News

By Bob Fischbach
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
Published Saturday
November 20, 2004

Most people know Ted Lange as the bartender on "The Love Boat," but he has written 14 plays and directed a lot of episodic television.

Lange's gifts as both playwright and director were on display Friday night at the John Beasley Theatre, along with those of four personality-plus actresses in Lange's "Four Queens - No Trump."

And four African-American queens they are, contrasting each other in body type, fashion sense, hair, personality - and taste in men.

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How acting became a mission for three men

by Leo Adam Biga

As time goes by, it's clear acting is a birthright for the Beasley family, that talented clan of thespians is fast-evolving into a mainstay of the Omaha theater scene.

John Beasley long ago forged his way in Omaha, scoring dramatic triumphs in the 1970s and '80s at many local theaters and later, outside of Omaha, on the small and big screen. Now, after all of that, he has returned to his hometown to give back to the community that gave to him, and this time he has two sons, Tyrone and Michael Beasley, to help.

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By Bob Fischbach
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
Published Saturday
September 18, 2004

A strong cast from top to bottom delivers where it counts in the Beasley Theater's production of "A Raisin in the Sun," which opened Friday night.

They got the feelings right.

And what feelings run through Lorraine Hansberry's Tony-winning 1959 play. Humor and anger, love and heartbreak pass through the Youngers' door.

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By Ashley Hassebroek
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
Published Saturday
June 5, 2004

The rules at the Jitney Station in August Wilson's play "Jitney" are pretty simple: no overcharging, keep the car clean, no drinking and be courteous.

Sounds fair, easy to follow. But these rules, despite their importance to the cab station's owner, are merely peripheral to the station's activities.

More significant to these drivers are rules they learn on their own when they're at the station. Rules only life can teach them - rules about the human spirit.

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By John Keenan
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
Published Saturday
April 17, 2004

Alternately funny, touching and tragic, Ntozake Shange's "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf" is given a solid, at times transcendent reading in a new production at the John Beasley Theater .

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By Jim Delmont
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
Published Friday
January 16, 2004

Omaha stage, screen and TV actor John Beasley has invested a lot of time and energy in his John Beasley Theater & Workshop.

The cast of "Two Trains Running" includes, from left: Michael Beasley, Julie Adams, Tyrone Beasley, Cager Eaton Haynes, Charles Galloway Sr. and Kelcey Watson.

The payoff is evident in a splendid production of August Wilson 's "Two Trains Running," directed by Beasley's son, Tyrone.

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By Julien R. Fielding

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By John Keenan
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
Published Saturday
October 19, 2002

Who Joe Turner is and how he affects the characters of "Joe Turner's Come and Gone" are not revealed right away by playwright August Wilson. In fact, by the time Wilson introduces the name in his script, theatergoers are long past wondering about the title, caught up in the many threads Wilson has thrown out in the first act that he weaves into a beautiful whole by the stunning climax.

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