THE READER JUNE 2022 OMAHA

JU N E 202 2 | vo lUME 29 | I SSUE 4

FLI

PC OV ER

MUSIC ISSUE

If We Build It, ey C h o T me? l l i W Omaha Bets on the Success of New Music Venues

by Virginia Kathryn Gallner cover Illustration by Frank Okay /frankokay

Plus: Hot Time, Summer in the City & Festivals: Maha, Petfest, Outlandia

JOBS: What To Do If You’re Denied Public Benefits | NEWS: Omaha’s Housing Crisis | NEWS: Combating Teacher Shortages | THEATER: The Bard and Diversity, Too | DISH: Are You Ayurvedic? | FILM: best binge-worthy TV | FILM REVIEW: Multiverse Madness | FILM: Cutting Room | HOODOO: Blues in the Air | OVER THE EDGE: Bands That Made It Thru COVID | PLUS: IN memorium, Picks, Comics & Crossword

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June 2021

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June 2021

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OMAHA JOBS: What To Do If You’re Denied Public Benefits

(DIS)INVESTED: Teachers Need Support Now, Programs Build Future Pipeline of Talent

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c o n t e n t s

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COVER (backbeat): If We Build It, Will They Come? Omaha Is Betting on New Venues

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(DIS)INVESTED: Tackling Omaha’s Expensive Housing Problems, Who Will Lead the Way?

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THEATER: Diversity, Shakespeare and Tyrone Beasley’s Artistic Vision

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DISH: Are You Ayurvedic?

publisher/editor........... John Heaston john@thereader.com graphic designers........... Ken Guthrie Albory Seijas news..........................Robyn Murray copy@thereader.com copy chief.............. 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 editorial & membership associate emeritus............ Leah Cates leah@pioneermedia.me

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

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PICKS: Cool Things To Do in June

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MUSIC: Hot Time, Summer in the City: Concert Scene Promises to Turn Up the Heat in the Big O

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FILM: This year’s best binge-worthy TV

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REVIEW: Multiverse Madness FILM: Cutting Room Floor for June 2022

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MUSIC: Maha, Petfest and Outlandia Fill Omaha’s Festival Season

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IN MEMORIAM: Brad Ashford, Sr. Marilyn Ross

arts/visual.................... Mike Krainak mixedmedia@thereader.com eat.................................. 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 backbeat.... Virginia Kathryn Gallner backbeat@thereader.com

OUR SISTER MEDIA CHANNELS

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CROSSWORD: Matt Jones COMICS: Jeff Koterba, Jen Sorensen & Garry Trudeau

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Online Burger Battle and Other Crumbs

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HOODOO: Sliding into Summer Blues

o n li n e

o nl y

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OVER THE EDGE: The Survivors: Bands That Made It Through COVID-19 OUR DIGITAL MARKETING SERVICES

Warren Francke reviews “Stick Fly” at OCP

June 2022

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This unidentified woman joined hundreds of people for a reproductive rights rally at Omaha City Hall on May 3.

The gathering was one of a nationwide wave of more than 100 “Bans Off Our Bodies” protests. The event was to rally support and provide a plan of action for those in attendance. The rally marched to the Old Market before it disbanded.

June 2022

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O M A H A

J O B S

What To Do If You’re Denied Public Benefits

by Arjav Rawal

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n April, Leah Cates profiled Melinda Jacobs, a 32-yearold single mother who’s criminal history permanently banned her from receiving some public benefits. After that piece was published, The Reader received an email from a single mother who had applied for public benefits but was told her income was too high to receive them. She didn’t know where to turn. That’s when we knew what the next Omaha Jobs feature would be.

not qualify for subsidies.

Patterson has testified in front of the Nebraska Legislature in favor of bills that would increase the eligibility rate for child care subsidies, and last year he and other child care advocates notched a small victory: LB485, which increases the income eligibility limit from 130% of the Robert Patterson, CEO of Kids Can Community Center: “If federal poverty level there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that consistent child care to 185%. But that inis necessary for a consistent workforce.” Photo by Sam Raetz. crease is temporary, slated to end in Sepof the administrative and “Even a slight change in tember 2023. Until there’s a revenue challenges asso- income can disqualify their permanent solution, Patterciated with accepting kids eligibility for subsidies,” he This month, we profile son said, Kids Can is comon subsidies. That leaves said, “and push them off just two of the many committed to ensuring children low-income families in a the ‘cliff’ of self-sustainabilmunity resources that fill get consistent care, regardbind. ity.” the void left by restrictions less of their parents’ inBut Kids Can Community Patterson said the situa- come: “We don’t want the placed on receiving benefits from the Supplemental Center, an Omaha-based tion motivated him and Kids kids to feel a difference.”

Nutrition Assistance Pro- nonprofit that provides Can to launch the “Bridge V isit www.kidscan. gram (formerly known as early childhood education the Cliff” project, which org/early-childhood to food stamps) and the Child for kids ages 18 months to works to provide child care view their rates and pay5 years old, does not place no matter what financial Care Subsidy Program. ment plans. To enroll, any limits on how many barriers a family may encall 402-731-6988. families enrolled receive a counter. As a result, Patterson said, Kids Can helped child care subsidy.

Kids Can CEO Robert Pat- 68% of families in their terson said that’s because early childhood education the requirements for receiv- program secure subsidies, ing the child care subsidy scholarships or both. The The people who staff the Many for-profit child care leave many families earning organization also provided 87 children with more than Food Bank for the Heartland centers limit the number of too much to qualify for askids whose child care is sub- sistance but struggling to $120,000 in scholarships to hotline understand all too sidized by the state because afford child care without it. offset the out-of-pocket ex- well why SNAP applications pense in the event they did

Early Childhood Education: Kids Can

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Food Bank Resource Hotline

June 2022

O M A H A get denied, and it’s not only due to ultra-low income cutoffs or past felony drug convictions. Cindy Doerr, Nebraska SNAP manager for the food bank, said denials often occur because of missing documents or applicants not showing up for their interviews.

That’s why the food bank created a resource hotline that people can call for assistance, either with applying for SNAP or finding an alternative. When someone calls and asks about applying for SNAP, a staff member pre-screens the caller to capture as much information as possible upfront.

If there are clear indicators that someone is not eligible for SNAP benefits, the hotline helps them locate

pantry and meal providers in their vicinity and assists them in finding rental assistance.

Each week, staff members set aside time to follow up with the callers they helped apply for SNAP. During the follow-up call, which takes place after two weeks, they make sure the client has submitted proper documentation and completed an interview. If everything is in order, they check on the status of the application with the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. Doerr said that helps increase an application’s chances of approval.

It’s the pre-screening, as well as the follow-up calls, that Doerr said make the hotline successful –– 81%

J O B S of the applications their staff helped clients submit in the last year were approved, according to the food bank’s website.

Food Bank for the Heartland has lobbied to expand SNAP access, with some success; last year, the Nebraska Legislature voted to override a veto from Gov. Pete Ricketts and expand SNAP eligibility. But just a few months later, a bill to remove the lifetime ban on receiving SNAP for people with certain prior drug convictions stalled. The hotline isn’t going anywhere though, Doerr said, and will continue its commitment to helping community members find the nutrition they deserve.

The resource hotline can be reached at 855444-5556 from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Note this hotline is for Nebraska residents only.

And remember: Other resources are available, including the Heart Ministry Center at heartministrycenter.org, the Siena Francis House at sienafrancis.org and many more. You can also dial the United Way’s community assistance hotline at 211, which will connect you to a variety of resources, including those that aren’t affiliated with the government.

Leah Cates provided additional reporting for this piece.

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B A C K B E A T

If We Build It, Will They Come?

Omaha is Betting on The Success of New Venues Across Town, but Can Demand Match Supply?

by Virginia Kathryn Gallner

D

ereck Higgins has watched the Omaha music scene change dramatically over the years. Now he’s watching an infusion of new music venues, all promising to provide the next great live music experience.

“I can remember when there was no place to play, and how it was a major event to get a gig,” said Higgins, an active Omaha musician since the ‘70s with 85 releases across a variety of genres on his Bandcamp alone.

From downtown to West Omaha, and from small stages to sprawling auditoriums, Omahans are about to have a plethora of new places to listen to music thanks to construction and revitalization. For some, the change is a breath of fresh air — an investment in the arts unlike anything the city’s seen in years, if ever, that could help it attract more touring acts. But the development has led others to wonder whether the demand is really there.

“Like most things in a free market, you’ll see overproduction, and some won’t make it,” said Manne Cook, urban development manager at Spark CDI and director of Fabric Lab, an urban design lab centering Black architects, planners, and entrepreneurs.

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Though it had about average population growth over the last decade, the Omaha metro area has lost about 50,000 young people relative to total growth. But people still see the potential Omaha has to offer.

“I would like to think that Omaha and Nebraska have a rich history of music and art that goes back beyond our parThe Admiral, 2234 S 13th St. — RENDERING VIA FACEBOOK. ents for many generations … I don’t see oversaturation as an is- The Waiting Room and Reverb the future. sue unless people get caught up Lounge, but now they’re returnThe Admiral isn’t the only new in competing rather than grow- ing to their roots. In 2021, the venture from 1% Productions. ing together,” Higgins said. “I duo purchased the Sokol, built They’re also gearing up to open still believe in humanity as op- in 1926 as a Czech community The Astro, an outdoor venue center, and are reinventing the posed to the dollar.” in Papillion, within the next two space as The Admiral. years.

Betting on Omaha Bringing their story full cirThe demand for multi-faceted Twenty-five years ago, owners cle, Ani DiFranco returns to that venues seems to be on the rise in Marc Leibowitz and Jim Johnson stage on Aug. 11. The venue can West Omaha. Barnato opened started 1% Productions by book- accommodate a larger audience in 2020 next to the Bentley dealing folk artist Ani DiFranco at and provide better backstage ership, which is visible through the 1,400-seat Sokol Auditorium amenities for artists. Currently, the glass windows of its front just south of downtown on 13th they have only one stage, with room.

Street. Over the years they’ve hopes to open the basement Barnato’s membership-based found success in Benson with (formerly Sokol Underground) in

June 2022

B A C K B E A T speakeasy, The Green Room, offers a VIP space for concert attendees, including private tastings, rentals, and meet-and-greet experiences with national touring acts.

hearts of the neighborhoods it visits.

“You think of North 24th Street, historically rooted as an arts and culture hub,” Scheuerman said, offering an example. “The audience is people working and living within walking distance of wherever we are. The artists onstage are from that neighborhood as well.”

The space has evolved since opening, adding a kitchen, as well as a pool table and dartboard to meet audience members’ shifting needs.

Barrel & Vine, which opened in summer 2021, has a little bit of everything: Bar, grill, stage and a rooftop swimming pool.

“We wanted something that was kind of Arizona, Vegas style, here in Nebraska … that could bring pool-day club vibes,” said general manager Serene, who gave only her first name.

The live music space downstairs, with a capacity of 400, is all ages. The Mischief Rooftop Pool Club is 21+ and fits 200250 people. Serene said it’s for guests who want to “enjoy their weekend, get away, not feel like they’re in Nebraska.”

The upstairs indoor space, which fits 120, can be rented in the winter and becomes a nightclub on the weekends. There is also a VIP space downstairs that fits 50 people and a ground-level patio that fits 75. And there is a full kitchen.

The project does have the ability to be an economic boon. When people attend outdoor concerts, they buy food, drinks and merchandise, supporting local businesses. The project will also Barnato (and The Green Room): 225 N 170th St. Suite 95. — have an internship program, Photo by Dana Damewood. offering hands-on experience to those interested in Perhaps the unique new venRight now, their primary genres for live music are country ue is the Omaha Mobile Stage: entering the live music industry. and cover bands. They will also A traveling box truck converted Events like these, whcih will be hosting an outdoor music to host shows around the com- be free, can alleviate the social festival, Heartland Music Fest, in munity, which The Reader show- isolation that has plagued the cased in our April issue. their parking lot. community, and the world, for While many venues may be trending toward big, immersive experiences with eyes on national touring acts, other projects are putting community first.

The Berkley, which The Reader covered after its opening in late 2021, brings a welcoming and calm environment to the music scene. Its focus is squarely on giving opportunities to artists of all persuasions in a welcoming and inclusive space.

The project launched in summer 2021 and is in the process of constructing a stage with a robust light and sound system designed by the Nebraska Innovation Studio in Lincoln, with pre-season events beginning in June and season one launching in late July.

Inspired by the Old Show Wagon that operated from 1952 to 2010, this venue will partner with neighborhoods in northeast and south Omaha to co-produce events. Its forerunner primarily hosted youth talent shows, drawing crowds of up to 5,000 at one point in Fontenelle Park.

This project is managed and supported by Partners for Livable Omaha. As a nonprofit initiative, it operates on contributions from the community. The executive director, Jessica Scheuerman, names the goals as arts access, community and workforce development, and public health.

Barrel & Vine (and Mischief), 1311 S 203rd St. — Rendering by Alley Poyner Macchietto Architecture.

Unlike other new venues coming to Omaha, the mobile venue is a truly philanthropic effort to reflect the arts and cultural

the past two years.

“Public health impact isn’t just sickness,” Scheuerman said. “It’s dealing with how communities can pull themselves back together and reanimate these spaces.”

