

BY Ryan SyRek

At the time of my writing this, January is mighty quiet for film events in Omaha. Look, I get it: In Latin, “January” means “Sleeping off December.” This lull in activity gives me the chance to do something I haven’t done in ages and ages: Share my snark about upcoming movie news on a national level. That’s right, y’all, it’s a coastto-coast roast post!



In news that is likely to somehow contribute to the queer Qanon-like conspiracism surrounding Taylor Swift’s sexuality, the impossibly successful singer is going to write and direct a movie for Focus Features. No plot details or concept is known, only that it is from an original script by Swift. Please, oh please let it be inspired by the “anus debacle” associated with her previous film, “Cats.” I promise, I am not trying to quash the hopes and dreams of LGBTQIA+ folks who desperately hope this film is just two hours of her saying “You were right.” I just really want a fictionalized, big-budget adaptation that features lines like “There’s buttholes!”



If you’re looking for something absolutely certain to be queer, here’s news about “Queer.” Daniel Craig is teaming with Luca Guadagnino to adapt William S.

Burroughs’ novella about a heroin addict in love with a sailor. No word on whether Craig will be working with a distracting accent, but humanity can only hold our collective breaths and hope. If this winds up being more like Guadagnino’s “Suspiria” than his “Call Me By Your Name,” you can call me by any synonym for excited. Except “anticipatory.” That sounds pretentious.



The “hot goss,” as the kids definitely don’t say, about why Patty Jenkins will not be doing “Wonder Woman 3” apparently goes beyond someone having actually seen the last “Wonder Woman.” Reports suggest that this has less to do with James Gunn and Peter Safran trying to right the sinking DC ship and more to do with folks wanting Jenkins to heavily rework her treatment for the third installment. The last one heavily involved nonconsensual treatment of a human body for purposes not limited to but including sex. It was also, and this is a highly technical cinephile term here, “dumb.” Still, Jenkins is brilliant, and the character deserves more than what Gal Gadot has done to her up until this point. I know! Make this Taylor Swift’s next project and somehow involve cat buttholes. I am full of good ideas!



Finally … I lied. I do have one bit of Omaha-related movie news for you, so I saved it for last. And it is a delicious little doozy. Y’all: Alexander Payne is returning to “Election” along with Reese Witherspoon. Paramount has greenlit “Tracy Flick Can’t Win,” which will premiere on Paramount+ in the near future. Next to “Citizen Ruth,” “Election” is my favorite Payne picture. I even bumped into Reese when she was in town filming! I can call her “Reese” and not “Ms. Witherspoon” because we’re as close as two people can be after one of them runs into the other while emptying trash from a Barnes & Noble. I’ll let you guess who is who in this scenario. Anyway, legacy sequels are all the rage, and I am glad that arthouse comedies are getting in on it, too. I’m ready to embrace the Tracy Flick-iverse, so bring on the franchise!

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

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

A deARTh Of OmAhA-SpeCifiC mOVie NeWS ANd eVeNTS meANS i geT TO mAKe jOKeS AbOuT TAylOR SWifT ANd CAT buTThOleS. hey, i dON’ T mAKe The RuleS. IMAGE: A stIll froM thE MovIE “C Ats.”

COMICS

Garry Trudeau

Jeffrey KoTerba

Jen SorenSen

On the Town

By B.J. HuCHTEMaNN

The annual International Blues Challenge (IBC) happens Jan. 24-28 in Memphis. The event is organized by The Blues Foundation and showcases music from around the country and the world on stages in over 20 clubs on historic Beale Street. The finals are at Memphis’ Orpheum Theatre, and Omaha’s Héctor Anchondo is a past big winner. In 2020 he won the Solo/Duo category and also took home the Memphis Cigar Box Guitar Award for best guitarist in the Solo/Duo competition.

This year, the two acts representing the Blues Society of Omaha (BSO) were chosen by judges from an open competition at the end of October. Local winners In the Pocket featuring Nebraska Jr. from Lincoln and Steve Lovett from Omaha will represent the BSO in the IBC. Two sendoff events showcase these local talents and help raise funds for their travel to Memphis. The Omaha IBC sendoff party is Friday, Jan. 6, 5:30-8:30 p.m., at The B. Bar. The Lincoln IBC sendoff show is Friday, Jan. 13, 5-8 p.m., at Lincoln’s Zoo Bar. For details, visit the events calendar at omahablues.com. Find out more about The Blues Foundation at blues.org

The BSO continues to produce weekly shows bringing national talent to local venues. The January schedule looks like this, with all shows 6-9 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Kansas City’s guitar-driven Brandon Miller Band plugs in at Philly Sports Bar and Grill on Thursday, Jan. 5. Thursday, Jan. 12 features the old-school, rockin’ blues of Hurricane Ruth at The Strut. An established artist, Ruth was given her nickname by Willie Dixon. Her 2022 recording, “Live at 3rd and Lindsley” was a 2022 nominee for Best Live Blues Album in the Blues Blast Music Awards. See hurricaneruth.com.

