FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 25, 2005

Productions for All Ages Comprise
Nebraska Repertory Theatre 2005 Season

(Lincoln, Nebraska) - Nebraska Repertory Theatre, the professional wing of UNL's Department of Theatre Arts, announces its 38th Season including two main stage comedies and a musical for the entire family. New Artistic Director, Virginia Smith, associate professor of Theatre at UNL, announces a Season of Journeys! Smith said, "The image of embarking on a journey is such a perfect metaphor for this season. We've selected plays exploring journeys about finding community, love and freedom. At the same time, as an organization we're on a journey of redefinition and reinvigoration that will make us an even more vital part of the artistic community of Lincoln."

The Productions:
ANDROCLES AND THE LION by Aurand Harris is a romp through the old fable of the slave who takes the thorn out of the lion's paw only to receive payment for his kindness when the lion spares his life later. This journey to friendship and freedom is told in Commedia style with Fred Stuart as the miserly Pantalone, Jim Hopkins as the braggart Captain and Jeremy Kendall as Androcles! This version is full of slapstick, live music and song. Performances are in the Studio Theatre, third floor Temple Building, 12th and R streets. Dates and curtain times are June 30 and July 1 at 6:30 PM with a free gala opening celebratory picnic. (Just show your ticket for the performance.) Other performances are July 2, 9, 10, 16, 17, 23, 24, 30, 31 at 2:00 PM.
Tickets to ANDROCLES AND THE LION are $15, $12 for faculty/staff and senior citizens, $7 for student/youth. Lincoln Children's Museum and Folsom Children's Zoo members may take $2 off of regularly priced tickets. There is also a 5 for $25 special. This special allows five people of any age to attend the same performance for just $25.

RESIDENT ALIEN by Stuart Spencer is a play about an alien abduction in the most comic way. A Martian bus boy jumps the "Mother Ship" in northern Wisconsin and joins the local residents in a journey of finding community as he makes sly, insightful and often hilarious comments about our society. Jeremy Kendall with a green face in orange converse tennis shoes!! Performances are in the Howell Theatre, first floor Temple Building, 12th and R streets. Dates and curtain times are July 7, 8, 9, 16, 20, 21, 29, 30 and August 3 at 7:30 PM. Audience members are invited to join the cast for a wine and cheese reception following the July 7 opening performance.

William Inge said that BUS STOP is his exploration of all different kinds of love. Imagine a bus stranded on the Great Plains in a blizzard. The people on the bus and the people in the restaurant where it stops discover love in all its various guises. We guarantee that on one of our hot Nebraska nights you'll be cool on the outside and warmed on the inside. Performances are in the Howell Theatre, first floor Temple building, 12th and R streets. Dates and curtain times are July 14, 15, 22, 23, 27, 28 and August 4, 5, 6 at 7:30 PM. Audience members are invited to join the cast for a wine and cheese reception following the July 14 opening performance.

Individual tickets to RESIDENT ALIEN and BUS STOP are $20, $18 faculty/staff and senior citizens, $10 student/youth. Season tickets, which include three admissions to any or all of the productions, are $40, $35 for faculty/staff and senior citizens.

Nebraska Repertory Theatre tickets are available through the Lied Center Ticket Office, 301 North 12th Street, PO Box 880157, Lincoln NE 68588-0157, 402-472-4747 or 800-432-3231 Monday through Friday 11 AM to 5:30 PM and one hour prior to performances in the designated theatre lobby.

The company includes directors Constance McCord (BUS STOP), Doug Finlayson (RESIDENT ALIEN), and Virginia Smith (ANDROCLES AND THE LION). The acting company, many of whom have roles in all three productions are equity members Kristie Berger and Joseph S. Moser, community favorites Jeremy Kendall and Fred Stuart and UNL graduate acting students Andrew Beck, Rachel Charlop-Powers, Jim Hopkins and Ja'nelle Taylor. Designers are Heath Lane (scenery), Janice Stauffer (costumes), John Himmelberger (lights) and Simon Yost (sound) for RESIDENT ALIEN and BUS STOP, and Ed Stauffer (scenery), Mandy Parmeter Eilers (costumes), and Dan Stratman (lights) for ANDROCLES AND THE LION. Alisa Belflower is musical director for ANDROCLES AND THE LION.

A special bonus for the season is TUESDAY DESTINATIONS a Tuesday evening series free to season ticket holders or $5.00 at the door. On July 19, Alisa Belflower and friends will present OVER THE RAINBOW, a cabaret celebrating Harold Arlen's music. On July 26, Virginia Smith, Joel Story and Matthew Landis will present a staged reading of RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. Both shows are in the Studio Theatre. On August 2, Cork Ramer will read selections from Ted Kooser's prose and poetry in Howell Theatre.
All shows begin at 7:30 PM.

For more information about the Nebraska Repertory Theatre, or to volunteer as an usher, please contact Julie Hagemeier, General Manager at 402-472-1619.