The Perfect Time For Justin Strawstone and Corey Church, the heads of the promotion and touring company Nice Enough Entertainment in Omaha, these new venues don’t seem like a gamble. In 2019, their company booked nearly 100 concerts in the 14 markets they work with across the Midwest. This year, they’re on track for about 250.

“Now is kind of the perfect time for something like this,” Church said. “We’ve seen exponential growth of every single genre of music in the Midwest, specifically in Omaha … We’ve seen shows that would typically be maybe 100 people grow into a 300-, 400-person event.

We’ve seen some of our artists get signed and kind of blow up over this same period of time.

And that doesn’t speak of one

June 2022

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B A C K B E A T “You’re suddenly in the city’s heart, taking in a performance, with the skyline over your shoulder,” she said.

Gene Leahy Mall at The RiverFront Performance Pavilion.

— Rendering by OJB Landscape Architecture. genre as much as it does our music community as a whole.”

These new venues also aren’t necessarily oversaturating the market, Strawstone and Church said. Many of them offer different concert experiences — The Admiral, for example, offers space for national touring acts that would not quite fill the CHI Health Center.

Strawstone and Church said cities like Omaha, Sioux Falls, Des Moines, Kansas City, Minneapolis, and Tulsa are getting more demand. When bigger cities are inundated with shows rescheduled from the pandemic, it means more eyes drift to the plains. And while that might mean more competition, Strawstone and Church said there are enough shows to go around as well as camaraderie and communication among Midwest promoters and venue owners.

Dreaming Big Downtown Since the mid-20th century, Omaha’s city leaders have understood that its economic success and national relevance depend on a healthy downtown. But over the decades, plans have come and gone to fortify the declining urban core.

Among the new projects coming to downtown is the RiverFront Revitalization Project,

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which started with the reopening of the Gene Leahy Mall on July 1. Katie Bassett, vice president of parks at Metropolitan Entertainment & Convention Authority (MECA), envisions the riverfront as a space for everyone.

In August, the Gene Leahy Mall will be hosting part of the In the Market for Blues festival in its performance pavilion, which holds about 5,000 people.

In the Heartland of America Park, there will be a small amphitheater along the lake edge, as well as temporary stages for festivals.

They also have the infrastructure for small acoustic sets for local musicians.

The $325 million project was funded through a public-private partnership, with over 75% of the funding coming from the philanthropic community. The

Their hope is to bring in touring bands that have historically bypassed Omaha in collaboration with Live Nation. Their target demographic is the 18-45 crowd with a standing capacity of 1,500-3,000, depending on how the space is set up.

Live Nation, the national venue operator and booking company running Steelhouse Omaha, has been accused of monopolizing new markets and pushing out longtime local businesses.

“Live Nation is not necessarily the big corporate overlord,” Strawstone of Nice Enough Entertainment said. “Live Nation

Lakeside Amphitheater. — Rendering by OJB Landscape Architecture.

As much as possible, they intend to make all programming in the park free, from music and culture festivals to symphony concerts to opera simulcasts. Many of these events involve partnerships with businesses and organizations.

Kristyna Engdahl, director of communications for MECA, said the space will offer something unlike any other venue in the city.

June 2022

cessful.

RDG Planning & Design was the lead designer on this project. They looked at the Omaha landscape and considered comparable parks — Kerry Park in Seattle, Discovery Green in Austin, Texas, and others throughout the country — to see what has been suc-

partners Kiewit Building Group, Holland Basham Architects, and Ennead Architects of New York City. The $104.1-million venue has been funded with private philanthropic support and $1.1 million from the City of Omaha.

Gene Leahy Mall broke ground in early 2019 and will be the first of three parks to open. Heartland of America Park and Lewis & Clark Landing are scheduled to reopen in summer 2023.

Not far away, a large local nonprofit and music industry giant are combining forces for another large venue geared toward national acts. Steelhouse Omaha, opening in 2023, is a project by Omaha Performing Arts with construction and design

venues can be a good thing when they work in conjunction with everyone in the community.”

According to an economic impact study conducted through UNL, this venue will bring $13 million in economic impact and attract 155,000 people annually to downtown Omaha.

“This was part of the OPA master plan for campus expansion,” said Joan Squires, executive

June 2022

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B A C K B E A T facilities, filling the need for a space without fixed seats. It will also provide local arts groups the ability to host innovative performances, as it can be set up in many configurations, such as performances in the round.

Additionally, OPA will be resuming regular outdoor performances such as Jazz on the Green, Music in Miller Park, and Summer Sounds at Highlander as a partnership with 75 North.

New Venues, New Opportunities Steelhouse Omaha, 1114 Dodge St. — Rendering by Omaha Performing Arts. director of Omaha Performing Arts. “We wanted to look at the needs of the community.”

This project has been in development for over five years. OPA

wanted to take time for conversations with local organizations in developing the Steelhouse Omaha plan.

It is different from current OPA

Musician Dereck Higgins, meanwhile, welcomes new spaces for live music. When he thinks about the ideal music venue, he prefers those where music is the focus, and the audience is engaged throughout the performance.

“I go out into the audience. I want you to listen to the music,

and I’m going to try and get your attention,” he said. “I always challenge the audience.”

The new challenge will be for these new venues to engage audiences by listening to their needs, and to fit within the broader Omaha music scene.

The primary challenge Higgins sees for the music community to grow is the separation of genres.

“I work across genres and always have. I’m involved in the punk scene,” Higgins said. “I know metallers, I know electronicers, I know jazzers … I’m playing with other groups and these people won’t talk to each other.

I’m always hoping that those barriers, those mental attitudes, continue to melt away.”

Additional Reporting by Chris Bowling

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6/17/21 4:23 PM

N E W S

Omaha’s $2.3 Billion Question

(Dis)Invested

The City Can Tackle its Expensive Housing Problems, But Who Will Lead the Way? Story and photos by Chris Bowling

K

“Five years ago, I was telling communities over and over again, you're not going to see any federal or state dollars; you’ve got to figure out how to solve this housing problem yourself,” said Amy Haase, a planner with RDG Planning and Design, which is heading up research for the city’s Affordable Housing Action Plan, for which Lowe was sketching her ideas. “Now we’ve got all this money going out.”

eiria Lowe hunched over a table with a crayon in her hand.

On a piece of paper she drew a bird’s-eye view of her neighborhood in red, green and gray. Around her, a din echoed through the room as North Omaha residents and Omaha city staff talked in front of poster boards.

“What is the first thing we should do to make housing more affordable?” one read.

The open house, which took place May 3 at The Venue on N. 30th St. aimed to gather input from the community as the city works to build a new affordable housing plan.

Kieria Lowe stands in a neighborhood garden near her home on 24th St.

Since a 2021 Omaha Community Foundation report showed the city has an 80,000unit, $2.3-billion affordable housing problem to fix, a lot has happened.

First, the problem worsened. The pandemic pushed many more people to housing instability and others to homelessness while rent, utilities and home prices soared. Then, an unprecedented amount of money became available: hundreds of millions of dollars to address affordable housing. It’s a huge opportunity for the city to solve an intractable problem. But many wonder who will decide how to spend the funds. Will the communities most impacted be heard? And will the city, philanthropists, nonprofits or whomever ends

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up in charge follow old formulas to tackle an old problem, or will they try something new?

Lowe, 36, a singer and dental assistant at Worthy Dental in North Omaha, pointed out an empty lot in her illustration of N. 24th St. She’d like to turn it into a store with apartments on top. People have great ideas too, she said, but ultimately it comes down to who’s in control.

“They always say things are gonna happen, and then it don’t,” Lowe said. “Or it takes forever for it to happen. Buildings on 24th Street are still boarded up from the ‘60s. So give us the funding. Give us the loans. Let

June 2022

them take away redlining or whatever it is that is blocking a lot of us people from getting the housing [we need].”

The Money Omaha is sitting on the precipice of big change. The city is getting $112 million from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). The Nebraska Legislature allocated an additional $335 million to North and South Omaha, much of it from ARPA. A major city plan aims to reinvent Omaha’s urban core. The funding and the plan have a significant emphasis on affordable housing.

How that money will be spent is still unknown. The city is reviewing applications to hire a planning manager to oversee affordable housing. Recovery money for North and South Omaha requires studies and a formal application process that begins in August, according to KETV, and the city’s plan for downtown revitalization offers a framework for solutions rather than direct action.

Nonprofits such as Front Porch Investments, which announced $7.3 million in local housing grants on May 12, and Habitat for Humanity, which broke ground on an 85-home affordable housing project May 15, have got the ball rolling.

But for many, big dollar signs colliding with development in Omaha raises more concerns than it does excitement.

N E W S What’s the Catch?

Jenny Synowiecki spent a lot of her life in an area of South Omaha known as Sheelytown. Near Hanscom Park and bordered by S. 24th St. and S. 35th St., the community is filled with modest homes dating back to the 1800s, a scrapyard and an abandoned grain elevator with a chipped sign advertising a long-gone Salvation Army.

Omaha’s Zoning Codes Favor Single-Family Homes Experts say zoning laws like Omaha’s need an overhaul to encourage denser, more varied development.

Late last year Synowiecki heard rumors a big development was coming. A week later, around Thanksgiving, the Omaha World-Herald reported on plans for a new health and wellness complex. To some residents who sold their properties to the developer, it sounded great. Community Health Development Partners, which is leading the project, has held multiple neighborhood meetings and spent more than $6 million to purchase 22 properties in the area since last year — often multitudes higher than the homes’ valuations or previous sales price.

“We want the people to be excited about the project,” David Lutz, Community Health Development Partners’ principal and senior managing director, told Nebraska News Service. “We want the people to feel like they’re getting an amazing offer for their house, and it can help them go on to a better place.”

But Synowiecki doesn’t buy it.

“We have no idea what's going on,” she said. “They haven't spoken to this community. So I was upset. I was worried. Seeing my mom cry, I was worried for her.”

Transparency has become a tripwire for public opposition, most noticeably in the decision to demolish the W. Dale Clark Library and build a $600 million Mutual of Omaha skyscraper in its place.

sector officials when needed to do the work deemed ‘economic development,’” McNamara wrote.

A city like Portland is more fluid.

People build connections across social circles, politicians come and go more easily, and there’s more trust in civic participation. Omahans, he found, often believe they have control only over decisions at lower levels, while big decisions like land-use planning, or as McNamara calls it “the growth machine,” are run “unfettered” by developers, builders, bankers and other businesses.

Alisa Luker experienced that when she tried to buy a small, vacant lot in North Omaha. For several years she asked to purchase it from the city but was told she couldn’t. A well-known philanthropy was interested in it.

Eventually she did buy it but wondered why she had to take the back seat in her own neighborhood.

- area zoned for single-family homes only.

- area zoned for multi-unit development.

Map courtesy of the City of Omaha 2021 Affordable Housing Report.

“The wrecking ball’s coming,” Omaha City Councilmember Vinny Palermo said in February. “The library is going down. That didn’t come before us. That was decided before it came to us.”

The city’s planning board voted 6-1 to approve a major housing and transit redevelopment plan, which includes a proposed streetcar line, despite not knowing most of its details.

“I just got a lot of this information today,” Greg Rosenbaum, planning board president, said in March. “My vote’s not going to change anything, but for that reason I’m voting no today… In the future I hope we can be included in large projects like this.”

Questions about what’s happening behind the curtains aren’t uncommon in Omaha. Politicians, community members and researchers have often criticized the more than half-a-billion dollars in tax breaks the city’s given developments in the last 15 years, saying the public has little say over the plans. Recently the Omaha City Council approved $3.8 million in tax-increment financing to demolish several homes near Blackstone and build a 130-unit apartment complex.

“There's nothing wrong with these houses,” said historic preservationist Ryan Reed. “People are living in them. We have a whole lot of empty lots and surface parking lots in the city that should be built upon … Just focus on that before tearing down what we already have.”

In 2007, Patrick McNamara, a University of Nebraska at Omaha professor of political science, then a Ph.D. candidate, compared the approach of Omaha and Portland, Oregon, to problem solving, specifically regarding homelessness. Omaha, he found, centers power in tight-knit groups of corporate executives.

Derek Miller (left), manager of longrange planning, and Eric Englund (right), ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, OMAHA PLANNING DEPARTMENT.

Ryan Reed, historic preservationist.

“The elite may have different mechanisms for maintaining control, such as family connections, philanthropy and partnering with public

“I feel like if [North Omahans] are able to buy it before anybody that's outside of the area, because that's what happens, I just feel like we should get first dibs,” Luker said.

“They might have a lot more money.

But to me, to be fair, we should get first dibs.”

Hearing Out the Community As the city builds its Affordable Housing Action Plan, Derek Miller, manager of long-range planning for the City of Omaha, said the city doesn’t want to ignore that past.

The plan will be a blueprint for future housing decisions — state law requires the city to present a draft to the Omaha City Council and mayor by the end of this year. As part of its creation the city is incorporating ideas from residents like Lowe as well as a wellspring of past studies on housing, including the Omaha Community Foundation study, the city’s 2018 Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing study and Omaha’s own master plan. All point to a similar theme.

“Housing is a basic need,” Miller said. “And at the same time, we don't have enough.”

But to solve that problem, the city is going to have to address some big structural questions, not least among them zoning.