Guitarist Jeremiah Johnson and his band play Stocks n Bonds on Thursday, Jan. 19. Johnson’s latest release, “Hi-Fi Drive By” (Ruf Records) is his sixth album to debut in the Top 10 on the Billboard Blues Chart. He was a 2022 Blues Music Award Nominee for best Blues Rock album with his last release “Unemployed Highly Annoyed” and was a featured artist in November 2021 on the popular Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise. The Jan. 19 show is also a BSO membership appreciation event – a current membership card gets you in for $5. Those becoming members at the door will also receive the discounted admission. Admission for non-members is $20. Find details on this promotion and all the BSO shows at facebook.com/bluessocietyofomaha plus a curated list of many local shows at omahablues.com

Thursday, Jan. 26, features Scott Ellison Band at Philly Sports Bar and Grill. In the 1980s, guitarist Ellison was a session player for

bands from The Box Tops and The Shirelles to Gary “U.S.” Bonds and Peaches & Herb before launching his career as a bandleader. His music has been featured in TV and films. His 13th and latest CD, “There’s Something About the Night,” has had a popular reception, including landing at No. 3 on the Roots Music Report. Living Blues magazine said of the release, “His mastery of styles and tone is on abundant display.”

Friday, Jan. 27, at The B. Bar, the BSO co-promotes a 5:30 show with local favorites Sailing in Soup and special guest Joey Gulizia. The B. Bar offers a weekly show on Fridays at 5:30 p.m.

Hot Notes

Omaha Performing Arts presents the Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio on Friday, Jan. 13, 7:30 p.m., at the Holland Music Club (formerly the 1200 Club) at the Holland. This is a don’t-miss show. I caught this powerhouse trio at

the Zoo Bar in October and they are amazing – I can’t top what one reviewer aptly wrote, calling the music an “intoxicating cocktail” with “a big helping of the 1960s organ jazz stylings of Jimmy Smith and Baby Face Willette; a pinch of the snappy soul strut of Booker T. & The MGs and The Meters; and sprinkles of Motown, Stax Records, blues, and cosmic Jimi Hendrix-style guitar.” See o-pa. org.

Lincoln’s Zoo Bar has music at least five nights a week, often with early and late shows. Catch the latest bookings at zoobar.com and facebook. com/zoobarblues. Highlights from the January calendar include the Grammy-nominated Danielle Nicole Band on Saturday, Jan. 15, 5 p.m. And a noteworthy appearance from the Hot Club of Cowtown on Wednesday, Jan. 18, 6 p.m. The show is part of the “Celebrating Elvis” tour focused on Elvis’ early Sun Studio recordings. The band teams for these shows with Tyler Hilton, who played Elvis in the 2005 movie “Walk the Line.”

Omaha’s The Jewell also hosts jazz, blues and other roots music several nights a week in a beautiful club with top-of-the-line acoustics. Keep up with the schedule at jewellomaha.com/shows. Meanwhile, Buck’s in Venice continues to offer national country-roots bookings worth your attention. See bucksbarandgrill.com.

Top 10 BillBoard-charTing Jeremiah Johnson plugs in aT sTocks n Bonds aT 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 19. Photo: Dawn wilcox

music Visions for 2023

What Will tomorroW Bring for our Precious indie music scene?

BY Tim mcmahan

What mysteries will be revealed as I gaze into my magic Fender Squire Strat and see the future of Omaha’s (and the nation’s) indie music scene? Ah, but before we get to 2023, let’s see how I did with my predictions for 2022:

2022 Prediction: COVID-19 will have its last ugly gasp this winter and then will quickly fade away (except from our memories). By late summer, music venues’ mask-and-vax mandates will be a thing of the past.

2022 Reality: Mask-and-vax mandates are distant memories, but COVID is still very much with us.

Prediction: With TikTok creating the next generation of pop stars, more indie acts will take advantage of the platform.

Reality: TikTok remains a potent talent incubator … for pop stars, not indie stars.