Of the 103,481 acres within the city’s planning jurisdiction that permit residential development, only 11.6% can be used for anything be-

June 2022

15

N E W S sides a single-family home, according to a 2021 city report. The American Planning Association, which advocates for a “complete rethink” of zoning, said this limits choices, drives up costs and reinforces inequality.

A recent AARP code audit for Omaha read: “...those codes had the unintended consequence of rendering illegal the kind of vibrant, walkable streets and neighborhoods that are the most attractive and desirable, as well as financially beneficial to the city,” The problem’s compounded by Omaha’s annexations creeping closer to county borders, which by state law it can’t cross. In 2002 the city had 66 square miles of new “greenfield” area to develop, about the size of Washington, D.C. By 2021 it had 40.

In 25 to 30 years, there won’t be any left, according to Eric Englund, assistant director of Omaha’s planning department.

“For planners, that’s tomorrow,” he said.

If zoning codes were changed, the city could utilize new types of urban living, such as accessory dwelling units, which work by turning part of a single-family home into a separate living space.

While technically legal, these relatively low-cost, space-effective options come with so many requirements homeowners and developers generally avoid them. However, Habitat for Humanity is incorporating them into its new North Omaha housing project.

But there’s more to consider than just housing type. Asked what amenities people would like to live around, participants at the open house for Omaha’s Affordable Housing Action Plan wanted to be close to their jobs

“We want to be more involved,” McDonald said. “We want to be this part of the solution.”

Rick McDonald, president of the Metro Omaha Property Owners Association, stands in one of his rental properties. and a transit line. They wanted big yards, small yards and no yards at all.

They wanted grocery stores, parks, good schools and fun things to do around them.

Linda McKleny knows the city can’t please everyone; she just hopes they’re listening. She said she’s heard promises all her life — living through riots and the construction of Kennedy Freeway, which split her neighborhood, watching suburbs swell as plans to save a declining inner city came and went. Now the city wants her opinion again, but she said it’s hard to take them seriously.

“It's like the same old talking points,” she said. “You still see people struggling.”

On the Other Side of the Door As the city finds ways to build new housing, it's going to become just as important to keep people housed in what’s already available. In the past that hasn’t always been a priority.

Rick McDonald knows the prevailing philosophy when it comes to renting properties — treat it like a business. If tenants don’t pay, evict them.

NEBRASKABEST STAFF IN THE BELLEVUE OFFICE; (from right to left) Jeff Weaver, executive director; Nathan Egger, case manager; Amy Meyer, administration assistant; and Jeanette Lovell, director of operations.

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June 2022

McDonald, who said he’s rented out homes in Omaha for about 30 years, said he never thought that was the right way to treat people. But it wasn’t until the pandemic, when eviction moratoriums set in and rent relief arrived, that new opportunities for solutions appeared.

Sarah Bartolomei, former program manager and current contractor with the Metro Housing Collaborative, in Dundee.

“A lot of landlords turned around and had to help, whether they wanted to or not, because that was what was best for everybody” McDonald said. “Now the moratorium on evictions has expired, but there’s still help out there. So why not continue what already got started?”

That work is happening with the Metro Housing Collaborative, a grant-funded pilot program within the Metro Area Continuum of Care for the Homeless that started in April 2021. The group works with tenants, landlords and more than 40 local organizations to combine resources and find long-term solutions to help keep people in their homes. “[Existing housing case workers] don't have the capacity and time to ensure that every person is going to be successfully housed,” said Sarah Bartolomei, former program manager and current contractor with the collaborative. “They have to move on to the next one. It's not malicious. It's the system’s fault.”

Bartolomei said the Metro Housing Collaborative grew out of the Omaha area’s rent relief program when it became clear cash assistance alone couldn’t address housing instability. Its model provides financial assistance to landlords and tenants while connecting them with case workers, conflict resolution services and a database to match renters with trusted property owners.

The opportunity felt perfect for McDonald, who is president of the Metro Omaha Property Owners Association (MOPOA), the city’s largest landlord organization. Not only can he make more money, but he can avoid evictions and build better tenant relationships. It’s also a great way to show MOPOA is shifting its attitude from adversarial to collaborative, something McDonald said he’s prioritized since becoming president last year.

But interest has been tepid so far. Bartolomei said of about 3,000 property owners around the city, the housing collaborative has 70 on board. McDonald said he struggles to convince his 450 members there’s no catch to the money for repairs, down payments, early lease terminations and more.

But the challenge doesn’t faze Jeff Weaver, executive director of NebraskaBEST, which he said launched in January 2022 and provides year-long casework with tenants and landlords.

By working with the collaborative, he said he avoids duplicating efforts and can assist the growing number of people who need help.

“Humbly speaking, we thought there was a great need,” he said.

“But we didn't realize how much of a need there was.”

For Bartolomei, what makes this program essential is its inclusivity.

People may be chronically homeless, facing eviction, living out of their cars or bouncing from rental to rental. Depending on their circumstances, they receive different levels of support from other programs. But the collaborative is able to put those differences aside and make an impact immediately.

“There's all sorts of complexities,” Bartolomei said. “So let's step into the gray together and really work towards trying to find a better solution.”

Ideas, Action In the center of the dioramas at the open house in North Omaha sat a posterboard asking people to write down the first thing the city could do to make housing more affordable.

Participants plastered the board with pink, yellow and orange Post-it notes.

Increase wages Get rid of security deposits and income requirements Reparations Kieria Lowe doesn’t know what the answer is. She only hopes that whoever’s making the decision can get it right, because people need help.

“What's affordable?” she asked.

“There's no such thing as that [right now]. I'm working just to live.”

N E W S

(Dis)Invested

While Teachers Need Support Now,

Programs Build Future Pipeline of Talent

by Bridget Fogarty

A

dam Byers didn’t have “a fraction of the support” he feels he should have had as a first-year teacher in his Omaha Public Schools classroom this year.

That’s why he’s resigning from the district, he told the Omaha Public Schools Board of Education, Superintendent Cheryl Logan and a room full of OPS staff and community members May 16.

“A s i n g l e school year in this environment h a s d e s t royed the 20-year-long love I held for teaching,” Byers said, speaking into the microphone at the M o n d ay n i g h t board meeting.

“I have never experienced such a toxic work environment in my life.”

the most accurate and updated projection of teacher departures.

The departures aren’t just occurring in Omaha Public Schools.

For months, masses of teachers in public schools across the country have said the pandemic was pushing them to leave the profession sooner than planned, according to a survey conducted by the National Education Association, a union representing nearly 3 million educators.

“I’m not a mental health therapist; this is actually malpractice. I need to teach them their language.”

Byers is one of 491 teachers the district projects to resign by July 1, according to OPS data that has been revised since the Omaha World-Herald reported 585 teachers were set to resign.

The district’s external relations administrator, Bridget Blevins, said OPS staff continues to count for

The comp o u n d i n g challenges of covering for colleagues during staffing shortages and caring for students’ behavioral and mental health, all while trying to teach lessons, has many teachers feeling burned out, including those resigning from the OPS district.

As the largest and most diverse public school district in Nebraska, OPS identified recruiting and maintaining highly qualified staff members as a top priority in its strategic plan before the pandemic. But while training programs and other initiatives are strengthening

the pipeline of future teachers, current teachers say they need more support from the district now.

“Morally, I can’t do this anymore” One teacher feels he barely got to teach his English-language-learning students this year. As some of his Hispanic high schoolers struggled with truancy, food insecurity and mental health after deaths among peers and their families, he felt ill equipped to truly address the issues impacting them.

“I left because, morally, I can’t do this anymore,” he said. The teacher spoke to The Reader on the condition of anonymity because the district has not authorized him to speak with the media.

“I’m not a mental health therapist; this is actually malpractice,” he said. “I need to teach them their language.”

Omaha’s Latino community was one of the most heavily impacted by the pandemic, according to reports by the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s Office of Latino/Latin American Studies (OLLAS) and the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Meanwhile, concerns for both student and staff mental health are alarmingly high across Nebraska schools, according to a statewide survey by the Nebraska

State Education Association.

“I can’t keep coming in every day, ignoring the fires that are everywhere, and then being told that I’m not doing my job good enough,” he said.

He isn’t alone. According to a survey of 700 OPS teachers sent out by the Omaha Education Association (OEA), 68% said they do not “feel valued as an employee and professional by the district administration,” while 61% said they do feel valued by their individual school.

When the survey was sent out, no resignation numbers had yet been reported, said Robert Miller, OEA president. The number of teachers leaving is an indication of larger issues left unaddressed, he said.

“This is the outcome when staff doesn’t feel valued, or supported or heard — they turn in their resignation,” Miller said.

Superintendent Logan said in the same May school board meeting that while recruiting and retaining future teachers are critical to strengthening the district long term, she recognizes more solutions are needed to address the challenges impacting current staff.

“We acknowledge the lived reality of our staff, and while we are leading nationally and developing

June 2022

17

N E W S future talent, it does not fill every position tomorrow,” Logan said.

“We will rise to meet the challenge and the need together.”

Some public school districts in cities around the country are finding solutions to improve the working conditions and increase the pay of school staff members, according to a report by the National Education Association.

The teachers’ union of Columbus City Schools in Ohio, which serves nearly 46,000 students, collectively bargained to require the district to allocate pandemic relief funds to hire additional counselors and literacy specialists for the 2022-2023 school year. In California, United Teachers Los Angeles negotiated a 5% raise and bonuses for 2021-2022, harnessing the state budget and an infusion of federal funds received during the pandemic.

In OPS board meetings throughout the year, members of OEA offered ideas of ways to alleviate the issues they’re experiencing, one being increasing teacher wages

ward increased compensation, state Sen. Lynne Walz, who chairs the Nebraska Legislature’s education committee, told The Reader.

by utilizing Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds provided by the federal government.

In September 2021, the OPS Board of Education allocated the district’s $280 million in ESSER funds. Student and staff well-being is one of five areas of focus in the allocation, along with teacher recruitment and student academic programs. The district has not allocated ESSER funds to raise teacher salaries at this time but has provided higher pay for staff teaching during the summer.

Sen. Lynne Walz

Without a doubt, the senator said, teachers across Nebraska deserve and need to be paid more. It’s an issue she wants her committee to explore further.

“We really need to elevate the profession of teaching again.”

“We really need to elevate the profession of teaching again,” Sen. Walz said. “How we go about increasing pay for teachers is something we’re going to continue to work on and continue to research.”

Across Nebraska, it’s up to local school districts on how they choose to utilize the ESSER funds and whether they’ll put them to-

While no new legislation passed in the 2022 legislative session regarding teacher pay, lawmakers did pass

LB1218, which eliminated the requirement to pass a basic examination in order to apply for a teacher education program, offering a more holistic assessment instead.

It also adopted the Teach in Nebraska Today Act, which will give new teachers $5,000 a year for up to five years for student loan assistance.

Empowering Young Teachers While it’s too soon to say how many new teachers will be recruited and retained through the new legislation, OPS does offer teacher development and retention programs that the district says is helping those who want to stay in the profession.

Fabricio Hernandez teaches fourth grade at Chandler View Elementary, an OPS member in Bellevue. He said he first realized he could be a great teacher in high school when he tutored his Bryan High School soccer teammates.

Now three years into teaching at OPS, he plans to participate in

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N E W S LAUNCH, a year-long leadership development program that aims to strengthen teachers who want to pursue leadership roles with OPS. The support from the program fits into his longterm goal of working in the administration.

“I want to make the biggest impact I can,” he said.

“That’s why I love OPS, and that’s why I stay in OPS, because I want to inspire and motivate those kids that look like me.”

Andrea Reyes is a first-generation sophomore at UNO.

Although staffing shortages and the burnout hitting some of his colleagues are very real issues, Hernandez said positive moments happening daily in his classroom reinforce his passion for teaching.

“I’m seeing a lot of growth in my students just being here day in and day out,” he said.

Nebraska’s universities are also removing barriers to get passionate future teachers the experiences they need to grow.

“I called my mom immediately, and I’m like, “Mom … I got the full-ride scholarship,” Reyes recalled. “Now she’s crying, and then I’m crying.”

ing to Huber.

Reyes is a first-generation sophomore at UNO. Although she’s open to working in any metro area school district after graduation, she’s already spent multiple semesters observing and co-teaching within OPS through the program.

TSA students also work with community members and nonprofits in neighborhoods they teach in. In one class, students spent part of the semester working together with fifth-graders in an OPS elementary school to learn about the history of redlining in Omaha neighborhoods and how it’s shaped communities today.

Dr. Gerry Huber leads the “I have a lot of pride as a Teacher Scholars former OPS student,” she said.

Academy at UNO.

Andrea Reyes was a senior at Omaha South High School in 2020 when she opened an email congratulating her on being selected for the Teacher Scholars Academy (TSA), a program of the University of Nebraska system that has cohorts on campuses statewide.

The program affords students up to 120 credits of in-state tuition per year, partial room and board and funding for books and fees, according to its website.

Gerry Huber, who leads the Teacher Scholars Academy at UNO, said 66 students are currently involved in UNO’s program, which has a 96% retention rate.

Since the TSA began in 2019, there’s yet to be a graduating class of scholars working full-time in schools. The first cohort graduates next spring and will start working full-time in schools for the 20232024 school year — although many of the students already work parttime as paras and substitute teachers in metro area districts, accord-

“(Students) leave here with a network of peers that they can always rely on and turn to if they have questions,” Huber said.

Although the recent teacher departures are concerning, Huber is hopeful for the future when she works with her TSA students.

“I continue to learn so much from the students, as I watch them grow into the wonderful educators that I know they will be,” Huber said. “They’re resilient, and they’re going to take that with them into their classrooms. Our students just give me hope that we’ll be OK.”

Your Path Forward Starts Now KNOCK OUT YOUR GEN EDS

•

Nebraska High School students graduating in 2022-25 are eligible to take credit classes at no cost for tuition.

This option is only available for the 2022 summer quarter.

•

Students will be responsible for tools, textbooks and any other associated course fees.

•

Use your credits toward a degree at MCC, or transfer them to another college or university.

Note: Students considering college courses for the first time should visit with a high school counselor before enrolling.

Summer classes start June 6.

To get started, visit mccneb.edu/CollegeNOW or call 531-MCC-4NOW. 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.

June 2022

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T H E A T E R

The Bard and Diversity, Too

Tyrone Beasley’s First Shakespeare on the Green Season Will Mirror Today’s Society

by Leo Adam Biga

A

year ago, speare should be Nebraska done, and to diversify the people on Shakespeare stage in representreeled from pressure to disrupt ing Shakespeare.” hidebound tradi“The Tempest,” tions and to more directed by Scott boldly embrace diGlasser, will feature versity, equity and period and modern inclusion. As if betrappings. Perforing on the wrong mance dates: June side of a cultural 23-26; July 8, 10, reckoning wasn’t 13, 14, 16. bad enough, its sigUnder Beasley’s nature Shakespeare direction, “Othelon the Green feslo” will take a contival in Elmwood temporary turn.

Park became a caFor this summer’s return of Shakespeare on the Green, “The Tempest” and Performance dates: sualty of COVID-19 “Othello” were chosen for their critical race themes. Photos: Nebraska Shakespeare June 30-July 3 and in 2020 — and of July 6, 7, 9, 15, 17. staff, board and volunteer departures for their critical on an island and All performances are free. in 2021. Thus, the embattled race themes. runs roughshod Color-conscious casting emorganization found itself the over its natives.

“The biggest phasizes diversity in large and subject of criticism while stuck That gives us an thing I want to small roles that blend local and in a void. Amidst this storm enopportunity to do is to make tered new Artistic Director Tyhave that con- national talent, including veterit relevant and rone Beasley. versation. ‘Oth- ans and newcomers to the Nehave it tie into ello’ allows us braska Shakespeare stage.

Hailing from an Omaha leg- things going on to speak directly Beasley’s father, venerable acy acting family, Beasley left in society today,” to Shakespeare stage-screen actor John BeaThe Rose Theater as outbound the 56-year-old and race, spe- sley, plays Prospero in “The programs director only after Beasley said. “To cifically to the Tempest.” Decades apart, faassurances his Nebraska Shake- hold that mirror problematic is- ther and son got their professpeare role was not symbolic up to human sues in that play. sional acting starts in Shakebut transformative. He signaled nature to look It’s an exciting spearean plays: John in “As things would be different with at ourselves and time in classical You Like It” and Tyrone in “The the hip-hop “Romeo and Ju- society through theater. There is Merchant of Venice.” Tyrone liet” he adapted-directed and these stories a movement to paused his acting career to made the company’s touring that still resoshow relevan- work at his father’s John Beasley Artistic Director production. He’s developing nate today. ‘The cy, to demystify Tyrone Beasley says Theatre & Workshop, for which a full-length adaptation. For Tempest’ is an and decolonize he became artistic director. he wants to make this summer’s return of Shake- allegory about Shakespeare on the Shakespeare speare on the Green, he chose c o l o n i z a t i o n .

“I came back to Omaha to Green relevant. and how Shake“The Tempest” and “Othello” Prospero lands help him run his theater, so

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June 2022

T H E A T E R it’s coming full circle to have him help initiate my first season with Shakespeare on the Green,” said Tyrone, who added that whatever else he accomplishes, “it’s real important for people to see themselves on stage and in the arts.” He’s intentionally reaching out to all segments of the community, regardless of identity, to participate as performers, crew, volunteers and audience.

The primacy of representation holds true for arts leadership, too, in which women and racial minorities are making gains.

“More people of color are in leadership positions with traditionally white-led theaters or have their own theaters. It’s great to see more people getting the opportunity to show what they can do,” said Beasley, who serves on the Shakespeare Theatre Association’s

Inclusion, Equity, Diversity & Access Committee and Artistic Director Roundtable. Discussions focus on anti-racist best practices.

For Beasley, the message this sesaon is simple: “We’re back, we’ve heard you, and we’re part of racial reconciliation in the community.

“It is that opportunity to show we are serious about bringing diversity on stage, behind the scenes, and moving forward working to be an inclusive and welcoming organization for the community as a whole,” he said. “We want the community to see themselves represented. We understand it’s not a one-time thing or quick fix but an evolving process that we’re committed to.

People are excited and looking forward to having Shakespeare on the Green and to the new direction we’re going with it.

o-pa.org/on-stage /music-at-miller-park

June 11 July 16 Aug 20

enjoli and timeless Saturday, June 11 at 7:00 PM

“I’m excited helping make Nebraska Shakespeare more inclusive, diverse and accessible.

I see a lot of opportunity for growth. We’re looking to expand the organization, to build the budget and hire more fulltime people to help us build on that vision. I’m looking to inspire young people to pursue classical theater, theater in general, to find their voice through theater arts, whether on stage or in behind-thescenes roles. We’re excited to get new people involved in all phases of production.”

Beasley was contracted for “Romeo and Juliet” before Nebraska Shakespeare hired him as artistic director in a national search. Brett Bernardini got hired soon after as executive director to succeed retiring Mary Ann Bamber. It took some convincing for Beasley to leave a stable situation for one tinged by chaos.

“I saw they were committed to change. They let me know the artistic decisions would be my own and they would support them. I let them know I wanted to expand education programming, to partner with community organizations working with underserved, atrisk youth. They were excited about my ideas.”

Still, he acknowledged, “It was a big leap.”

“A lot of times life demands you take a leap of faith, step out and take risks,” he said.

“Because of the potential I see for this organization, it was something I felt I had to grab hold of and take a shot at helping to change, to be a part of that change, and to be in the room where it happens.”

Visit www.nebraskashakespeare.com.

Change a life.

Become a foster parent.

childsaving.org I 402.553.6000 June 2022

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D I S H

Are You Ayurvedic?

Mindful eating means varied eating, and the spice profiles, pleasing colors, and palatable textures mean your mouth will never be lonely.

There’s More to the Ancient Act of Ayurveda Than Mindful Eating, but It’s an Excellent Place to Start

by Sara Locke

All images: Shutterstock

E

very religion, culture, cult, and pyramid scheme on the planet makes suggestions about what, how, and how much their followers should consume.

The guiding principle behind the move is that, ultimately, we are what we eat. There are strategic reasons behind each diet and meal plan, from keeping practitioners sharp-minded to keeping them fat-adapted. Some guidelines protect from food contamination or inflammation, and others prepare the body for battle.

But diets, like other beliefs and lifestyle choices, are not one size fits all. You will, of course, have your similar stories and basic blueprints, but if there were an official “Care and Feeding of Your Human Body” handbook, which philosophy most satisfactorily fills the stomach?

Ayurveda isn’t South Beach.

It’s considered an alternative medicine in the West, and has deep history in subcontinental India, where it has evolved over more than 2,000 years of practice be-

22

fore being adapted in the West in the 1900s. You may not be familiar with Hippocrates’ quote “In food excellent medicine can be found, in food bad medicine can be found; good and bad are relative,” but you’ve probably heard the colloquialism “Let food be thy medicine, and let medicine be thy food.” The concepts behind the quotes are related: Eat like crap, feel like crap.

for food. When our bodies are deficient in nutrients, minerals, or vitamins, they will send sometimes crazy cravings to get the message to the mouth. How we read those cravings can lead to health or a heart attack. It’s unlikely our body is sending an urgent signal that we are severely Butterfingers-deficient. Nobody ever lost a limb to a lack of Doritos. Ayurvedic practices involve mindfully considering your cravings and learning what your body is asking for.

While the science, practice, and philosophy of Ayurveda is about more than what you’re putting into your body, most beliefs acknowledge that our energy is dictated by mindful eating. Before humans were keto, low carb, Whole30, macrobiotic, raw, or Zone, we relied on a more reliable commander of caloric consumption: Our bodies themselves.

A craving is also different from the phenomenon of kuchisabishii, the Japanese term for “lonely mouth.” Kuchisabishii is the reason you’re not finished with your day until you’ve had something sweet. It’s the reason you take three more bites from your dinner plate even though you unbuttoned your jeans ten minutes ago.

The human body is fluent in the language of health, but we have become increasingly clumsy at interpreting the signals we receive. When our body sends us an ache, we send it a Tylenol. When we feel sluggish, we slam a Red Bull. Ayurvedic practices aim to realign the body and mind, and you don’t even need to sit quietly in lotus pose to learn to listen.

Hungry or Craving?

While our cravings serve a purpose of their own, they aren’t to be confused with the actual need

June 2022

But with both food cravings and kuchisabishii, the hunger ends at the tastebuds. Eating will do nothing to solve either of these issues, and can lead to fatigue, poor digestion, bloating, irritability, and can drive us from the good that food can do for our bodies.

How to Ayurveda 1. Mastication communication.

The first principle of Ayurveda immediately differentiates it from any diet: Eat every time you’re hungry.

Actually hungry, not lonely-mouth nonsense. Keep raw

vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, and legumes on hand, but not so easily accessible that you will find yourself mindlessly snacking.

2. Ratio.

Plan to fill your stomach halfway with solid food, a quarter of the way with liquids, and keep it a quarter empty. Choose whole foods in their most natural state whenever possible, which means you’ll be shopping only the perimeter of the grocery store.

Nothing from a box, nothing with ingredients you can’t pronounce.

3. Say a little prayer for you.

This isn’t a commentary on religion, rather a moment you take to appreciate your food, to show gratitude for the growers, farmers, producers, nature, the chef. Thank whomever you think is listening for the work that went into the meal that’s about to sustain you, and consider each ingredient and the role it’s about to play in your health and energy.

Mindful eating requires gratitude, even if you’re thanking only yourself for taking such good care of your body.

4. Stay in season.

Shopping for in-season foods isn’t only good for the environment, cutting down on emissions from long-distance shipping and the impact of over-farming, but our bodies

D I S H rely on certain nutrients at certain times. The closer to the farm we can bring our fork, the easier it is for our bodies to make the most of the nutrients. And let’s be honest, it just tastes better.

BesT BrewpuB, AgAin

5. Eat the Oreo.

The amount of thought that practitioners put into timing their fasts, adjusting to drinking room-temperature water, and eating according to their Dosha can be overwhelming.

But just as impactful is the joy they allow themselves when indulging. Since it isn’t a daily occurrence, the cookie tastes infinitely sweeter. Balance and joy are crucial to leading a truly enlightened existence, and if there aren’t Oreos, who even wants it?

While not every part of Ayurveda will be your cup of tea (we aren’t suggesting everyone become vegan or switch to a two-meal-aday model), it’s less about what

Thanks Omaha for voting us

Proud pioneers of the fermenter-to-table movement.

you eat and more about how you eat. Taking the time to enjoy local, mindful eating is for everyone. Frequent the farmers market, join community-supported agriculture, and become a regular at any of the incredible farm-to-fork restaurants Omaha has to offer.

Keep following The Reader on Instagram @TheReaderOmahaDish for a directory of locally sourced eateries to make your Ayurvedic journey even more palatable.

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.

Celebrating Over 30 Years Of Making Ice Cream Th e Old Fashioned Way

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W PICKS W Florida, California, Virginia and Ontario, Canada. For two nights in a row, two shows per night.

In addition to movies, Callen has appeared on two ABC sitcoms as a regular cast member on “Schooled” and in a recurring role on “The Goldbergs.” He is also a regular on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast.

Tickets are $27 to $50 before taxes. Shows start at 7 p.m., 7:30, 9:30, and 10.

— Matt Casas

June 10-12

June 8

King Iso

The Waiting Room construct an intriguing cautionary tale well deserving a second look.

June 3

-Mike Krainak

And After All of This

June 3-24

Benson First Fridays

BFF Art Gallery

Benson District

Omaha-rooted, Strange Music-signed rapper King ISO returns to his city on tour with C-Mob (Fort Wayne, Ind.), Taebo Tha Truth (Omaha), and Jay Influential (Omaha) -- to name a few.

Omaha Summer Arts Festival Aksarben Village

His recent album, “Get Well Soon” (2022), was well-received by fans and hip-hop enthusiasts – the title track connects the dots between COVID-19 and mental health. The result? Different energy than his previous releases but proof of the natural flow and lyrical freedom to express whatever he wishes.

Tickets are $18-$25 before taxes. The show starts at 7 p.m., with doors at 6.

Two-person art exhibits can sometimes leave one wondering, “Why bother?” Other than sharing the same space and time, the artists may have so little in common, they would be better served going solo rather than competing for attention or drawing unfair comparisons.