Prediction: The Maha Music Festival will be back and at full capacity. But it won’t be alone. Another Nebraska-based, indieflavored, day-long music festival will be announced in ’22 that will be in direct competition.

Reality: The Outlandia Festival, with headliners Wilco and The National, was launched at Falconwood Park in Bellevue.

Prediction: With two small music venues closing in ’21, watch as a new, small live-music venue opens to help fill the void.

Reality: There have been new venues in the past year, but nothing could replace The Brothers.

Prediction: Helping fill those small-venue stages will be an army of next-generation indie bands created during the pandemic, many consisting of children of the aught-era indie bands that made Omaha famous.

Reality: Only a couple come to mind: Cat Piss and Pagan Athletes, both bands featuring the progeny of local music legend John Wolf.

Prediction: Unfortunately, when it comes to popular national indie acts, we’ll continue to be “NOmaha” for national tours.

Reality: See my year in review at thereader.com/2022/12/11/2022music-year-in-review/. Pretty much dead-on target.

Prediction: Look for another big-time indie music name to be taken down by a #metoo-style scandal.

Reality: In August, Arcade Fire’s Win Butler was accused of sexual misconduct.

Prediction: After opening offices in Los Angeles and New York City, Saddle Creek Records will make a major announcement that will impact the label’s Omaha legacy.

Reality: Nothing new here, though is that Omaha staff continuing to shrink?

Prediction: Bands and performers we’ll be talking about this time next year: David Nance, Little Brazil, Modest Mouse, Christian Lee Hutson, DIIV, Spoon, Desaparecidos, Yo La Tengo, Jenny Lewis and (once again) Phoebe Bridgers.

Reality: Nance, Little Brazil, CLH, Spoon, Hutson, Desa, YLT and Bridgers all had releases in 2022.

Prediction: No Filter 2021 will be the last Rolling Stones tour.

Reality: The Stones are immortal.

Prediction: A certain music journalist will begin compiling information for an oral history of the Omaha/Nebraska music scene.

Reality: Not yet, but soon.

Prediction: After years of being shut out, a Saddle Creek Records act will finally perform on “Saturday Night Live.”

Reality: Ugh! I’m giving up!

So, six out of 12 – 50%? Bah, I can do better than that! Let’s take a look at what will happen in 2023:

2023 Prediction: For a majority of young indie music acts, recording and releasing entire albums is costly and almost always a money loser. Beginning this year, we’ll begin to see a new focus on bands (and labels) promoting individual tracks rather than full albums. Is the album era beginning to wane?

Prediction: With inflation through the roof and the erosion of album revenues, touring also has become a money-losing proposition for new bands. Watch as more artists join Santigold, who cancelled her tour in September, stating the current tour model is not sustainable. For many bands, touring will be limited to close-tohome markets.

Prediction: Big music festivals and national indie tours will be dominated almost solely by legacy bands in ‘23 — acts whose heydays were one, two, even three decades ago. OK Boomer.

Prediction: Also in the bummer category, despite the vinyl explosion, downtown Omaha will not be able to sustain so many record stores. Watch as one of them closes its doors in ‘23.

Prediction: In a shrewd, money-making move, a number of large local stages once known for hosting indie rock shows will begin booking full weekends of cover bands, Ranch Bowl-style.

Prediction: Omaha Performing Arts’ new Steelhouse music venue

will open in May. Booked by Live Nation, it won’t be afraid to take chances (partially because it’s a funded nonprofit) and will pump new life into Omaha’s waning indie music scene.

Prediction: The Maha Festival will make a huge announcement after it enjoys yet another successful year in 2023. Don’t worry, great things are on its horizon.

Prediction: Meanwhile, Outlandia Festival will be bigger and better in Year 2, adding onsite camping and a broader array of artists, including new breakthrough indie acts.

Prediction: So, does Omaha have room for a third music festival? You better believe it. Watch for the announcement.

Prediction: The band with the longest-running original lineup, U2, will finally come to an end.

Prediction: Bands we’ll be talking about this time next year: David Nance, Lewsberg, Phoebe Bridgers (again), The Faint, Courtney Barnett, The Smiths, Parquet Courts, Hand Habits, Orville Peck, Matt Whipkey, Cactus Nerve Thang, Icky Blossoms and Car Seat Headrest.

Prediction: A huge movie crew will arrive here in River City in ‘23 to begin filming a Netflix/Amazon/ Hulu docu-drama series about the music scene during the early 2000s. Omaha, get ready for your closeup!

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