“And After All of This,” a two-person exhibit in the new BFF Gallery, risks that conclusion. The expressionistic portraits of artist Jeff King and the layered abstraction of Josh Powell seem to have little in common, certainly not a collaboration.

Not so. Despite their visual contrast, the artists share and

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Every Friday of every month, you can get the best of Omaha right here in the Benson Entertainment District.

Benson First Fridays is a weekly collaborative between local arts and businesses. But more than that, it’s a night of fun, tasty eats, and creativity on which you can always rely.

— Matt Casas

June 10-11

Bryan Callen Funny Bone

Unique handmade crafts, fresh produce, live music, and art walks are only some of what there is to expect from a typical BFF. You can download the map for events/exhibits at galleries and businesses within strolling distance online at www.bffomaha. org/virtual.html.

June 2022

— Matt Casas

See actor and comedian Bryan Callen perform at the Funny Bone as part of his tour, which stops in

The 48th Omaha Summer Arts Festival launches at Aksarben Village.

Overall, 135 artists will attend, including dozens of musicians.

Veronica Lewis, a bluesy roots artist, pianist, and singer-songwriter, is the headlining act.

It’s also an arts and crafts fest and trade show, complete with mural cubes and vibrant chalk art displays. Meanwhile, enjoy delicious food vendors at the festival or in the restaurants at Aksarben Village.

W PICKS W The festivities run from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.

Jeff Rosenstock has quantity AND quality on his side.

This 39-year-old Long Island rocker has performed professionally for 27 years. During the process, Rosenstock became known under the auspices of the underground audience, which resonated with his catch factor, brooding lyrics, DIY work ethic, piano/ guitar-driven sound, and the liveshow energy elevated by a tight backing band.

— Matt Casas

June 10-24

Desde Afuera (From the Outside)

Amplify Arts/Generator Space (Face masks are required for all showings.)

“Desde Afuera (From the Outside),” is a collaboration with Fortuna, an artist-run workshop and residency program that connects artists and art communities in Omaha and Mexico City through reciprocity and exchange.

“Desde Afuera,” curated by Fortuna, examines the limits of mobility, access, and exchange under the imperial condition, and questions the visible and invisible boundaries imposed by the colonial nation-state. The exhibit was organized in response to nationalist policies and agendas that obstruct and obfuscate open borders of exchange.

Viewings are limited to groups of 10 or less. Amplify Arts requests you register through Eventbrite, or email peter@amplifyarts.org.

— Kent Behrens

June 10 through July 8

Jack Ryan and John Matthew Heard

Baader-Meinhof continues using its two floors of exhibition space, featuring a duo of solo shows: “Jack Ryan” and “John Matthew Heard” open on June 10, with a public reception from 6-9 p.m.

Ryan, a New York City-based artist, is returning to Baader-Meinhof with all new work. Ever the experimentalist, he mixes stylistic approaches, including pointillism and abstract expressionism to integrate images evoking memory and personal history.

Heard, who lives in Berlin and New York, is a painter whose work explores the curatorial frameworks of exhibition-craft and its impact on the construction of narrative and persona.

His latest record is “Ska Dream” (2021), announced on April Fools’ Day. Guests include NNAMDÏ (Chicago) and Catbite (Philadelphia). Tickets are $20 before taxes, and the show starts at 8 p.m., with doors at 7.

— Matt Casas

Tech N9ne visits the Admiral Theater as part of a 26-city U.S. tour that suggests the 50-year-old Kansas City-based rapper has no plans to slow down.

Drag Brunch

N9ne’s latest release was “RK Huskers,” a 2022 hip-hop anthem dedicated to Nebraska’s Big Red featuring King ISO. His latest proper album, “Asin9ne” (2021), peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard independent chart.

Social (Elkhorn)

The Strange Music co-founder will perform alongside label mates Joey Cool and ¡MAYDAY! — plus X-Raided from Priority Records.

The show starts at 8 p.m., doors at 7, and tickets cost $35-$40 before taxes.

— Janet L. Farber

Jeff Rosenstock The Slowdown

Tech N9ne The Admiral Theater

June 12 2nd Annual

Baader-Meinhof is open by scheduling an appointment via email: director@baader-meinhof. org.

June 11

June 13

— Matt Casas

This Pride Month, check out the 2nd Annual Drag Brunch, a celebration of great food, drinks, and drag performances at Social in Elkhorn.

June 14-15

Midtown guests can take the bus from Social in the Blackstone District at 12:30 p.m. to get to the Elkhorn Social and then catch a ride back at 5:30 p.m.

Storytelling Experience –

You get unlimited “well” drinks and mimosas from 1-4 p.m., which is good because the show/ brunch runs from 2-4 p.m., then DJ Silkee performs until 6, closing the event.

Musing: A HOME

BlueBarn Theatre

Tickets cost $50.

— Matt Casas

Baader-Meinhof

June 2022

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W PICKS W Seth Fox and friends return for a summer edition of the “Musing” series, a quarterly event at the BlueBarn Theatre that nurtures understanding. Speakers Tina Bakehouse, Amy Becker, Dennis Collins, Jim Milroy, and Alanna Reeves will tackle the complex subject of home.

The event encourages crowd participation. How do you relate to “where we come from, where we end up, and where we fit in?”

Your sharing might inspire someone. Recordings will be available later.

Visit fujita.bandcamp.com for a taste.

June 23

June 23 – July 17

Neko Case with June 18 The Omaha Bendigo Fletcher Freedom The Admiral Festival — Matt Casas

Malcolm X Memorial Foundation

June 16

Fujita

Bemis Center (Proof of vaccination or negative COVID-19 test required)

At 5 p.m., the grounds transform into a music fest. General admittance starts at 7 p.m., and the show at 8. Josh Jones, Raheem DeVaughn, Tink, Changing Faces, Kut Klose, and DJ Chain will share the main stage.

Reserve your free ticket at www.omahafreedomfestival.com.

— Matt Casas Fujita, stylized FUJI||||||||||TA brings his sound art to the Bemis Center. He is a Japanese-based artist known for inventing his instruments and incorporating other non-conventional elements into his act. That includes creating a non-keyboard pipe organ and playing water.

This show is part of the art foundation’s Sound Art + Experimental Music Program, bringing the avant-garde to downtown Omaha from local, national, and international artists.

RSVP online to this free event or watch the public live stream at facebook.com/bemiscenter from 8-9 p.m.

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June 2022

“Shakespeare on the Green” is an outdoor theater series at Elmwood Park showcasing classics from the immortal titular playwright.

Directors include Scott Glasser and Tyrone Beasley. (See a profile of Nebraska Shakespeare Artistic Director Tyrone Beasley on Page 20)

The Omaha Freedom Festival honors Juneteenth, a significant holiday in American history. And the NAACP-aligned event celebrates with music, education, and delicious eats.

One daytime event includes celebrating the 51st year of the Black Studies Department at UNO. Cynthia Robinson will read the Emancipation Proclamation.

Elmwood Park

One from Shakespeare’s late romance period, “The Tempest,” runs June 23-26, July 8, 10, 13, 14 and 16, while “Othello” runs once on June 30, then July 3, 6, 7, 9, 15, and 17.

Shows start at 7:30 p.m., and admission is free. Reserve your ticket at www.bluebarn.org/musing.

— Matt Casas

Shakespeare on the Green

Neko Case is a singer-songwriter in her 22nd year with The New Pornographers. The Canadian indie-rock collective has eight albums under its belt, and if you think she shines there, wait till you hear her solo stuff, coming to the Admiral Theater this month. Bendigo Fletcher, an indie band from Kentucky, will open.

Tickets are $36 before taxes, and $1 from each sold goes to Peer Solutions. Get your tickets in advance for a quality evening of indie tunes. The show starts at 8 p.m., with doors at 7.

— Matt Casas

Elmwood Park and Nebraskan Shakespeare hold fascinating histories, but these stories also connect with modern times. These shows start at noon and cost nothing to attend.

— Matt Casas

Suddenly it all comes together, beautifully…

Momentum

October 15 & 16 Hoff Family Arts & Culture Center

The Nutcracker

November 19 & 20 Hoff Family Arts & Culture Center December 3 & 4 Orpheum Theater

The Wizard of Oz

April 7 Hoff Family Arts & Culture Center May 13 & 14 Orpheum Theater

S E A S O N amballet.org/subscribe (712) 890-5590 • seasontickets@amballet.org

13 June 2022

27

F I L M

I Land in the Stream

The 5 best TV shows I’ve seen lately

by Ryan Syrek

A

s far as conversational crutches go, “Have you watched any good TV lately?” is a trusty query. Provided the person you’re asking doesn’t “Clockwork Orange” cable news all day, it’s about as safe as asking for another human being’s opinion on literally anything gets these days.

We may be moving tentatively away from the anti-halcyon lockdown days when new streaming content was sanity’s life preserver. Still, we need good streaming stuff almost as much as streaming stuff needs us, am I right, Netflix executives? With that in mind, here are my Top 5 answers to your unasked question.

opsized is that a gift-shop clerk with an Egyptian fetish discovers he’s connected to a powerful deity who grants him nebulous fighting and healing powers. He’s gotta stop Ethan Hawke from doing something worse than neglecting Winona Ryder.

It’s always oddly engaging, even if it absolutely cannot settle on a tone. It drunken-masters its way through boilerplate hero origin story, chaotic antihero comedy, and light horror. Marvel and Disney are in such a hurry to make more comic content that long-term plans are like a dismissive Magic 8-Ball: “Reply hazy, try again.” If this is just the start for Moony, fair enough. If this is all we get? “Outlook not so good.”

Grade = B -

5 Moon Knight

#

(Disney+)

Had this Marvel adaptation been condensed to a movie when I was in high school, I’d probably have a “Moon Knight” tattoo.

Instead, the latest MCU entry dropped during the height of the comicbookaissance. This means everyone will say it’s just OK and quickly amend it with “Oscar Isaac was real good though ...”

This is because “Moon Knight” is just OK. Oscar Isaac was real good though ...

The series oddly assumes you aren’t in any way familiar with the character and/or think “googling something” is a dirty euphemism.

The show holds back core elements of this particular superhero as some kind of reveal/surprise, making the bulk of it feel inert despite Isaac giving it all he’s got, Captain. What can safely be syn-

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4 Russian Doll (Net-

#

flix)

The first season of Natasha Lyonne’s magically realistic exploration of self-awareness was a revelation. The second is more “relation” than revelation, in that it digs deep into ancestry, genetic and emotional inheritance, and Krugerrands. This time out, instead of “Groundhog Day”-ing her way through her birthday, Nadia (Lyonne) rides a magic train that takes her into the past in the body of her mother (Chloë Sevigny). And they wonder why nonNew Yorkers are afraid of public transportation …

At first, it looks like the season will be a weird, heisty comedy.

Then it veers and dives deeply into Holocaust issues and shal-

June 2022

lowly into gender and sexuality.

Wildly ambitious, often quite funny, and wholly unexpected, the installment has so much hinging on whether it can wrap everything up in a modestly satisfying fashion. All I’ll say there is that, when I finished episode 7, I was maddened to discover the season does commit the sin of ending on an odd number. Will there be more? I friggin’ hope so. And let’s also hope next time the supporting cast gets a bit more to do than support.

to ask timey-wimey questions.

The danger in “Outer Range” is that it may be too weird for family drama-loving normies and not quite weird enough for rabid science-fictioners (see the next two entries, if this is you). Still, it’s hard not to embrace the show’s kooky genre straddling and Brolin’s gruff charisma. Does this feel like a series designed to leave viewers high-and-dry awaiting answers that never come?

Grade = A-

Grade = B

2 Raised by

#

3 Outer Range

#

(Amazon Prime)

I didn’t know that I had always wanted a goateed Josh Brolin screaming “What the F?” while staring into a time chasm in the middle of a pasture. But I did. I really did! The show absolutely feels like someone wrote “Lost + Yellowstone = $” on a dry erase board. Dammit, they’re not wrong about that.

Brolin is Royal Abbott, a truly great obnoxious character name for a patriarch in a Western sci-fi show. One day, Royal discovers the aforementioned gaping hole through time in his yard. So happens that very same day, his dipshit kids, Rhett (Lewis Pullman) and Perry (Tom Pelphrey), do an oopsie. That oopsie involves a corpse. The whole first season is a very weird blend of crime drama, as Deputy Sheriff Joy (Tamara Podemski) inches toward solving the murder, and “Twilight Zone,” as an alleged drifter named Autumn (Imogen Poots) shows up

Wolves

(HBO Max) Bonkers weirdo religious scifi is a rare delicacy, and “Raised

by Wolves” has been a damned feast. I have almost no idea how to recap the events of the second season without sounding like the person who has consumed the most peyote. The show picks up with the android deathbot Mother (Amanda Collin) and her less violence-inclined partner, Father (Abubakar Salim), trying to integrate with a colony of human survivors on a grumpy planet with flying snakes and such.

Marcus (Travis Fimmel) and Sue (Niamh Algar) continue their journey in service of what they believe to be a benevolent space deity. Meanwhile, young Campion (Winta McGrath) remains annoying as hell. This season has everything: Reverse crucifixions, mermaid baby snatchers, and murder botany, which is that thing when a person becomes a fruit-bearing tree. Please know

F I L M enough while clocked in. But the newbie, Helly (Britt Lower), is … not having a good time. Helly’s resistance, and the mysterious disappearance of the gang’s former coworker, Petey (Yul Vazquez), lead to everyone asking questions. This doesn’t please boss lady Harmony Cobel (Patricia Arquette), nor the unseen “board of directors” at Lumon.

that this is all much, much weirder than I’m making it sound.

And that’s great! Because sci-fi costs so much to realistically produce, we typically get only the safe stuff that’s likely to appeal to the masses. “Dune” is one of the best-selling books of all time, but it took like 60 years to get a good movie from it because it’s mildly trippy. “Raised by Wolves” is purposeful madness. Every hallucinatory element is remarkably thoughtful and revelatory upon reflection. No way it gets a season 3, right?

Grade = A

1 Severance

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(Apple TV+)

The most addictive show I’ve seen in the last decade, “Severance” isn’t good, it is “Google reddit theories” brilliant. At the point where I’m screen-grabbing images to translate Latin phrases that appear on license plates,

If you loved “Lost” but wished that it also reminded you that you murder half (or more) of yourself every day in the name of capitalism, Apple TV+ has a show for you!

IMAGE Apple TV+’s “Severance” you know I’ve fallen into the kind of obsession that doesn’t come along often enough. The burn is slow here, to be sure, but once you are afire, you won’t want to stop, drop, or roll.

Mark (Adam Scott) is a sad-sack office drone who lost his wife in an accident. In his grief, he opted

for a weird solution: Split himself in two. Lumon, a suspicious company, requires its employees to be “severed” using a computer chip in the brain. This means workers do not remember anything about their lives outside of work and vice versa. Mark’s long-time colleagues, Dylan (Zach Cherry) and Irving (John Tuturro), seem happy

Delivering the absolutely perfect blend of answers and more questions, “Severance” is so profoundly satisfying. Every episode feels like progress without exposition dumping. Each character emotionally resonates to the point where “answers” aren’t even the point. What “The Good Place” was for ethics, “Severance” is for existentialism. Y’all, it is so, so very good. Weird how Apple TV+ went for quality over quantity, and it’s totally working out.

Isn’t that a bummer, Netflix executives?

Grade = A+

June 2022

29

F I L M

Another Dimension, New Galaxy, Intergalactic, Kinda Scary?

‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ is a spooky, cosmic jam

by Ryan Syrek

T

he Marvel Cinematic Universe is now into double-digit hours of whacking the pinata of grief that is Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) with a trauma stick. On the one hand, repetitive moral injury comes with the gig, as all superheroes are basically Job in spandex. On the other hand, women are, in fact, allowed to have motivations that extend beyond maternal and romantic concerns.

control her power until given the right pep talk. The Scarlet Witch learns no lesson that wasn’t explicitly, repeatedly taught to her in “Wandavision.” Poor Doc S, once again, is just a human plot device. To be fair, everyone in the movie talks only in lines of exposition or explicitly reveals their inner motivations.

Although the movie is a great deal of fun and a unique, creepy atmospheric tweak on the MCU, what a waste that Wanda’s full, formal heel nobody seems interested in If you like your doctors strange and your multiverses turn in “Doctor Strange in the unpacking Doctor Strange at mad, I have just the very best news for you. It’s witch vs.

Multiverse of Madness” isn’t all. Why not drill down into sorcerer action time!

IMAGE: Disney/Marvel’s “Doctor Strange unexpected so much as it is this arrogant dingus who in the Multiverse of Madness”. uninspired and upsetting. It’s “learned a lesson” about huessentially two hours of “No! bris when he lost his surgical Not mah babies!” after 9 hours of wakes from a nightmare in which and a little less “Carrie.” skills and then gained the pow“No! Not mah husband!” in “Wan- he tries to murder a teenage girl Spoilerific cameos aside, “Mul- er of a god? Have we solved the daVision.” It’s not easy to set aside and dies at the hand of a blob- tiverse of Madness” is at its best problem of malignant narcissism a fundamental betrayal of the fe- by demon, he soon finds himself when it lets director Sam Raimi do recently or something? Equally male superhero with the most having to save said teenage girl, his cornball, scary schtick. From frustrating is how Strange is never screen time during this entire America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez), reanimated superhero corpses given a chance to go on regular 15-year comic book movie boom from a blobby demon. to a fashionable cape made from adventures or explore the boundtime. But if you can Elsa that fact, Turns out the blobby demon souls of the damned, the more aries of mysticism. He just has to you’ll find a jaunty, campy horror works for Wanda, now fully The silly-spooky things get, the more keep cleaning up other superheriff that happens to feature Doctor Scarlet Witch, who is willing to the movie justifies its existence. roes’ poopies. When can Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), murder a youth to acquire the Because from a character devel- Strange have his own poopies?! a character seemingly hated as power to travel between realities. opment standpoint, this mulSome questions may forever remuch by everyone inside his mov- Her “plan,” and that is meant in tidimensional monstrosity has main unanswered. These include ies as he is by those who make the fully quotation-marked sense no purpose. Nobody grows or the moment in the film when them. of that word, is to use evil magic changes as a person so much as someone says “This isn’t sorcery.

The notion that dreams are win- to replace a Wanda in a universe they endure a series of whackadoo It’s witchcraft.” Does anydows into alternate universes isn’t where her kids ain’t totes dead. scenarios, emerging “changed” one know what the hell a new idea, but nobody has had Doctor Strange is against this. The because the plot says they were. that means? one of those since the invention of entirety of the movie is him trying America, in particular, gets to keep America safe while getting Sour Patch Kids. Sweet and sour? totally neglected. Her arc apparGrade = B+ You crazy kids. After Doc Strange Wanda to be a little more caring ently consists of not being able to

Other Critic al Voices to ConsideR Jennifer Heaton of Alternative Lens says: “At its worst though, it brought to mind ‘The Rise of Skywalker’; a technically well-made movie but one that focuses on plot and spectacle to the detriment of everything else.”

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Angelica Jade Bastién at Vulture says: “After all, grotesquery isn’t solely about the images but what message they’re communicating. The message here: All this murder and insanity is the result of one woman and her des-

June 2022

perate need to have (imaginary) kids.”

Carla Hay at Culture Mix says: “The movie also repeats a theme of the main characters looking for their definition of happiness. More than

once in ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,’ someone is asked, ‘Are you happy?’ And then it’s followed with some version of saying, ‘Are you really happy? Don’t lie to me because I can tell you’re not really happy.’”

F I L M

CUTTING ROOM

by Ryan Syrek

Nobody tell Zuckerberg but Alejandro G. Iñárritu may have found a way to make virtual reality more than the next gross social media cash grab.

IMAGE from “Carne y Arena”, a VR short film distributed

by Legendary Pictures.



With apologies to Jamiroquai, no oversized hats are involved with our first local news item that extensively features “virtual sanity.” Starting June 9, KANEKO art gallery is using virtual reality (VR) to share something that is regular reality for too many. In partnership with Emerson Collective, PHI Studio, Legendary Entertainment, and Fondazione Prada, a VR experience from director Alejandro G. Iñárritu will finally hit Omaha. “Carne y Arena,” which offers an immersive look at the plight of Central American and Mexican refugees, was screened at Cannes and features cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki. This thing won a special Oscar “in recog-

nition of a visionary and powerful experience in storytelling” in 2017, when people talked about the Academy Awards for awards-based reasons. I have never shilled for a VR product in my damn life, but you best believe I want to strap on some “Lawnmower Man” goggles for this.



Brunch is the most fabulous meal of the day, and Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Omaha has two wildly different June offerings to feast upon. The first is on June 4, when you can attend Not Another Drag Brunch, and why wouldn’t you? The show starts at 10 a.m. and features Lucy Roxia (who loves “Scream”), Cassandra E. Principle (who describes herself as

“classy, sassy, and smart-assy”), and Fantasia Garcia (who was Miss Gay Omaha 2017). It also presumably features brunch.

But if you’d prefer your events a lot more heteronormative, you can watch “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” at a brunch with your dad on June 19. You can talk about things like bacon and how cool punching Nazis is. Of course, I am being reductive in my comedy, because the real move here is to go to both.

Nobody should have to choose between drag queens and Indiana Jones.



Film Streams wants in on the groovy June cinema activities, too: On June 7 at 6:30 p.m. at the Ruth Sokolof Theater, you can get kinky! Boots. You can

watch “Kinky Boots,” the movie that spawned the Tony-winning musical that runs at the Omaha Community Playhouse (OCP) until June 26. After the screening, join a panel discussion with OCP’s Stephen Santa (artistic director, and director of “Kinky Boots”), Lindsay Pape (costume designer) and Roderick Tilmon (Lola in “Kinky Boots”). You can ask them questions like “How kinky should boots safely be?” or “How do I make these boots even kinkier?” You can also see costumes from the production on display in the lobby, but you cannot wear them even if you ask very, very nicely. Then, on June 14 at 6:30 p.m., also at the Ruth Sokolof Theater, you can watch the latest Science on Screen entry: “After Yang.”

The film features Colin Farrell and robots, but not in the way that some of you want. A post-screening discussion will feature Dr. Yuliya Lierler and Dr. Beth Lyon from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. They will discuss memory and artificial intelligence. You can ask them questions like “Are we all living in a simulation?” and “How can you be sure we’re not?” and “Can you please reboot the last few years?”

Cutting Room provides breaking local and national movie news … complete with added sarcasm. Send relevant information to Ryan (film@thereader.com) and follow him on The Reader Film Twitter feed: https://twitter.com/thereaderfilm

June 2022

31

M U S I C

Hot Time,

Summer in the City

The Concert Scene Promises to Turn Up the Heat in the Big O

by Matt Casas

A

nother season of summer music is here, and Omaha is ready to party. This year, choose from upward of 50 top-notch shows – with more added to The Reader's online event calendar daily.

Plan your summer right with these local and national acts from June through September.

Find mainstay events and under-the-radar shindigs alike – some are free, while others support local venues and artists.

It all adds up to a new soundtrack and what promises to be an unforgettable summer.

8 p.m. show, doors at 7 The Slowdown $17-$20 A night of pure instrumental bliss: Massachusetts post-rock band Caspian plays the penultimate show from their U.S. tour in Omaha, featuring Arms and Sleepers (San Francisco) and Lucida Dark (Omaha).

June 11

Stay hydrated out here!

June June 8

Caspian, Arms and Sleepers, and Lucida Dark 32

Asking Alexandria, with Atreyu 7 p.m. show, doors at 6 The Admiral Theater $39.50-$45-$75

Asking Alexandria is a British hard-rock band that released their seventh studio album, “See What’s On The Inside,” in 2021.

California alt-metal band Atreyu also released new music in 2021, their eighth album, entitled “Baptize.”

June 2022

June 15

CHVRCHES

8 p.m. show, doors at 7 The Admiral Theater $35-$70 Scottish band CHVRCHES has driven the synth-pop genre through a decade of indie electronic pop bangers since 2012’s “The Mother We Share.” The trio’s latest album is “Screen Violence” (2021). Found on Facebook page.

July

Bright Eyes with Hurray for the Riff Raff

Full Vaccination or negative test within 72 hours and masks required unless eating or drinking 8 p.m. shows, doors at 7 The Admiral Theater $39.50-$75 Breakout indie stars from Omaha, Bright Eyes, for two nights in a row, bring a proper tour for “Down in the Weeds Where the World Once Was” to a home stage. New Orleans folk band Hurray for the Riff Raff joins the two-night-only finale to the U.S. leg of the tour.

July 6

July 2-3

The Acacia Strain with Malevolence,

M U S I C

I AM, and 156/Silence 7 p.m.

The Waiting Room $18-$20

Turner Park Free

You can’t kill the metal: Massachusetts metalcore band Acacia Strain has released ten albums since 2002, their latest being “Slow Decay” (2020). Found on Facebook page.

Naughty Professor is a New Orleans-based, six-piece jazz and funk band known for their danceable instrumental music.

Their latest record is their fourth, entitled “Identity” (2017), and their latest song is “Good Things” (2022).

July 14

August 11

Jazz on the Green:

Lakecia Benjamin Jazz on the Green:

7:30 show, pre-show at 6:30

Fest, with The Beat Seekers, Glow In The Dark, J Crum and more 5:30 p.m. start, doors at 4 The Waiting Room and Reverb Lounge $15-$20, all-ages

The second annual Four Winds will showcase 20 underground rock and hip-hop artists at two venues for one high-octane night of quality, Midwest-based music.

September September 14

Rhythm Collective 7:30 show, pre-show at 6:30 Turner Park Free

Rhythm Collective is an Omaha Entertainment Award-winning reggae and calypso band consisting of Joseph Mitchell (vocals, keyboards, and guitar), Frank Fong (bassist), Brent Vignery (drums), and John Green (guitar).

August August 4

Jazz on the Green:

Naughty Professor 7:30 show, pre-show at 6:30

September 25

Dinosaur Jr. 8 p.m. show, doors at 7 The Waiting Room $27-$30

Massachusetts alt-rock trio Dinosaur Jr. is known for the gritty voice and grungy guitar solos of its songwriter, J. Mascis, backed

by Lou Barlow (bass) and Murph (drums). They have released 12 albums since 1985, and their latest record is “Sweep It Into Space” (2021).

September 26 Turner Park Free N ew Yo r k- b a s e d L a k e c i a Benjamin is a saxophone artist known for her transgressive jazz, funk, and blues style. Her latest album is “Pursuance: The Coltranes” (2021), the artist’s take on the legendary John Coltrane.

August 13

Four Winds Music & Art

Sunny Day Real Estate with Appleseed Cast 8 p.m. show, doors at 7 The Admiral Theater $32-$35-$75

Novo Amor

8 p.m. show, doors at 7 The Slowdown $25-$40 Novo Amor is a Welsch-based musical project fronted by multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter Ali Lacey. His latest record is his second, entitled “Cannot Be, whatsoever” (2020).

The genre-defining emo band Sunny Day Real Estate from Seattle announced their first tour in 12 years this May. The Appleseed Cast (Lawrence, Kan.) will join the epic reunion across 24 U.S. cities – their latest record is their ninth, “The Fleeting Light of Impermanence” (2019).

June 2022

33

M U S I C

Festivals Are Music to Our Ears

Metro Omaha Prepares for the Sounds of Maha, Petfest and Outlandia

by Courtney Bierman

O

maha is gearing up for a full calendar of live music this summer. Annual events are regaining their footing, new venues are opening and familiar festivals are rebranding.

Maha

Maha can be seen as having laid the groundwork for the city’s up-and-coming festival scene.

Two years after Maha had to cancel its 2020 production, the annual music festival is easing back into normalcy. The 2022 festival will again take place over two days in Stinson Park at Aksarben (festivities were limited to a single night in 2021). Community Village, the section of the festival dedicated to Omaha nonprofits, is back, too.

“This year, we are expecting more than 1,000 people to come together to make the

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festival happen,” said Rachel Grace, Maha’s executive director of communications and strategy. “And so that’s really kind of like what matters when you think about putting this festival on and who’s behind it, and kind of like the magic behind it. It’s really all of those different hands in it that make it so special.”

Maha will take place on July 29-30, Khruangbin basks in the glow of the spotlights during the 2021 Maha featuring headlinFestival. Photo by Ben Semisch ers Car Seat Headrest and Beach time festival volunteer Michaeright, awesome. So we brought House. National acts including la Kanoski. “The reason I keep them back this year to headline Indigo De Souza, Pup, Princess coming back are definitely the Friday night. And they put on Nokia and Geese fill out the lineother lead volunteers, but other an amazing show … We think up, with Marcey Yates and DomMaha family members that we they’re gonna bring a lot of that inique Morgan representing the have for sure.” spirit to Maha stage.” local music scene.

Kanoski is a key volunteer The 2021 festival recruited “These acts are really, realwith the Community Village 600 volunteers to handle only hot right now, and they’re initiative, reviewing nonprofthe-ground operations. They’re gonna, I think, blow everybody it applications and marketing compensated with free tickets away,” Grace said. the festival to the philanthropic and merch. This year, organizers community. Eighteen organizaare hoping for 1,000, making Car Seat Headrest last pertions will have booths at Maha it one of the largest volunteer formed at Maha in 2016, when this year to showcase their work events in the city. they were a fan favorite. and provide free activities.

“The Maha volunteers are “We usually ask in our “I think it’s just like a heartgenuinely just a giant family, and [post-festival] survey, like, who warming part of the festival,” so each piece kind of relates to did you come to see? And a lot Kanoski said. “Tons of the philthe greater picture of the overall of people said Car Seat Headanthropic organizations in Omafestival experience,” said longrest,” Grace said. “We’re like, all

June 2022

M U S I C if they can play Petfest,” Schmieder said. “It’s definitely one of those things where people are longing to play this thing every year ... So it’s becoming a bigger and bigger thing for sure.”

ha have been part of the festival.

And I love that we get so much feedback later about, like, ‘Oh, I connected with this organization,’ or ‘Now I volunteer for this organization,’ or ‘Organizations have started partnering in other things because of the festival.’

So it’s just like this, you know, resource that just happens to be at a music festival.”

Schmieder’s philosophy in booking acts is to pursue the bands whose music he is interested in. Hide is one of his favorites.

The 13th Maha Festival is arriving in a more crowded summer music season than before. Grace said Maha can be seen as having helped to make room for more, similar events. Besides, it’s not as if there’s a finite amount of space.

The water is warm, she said.

“It’s not something that happens overnight, right?” Grace said. “Like, ‘Did you know Omaha’s actually a really cool place?’

You know, this is some of the feedback that we get. And I think that that kind of reputation being built up over the 14 years of Maha’s existence definitely helps more festivals enter the scene.

We think it’s such an awesome thing. To be able to have multiple pillars of things to look forward to in the summer is amazing, and we’re super excited.”

Tickets can be purchased and more information found at mahafestival.org. General admission passes start at $35 for a single day.

Petfest

“I was like, ‘Well, screw it, I’m just gonna shoot my shot, see if I can get them,’” Schmieder said.

“And when they wrote back and they’re like, ‘Wow, this seems really cool. Yeah, we’d love to be a part of it,’ when that happened I kind of lost my shit a little bit.”

Portland-based solo artist Amulets will co-headline Petfest. Photo courtesy of Amulets fest is an offshoot of Sweatfest, a similar event put on through the Sweatshop Gallery, the precursor to BFF’s Petshop Gallery.

Schmieder, who also books shows at The Sydney in Benson, wanted to bring back Sweatfest.

He went to BFF and pitched his vision.

“I just kind of was like, ‘Well, I can do this. I would like to do this. I would like to keep that going,’” Schmieder said. “They were all in for that. And so I booked with a bunch of bands.

From there, it’s just become crazy, gnarly thing where we do it every year.”

Petfest 2022 will take place on Aug. 13 outside the Petshop Gallery at 2725 N. 62nd St. Headliners are Portland-based solo artist Amulets and Chicago-based electronic duo Hide. Local acts include DJ Crabrangucci and singer-songwriter and Petfest fixture Mike Schlesinger.

Where Maha is city-wide in scope, Petfest in Benson is neighborhood-focused.

Petfest, in its fifth year, is the brainchild of Zach Schmieder and Annie Butler, who have worked for the festival’s parent organization Benson First Friday (BFF) in various capacities. Pet-

This will be Petfest’s biggest year, Schmieder said — though he acknowledged he says that every year. The festival typically attracts between 350 and 500 attendees. But word is spreading now more than ever, and the festival is picking up steam.

“Before I even started working on a lineup, I have people coming out of the woodwork to ask

Butler said the priority selecting bands that support BFF’s mission as a nonprofit.

“At the end of the day, it is still a fundraiser,” she said. She cited Schlesinger as an example, an Omaha favorite who doesn’t do many live engagements.

“That [he] even wants to, you

Together again!

Back Sundays IN PERSON @ 10:50 am ONLINE via Facebook

We WILL NOT be resuming other activities.

Masks & social distancing will be required.

7020 Cass Street 402.556.6262 www.fumcomaha.org

June 2022

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M U S I C Park. Ariann Anderson, who’s working on Outlandia’s social media and branding — she joked that her unofficial title is “director of vibes” — said the festival is the result of some of the organziers’ favorite bands going on tour at the same time.

“Many of the organizers have been involved in the music business in town for decades, literally. And collectively for even longer than that,” Anderson said.

“And they’ve all kind of had a dream lineup. That one day if, you know, the stars all align correctly, they would love to have bands, A, B, C, D. And the stars just sort of aligned correctly this year.”

The drummer for Chew gets her groove on during the 2021 Petfest shindig. Photo by Katy Cowell know, we’re only able to offer so much money to them, but he’s supporting BFF. And, like, that’s what matters. So, like, of course we’re gonna invite him back every year.”

Butler said something that sets Petfest apart from other area music festivals is that all of its organizers are doing it as a side gig, a passion project. Most of them have full-time jobs.

“It’s DIY-run, it’s grassroots,” Butler said. “You know, it’s unlike any of the other festivals. We’re kind of just doing this from the ground up.”

Petfest is the Omaha music festival for those with an aversion to huge crowds and parking fees — neither of which you’ll find in Benson on Aug. 13.

“There’s a lot of people who don’t want to go to huge festivals,” Schmieder said. “But that’s why we want to offer something smaller for the community and for the neighborhood and for just Omaha in general.”

Petfest tickets run $30 in advance and $35 on the day of the show. Visit BFFomaha.org for more information and to buy passes.

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Outlandia In its inaugural year, Outlandia is the Omaha metro’s newest music festival. The two-night event in and around Falconwood Park in Bellevue kicks off Aug. 12 with headliner The National. Wilco takes the stage Aug. 13.

Outlandia arguably has the biggest names of this summer’s slate. Band of Horses, Silversun Pickups, Local Natives and Margo Price help to round out the lineup with Omaha musicians Mesonjixx and Clarence Tilton opening on respective days.

Omaha’s 1% Productions (which is celebrating its 25th birthday this year) is behind Outlandia in partnership with Falconwood

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In other words, the bands came before the festival.

“The dream of putting these headliners together and bringing this collection, this curated collection of artists and musicians together — yeah, that happened before the festival itself happened,” Anderson said.

Though 1% has been putting on concerts in Omaha for two-and-a-half decades, a music festival is unfamiliar territory, particularly in the middle of a pandemic when entire tours can be canceled at the drop of a hat. Things were touch and go for a while.

“To watch the way that the Outlandia lineup came together was, it was dramatic,” Anderson

said. “There were a handful of artists that we originally, maybe, had on the lineup that ended up not being able to do it. But we got so lucky that once it all came together, again, like a game of Tetris, all the pieces just clicked into place beautifully. And it was a big, giant aha moment when we were able to look at those 12 acts together and say, ‘This looks really fun.’”

With single-day tickets selling for $79, Outlandia is by far the priciest festival of the three.

Part of the price tag is due to the 160-acre festival grounds, which include Falconwood and the old Salvation Army campground adjacent to it. There will be food trucks and vendors in an “Outlandia Bazaar.” Anderson promises an immersive experience with an “adult summer day-camp feel.”

“A music festival is so much more than just the music,” she said. “It’s the experience. And I personally am going to ensure that it is above and beyond, that it’s an outlandish experience for everyone whether they are there to see the concert or whether they’re there to play for the concertgoers. I’m excited about making this something that’s just a little outside of the ordinary.”

Visit outlandiafestival.com for tickets and more information.

The National will headline the the two-night Outlandia festival in and around Falconwood Park in Bellevue. Photo by Graham MacIndoe

I N

M E M O R I A M

Brad Ashford

November 10, 1949 – April 19, 2022 A life in politics invariably nets allies and adversaries, victories and defeats. In a long career, politico Brad Ashford switched parties multiple times, won election to the Nebraska Legislature and U.S. House of Representatives, lost bids for reelection and election to other offices, and made controversial endorsements. Upon his death, however, a political scorecard wasn’t remembered as much as a legacy of unselfish public service admired by colleagues from all sides of the aisle.

Standard political labels didn’t easily define Ashford, a progressive moderate who could drift to the left or right on certain issues, though like most Americans he could best be described as a centrist. Finding consensus or common ground became his modus operandi in and out of office.

The Omaha native was born into a family of business and civic leaders. His father, Don Ashford, earned a Distinguished Flying Cross as a bomber pilot during World War II. His maternal grandfather, Otto Swanson, owned the Nebraska Clothing Company. In response to bias against minorities, Swanson helped form the Midlands chapter of the National Conference of Christians and Jews (now called Inclusive Communities). After graduating from Westside High School in Omaha, Brad Ashford earned his undergraduate degree at Colgate University and law degree at Creighton University. He interned for then-Sen. Roman Hruska of Nebraska. Ashford lawyered for the Federal Highway Administration

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M E M O R I A M

To place In Memoriams in The Reader (print & website), go to TheReader.com/in-memoriam

before opening a private practice. The family clothing company remained part of his interests even after he entered political life in the 1980s, eventually becoming co-owner in the 1990s.

He served two stints in the Nebraska Unicameral. He represented the 6th District from 1987 to 1995 and the 20th District from 2007 to 2015. His lone term in Congress came from 2015 to 2017, representing the 2nd Congressional District.

His noted gift for collaboration and earnest search for solutions was recalled by Republicans, Democrats and Independents across government, business, human services and other arenas.

Survivors include his wife, Ann Ferlic Ashford, and three children.

— Leo Adam Biga

Sr. Marilyn Ross

March 23, 1939 – April 14, 2022 Mention Omaha affordable housing and Habitat for Humanity likely comes to mind. But another player in the market is Holy Name Housing Corporation. Sister Marilyn Ross was the face of that nonprofit for three decades, 27 years as CEO, during which time it invested $65 million into inner-city housing.

A life of service was in the cards for Ross, who grew up the eldest of 11 children in Kansas City, Mo., where she was educated by Sisters of Mercy. A love affair with the order saw her enter the community in 1958, professing first vows in 1961 and final vows in 1966. Following studies at the College of Saint Mary in Omaha and the University of Missouri at Kansas City, she taught high school English for two decades in the Midwest and on the West Coast. She returned to Omaha as recruiting director for the Sisters of Mercy.

By the early 1980s, little single-family housing development was happening in northeast Omaha. She saw Holy Name Housing, formed in 1982 by two parish priests and a parishioner, as a way to improve the quality of life for residents and revive declining neighborhoods. She began as development director in 1983.

Under her leadership, the organization transitioned from rehabbing old homes to building new homes for low- to moderateincome clients, eventually acting as its general contractor. Over time, it worked with the federal low-income housing tax-credit program to keep rents affordable with the idea of tenants one day being homeowners.

Submit Private Party In Memoriam

Ross made homeownership education a requirement for participation.

Submit an online In Memoriam (starting at $50) or a print In Memoriam (starting at $30) with The Reader. We make placing In Memoriams online an effortless experience.

Her nonprofit’s work in the Monmouth Park, Prospect Hill and Highlander neighborhoods, among others, and on the former St. Richard’s campus revitalized areas otherwise ignored.

We Remember Digital Memorial

Ross was recognized with the Dorothy Day Peacemaker of the Year Award from Pax Christi USA; special mention from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; a tribute from the Omaha YWCA; and the Mother Qualberta Award from the Notre Dame Sisters of Omaha. She’s a Holy Name Hall of Fame inductee.

We Remember is a free, digital memorial that is created and maintained forever when an obituary is submitted through In Memoriams. The family has complete control over content and privacy. We Remember gives you one place to collect and share memories to paint a rich picture of your loved one’s life.

She’s survived by several siblings.

— Leo Adam Biga

To submit, go to thereader.com/in-memoriam.

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C R O S S W O R D

Outside Help

AnswerS in next month’s issue or online at TheReader.com

— in with the assist —

by Matt Jones

Across 1. Goes with the flow?

5. Swing your arms around like Kermit 10. Has no presence 14. Snack that turned 110 in March

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52. Solidarity 53. Commotions 54. Pac-12 team 55. Joeys and other jumpers 57. “___ giorno!”

(Italian for “good morning!”)

58. Swab on a stick

47. Advice to those 35. Specialty of Lenny not wishing to win Bruce or Jimmy Carr completely 38. Compete like gold 49. “How foolish ___!” medalists Momiji Nishiya and Keegan 50. M&M variety Palmer 54. It holds a lot of 39. Name in machinecoffee made frozen drinks 56. Scam Tracker agcy.

40. Uruguayan currency 58. Div. of a fiscal year 42. Commedia dell’___ 59. “It’s ___-win 43. Gal on screen situation”

65. Weather report stats 4. Show sorrow

13. “Jurassic Park” dinosaur, for short

61. Snake that bit Cleopatra

66. Fade out, like a light 5. Round item in a bag lunch 18. The “R” of NASCAR’s 63. One-fifth of MMV 67. Picture, in old RFK Racing 64. Part of a Bored Ape product names 6. Aberdeen teen collection, e.g.

23. Physicians, 68. Quickly, on memos 7. Retired tennis star informally © 2022 Matt Jones Barty 69. Throw barbs (at) 26. Steal, with “with” 8. Suffix meaning 70. Chest contents “residents” 28. Place referenced in AnsweR to last month’s “Point of the “Black Panther” 9. “Candle in the Wind No Return” sequel’s title 1997” dedicatee, A L O N G A R C T A T U M M O V E R D U O A C U T E familiarly 30. Signs of the future F L E W U N D E R T H E R A D 1. Recent Canadian O L D P R O N H S M A R C A P R A M E “Jeopardy!” super- 10. “Big Blue” company 31. Perez who did a R E C R E A T I O N A L K A Y 45. Switches around the 60. Best Picture winner guest voice on “Dora AF LL OL W ST H OT RE PT E R SE UD MI OD champ Mattea kids’ room?

11. Computer audio of 2022 D E N I S E O N E F E T A the Explorer” I N S T R U M E N T A L S O L installation 2. Come up T I L A P E 62. Offer that may bring M O W A C U R A S E E K A 32. Bucking horse A W H O L E N O T H E R L E V 12. Overly curious you a lot 3. Thin ice, say I S O M O L T O H E A R T

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June 2022

T A M

T Y S O N

C O M I C S Garry Trudeau

JeffREY Koterba

Jen Sorensen

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H O O D O O

Blues in the Air

Festivals Are Here and Outdoor Music Is Heating Up, Including BSO Thursdays Taking Over the Spacious Beer Garden at Rathskeller Bier Haus

by B.J. Huchtemann

T

he Soaring Wings Winery hosts its annual blues festival Saturday, June 4.

Lil’ Ed & the Blues Imperials have been announced as the new headliner to replace the John Németh Band. Lil’ Ed and his band are a long-standing Chicago blues act and local audience favorites. The 18th annual Soaring Wings Wine, Blues, Beer & Hot Air Balloon Festival opens at 4 p.m. June 4 with music starting at 5:30. Saturday’s schedule offers Kansas City’s Stone Cutters Union (5:30 p.m.), New Jersey’s Matt O’Ree Band (7 p.m.), and Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials (8:30 p.m.) followed by a jam session with players from the various bands.

Admission is $30 -- $20 for ages 12–20. Children 11 and under are free when accompanied by an adult. For details go to omahablues.com.

Longtime Memphis-based blues musician John Németh was diagnosed in late April with a “benign but aggressive tumor” in his lower jaw, according to the GoFundMe account set up to assist him. An award-winning vocalist and harmonica player, he and his family are faced with costs of a complicated medical procedure that his insurance has declined to cover. For information and updates, search for “Go Fund John’s Jaw” at gofundme.com or visit facebook.com/ johnnemethfanpage.

BSO Presents Rathskeller Residency The weekly BSO Presents Thursday early shows move to the Rathskeller Bier Haus, 4524 Farnam St., for “Biergarten

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Blues” in the beer garden during June. All June shows feature a BluesEd youth band at 5:30 p.m. as the opening act. Travis is up June 2. Scott Ellison Band takes the stage June 9. Brandon Miller Band plugs in June 16. Gracie Curran & the High Falutin’ Band entertain June 23.

Keeshea Pratt Band performs June 30. The BSO series takes a break in July while Jazz on the Green offers its annual Thursday night shows.

Zoo Bar Turns 49

Gracie Curran & the High Falutin’ Band play the BSO Presents series at Rathskeller’s beer garden Thursday, June 23, and hit Lincoln’s Zoo Bar at 5 p.m. Friday, June 24. Photo courtesy graciecurran.com

The BluesEd youth performance program is an award-winning musician development program. All bands play in a BluesEd Showcase at Slowdown on Sunday, June 12, 4 p.m.

Find out more at facebook.com/ bluesed and bluesed.com.

Music for the City Playing With Fire promoter Jeff Davis’ other free concert series, Music for the City, offers the second of four free summer concerts Saturday, June 11, at the Dam Bar & Grill on Miller’s Landing at the River City Star.

Headlining the night is the JW Jones Band from Canada. The charismatic guitarist has earned multiple Canadian music awards and nominations. Jones’ other band, the HOROJO Trio, won the International Blues Challenge in 2020, and Jones received the Gibson Guitarist Award for best guitarist in the band category.

Canada’s Lucas Haneman Express leads up to the main act.

They are two-time winners of the Ottawa Blues Challenge and

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2018 Maple Blues nominees.

Omaha’s own Jeremy Mercy & the Rapture Orphans, a new project from “Hoodoo” favorite Mercy, is also featured. Mercy is a fine songwriter who fills his sets with raw, rockin’ high-energy. BluesEd band Us and Them kicks off the music at 4:30 p.m. See musicforthecity.net.

Playing With Fire returns with two two-night free events July 15-16 and August 12-13 at Turner Park at Midtown Crossing.

Find out more at playingwithfireomaha.net.

Summer Arts Fest Also on Saturday, June 11, 7 p.m., the Summer Arts Festival features national blues artist Veronica Lewis as the music headliner. Lewis was recognized in the 2022 Blues Music Awards with nominations for Best Emerging Artist Album and Instrumentalist Piano. Keep an eye on summerarts.org/music for the complete free music schedule.

The Summer Arts Fest runs June 10-12 and has moved to the AkSarBen Village area.

Lincoln’s historic Zoo Bar celebrates its 49th anniversary Friday and Saturday, June 8-9, with its annual outdoor street festival.

Since the first announcement the schedule has changed slightly with Bobby Rush moving to Friday, 9 p.m., and Booker T. set for Saturday, 9 p.m. There are likely to be extra-excellent bookings in the club in the week leading to the show. Find the latest June shows plus festival information at zoobar.com or facebook. com/zoobarblues.

Hot Notes Texas’ acclaimed western-swing band Asleep at the Wheel is scheduled for the Scottish Rite Hall on Friday, June 3, doors 7 p.m. Some interesting shows are on tap at the Westfair Amphitheatre this summer, including Turnpike Troubadours with Steve Earle & the Dukes and Old ’97s on Friday, June 10, 6 p.m. Neko Case is scheduled to perform at The Admiral (formerly Sokol Auditorium) Thursday, June 23, 8 p.m.

Find details for all three shows at onepercentproductions.com.

Rockin’ Johnny Burgin brings his jazzy jump-blues to The Jewell on Friday, June 10, 6-9 p.m.

The Sunday Roadhouse series presents Chicago’s The Claudettes on Sunday, June 19, 5 p.m., at Waiting Room. The band gets praise for their “garage cabaret” sound and impeccable musicianship. Tickets available at sundayroadhouse.com. Get a preview at theclaudettes.com.

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The Survivors

These Are the Bands That Made It Through COVID-19

by Tim McMahan

L

ong before COVID-19, as part of its annual Music Issue, The Reader used to put together a Top 20 list of the area’s best bands. The creation of said list was one of the funnest processes I underwent with the staff, a product of much backand-forth grousing among the various music beat reporters, hosted over drinks at a bar.

To put this in perspective, there was a time when The Reader had a full-time music editor as well as five or six writers who contributed to a music section that included at least two full-length band features, concert previews, a listings calendar, two music columns and CD reviews (remember those?). I, along with a couple of other writers, covered indie music.

Violenteer, May 4, 2022

it’s getting thicker. The last issue was a veritable buttslapper weighing in at 56 pages (combined with our Spanish-language sister publication, El Perico). So when it came time to put together this year’s Music Issue, which you hold in your hands (digitally or otherwise), we attempted to bring back the Top 20 list.

seeing it in the number of new venues sprouting up around town, covered in this issue. But more importantly, we’re seeing it in the talent performing on those stages.

But at the end of the day for whatever reason, it didn’t happen. We had a writer who didn’t want to participate (it’s too divisive!) and simply not enough contributors familiar with the broad range of genres reflected in our city’s music scene.

So, instead of a Top 20 list, I’m offering a postCOVID survivors list of acts that have made it through the pandemic and continue to be active in the music scene. As I began ticking through the acts, I realized the list would have been way too long to cut down to a mere 20, and that all deserved some ink for having hung in through thick and thin. So here’s my list of the top local indie performers.

The fact is, despite through a Well, The Reader is on suffering a comeback of sorts. Take crippling pandemic along a look at the paper these with the rest of the country days and you’ll see that (and the world) and the co n tin u e d evaporation of revenue f r o m album sales (thanks, Spotify), O m a h a ’s m u s i c community is growing.

Those Far Out Arrows, Aug. 14 2021 W e ’ r e

Please Note: I said “INDIE,” not country, not pop bands, not hip-hop or metal, R&B or traditional rock bands, not cover bands. These are the acts I’ve seen perform or have listened to as part of my coverage of the local and national indie music scenes for The Reader and my website, Lazy-i.com. If I left off your favorite band, it’s because I’ve never seen nor heard their music.

Doesn’t mean they suck; just means there are only

The Top 20 list slowly disappeared over the years, mainly because The Reader’s music staff became smaller and smaller, a reflection of a national trend that has seen print media decay before our very eyes.

so many hours in the day and this is how I choose to spend those hours.

In addition to all being talented performers and songwriters, these are the survivors, the ones who made it through the other side of COVID-19. If we had had one of those booze-filled Top 20 list discussions like The Reader hosted in the “good ol’ days,” this is the list I’d bring to the beer-soaked table.

In alphabetical order: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Bad Bad Men Benny Leather BIB Big Nope Bokr Tov Bug Heaven The Brigadiers Cat Piss Clarence Tilton Criteria David Nance Group Digital Leather Dirt House Domestica Ben Eisenberger Eric in Outerspace Flight School Mitch Gettman Glow in the Dark Healer Dereck Higgins Josh Hoyer Hussies Ethan Jones Simon Joyner Lodgings Las Cruxes Leafblower Lightning Stills Little Brazil Nathan Ma Magu McCarthy Trenching Anna McClellan Jack McLaughlin Mere Shadows

June 2022

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Minne Lussa No Thanks Nowhere Conor Oberst/ Bright Eyes Ojai Oquoa Pagan Athletes Sean Pratt Problems Relax, It’s Science Jeff Runnings Mike Schlesinger James Schroeder Stephen Sheehan Megan Siebe Scott Scholz See Through Dresses Solid Goldberg Stathi Steady Wells The Sunks The Sun-less Trio Matthew Sweet Those Far Out Arrows Twinsmith Uh Oh Universe Contest Violenteer Wagon Blasters Matt Whipkey Win/Win

There you have it. This is also the list I’ll reference when asked by out-oftowners (as I often am) what bands are worth checking out in the area and/or adding to their gig when they come through town. They all made my Top 20 this year.

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.

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