The Omaha Community Playhouse, located at 6915 Cass Street in Omaha, Nebraska

Omaha, Nebraska

Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, is a nationally recognized community theater.

Founded in 1924, the Playhouse's first president was Alan McDonald, architect of the Joslyn Art Museum

Joslyn Art Museum

The Joslyn Art Museum is the principal fine arts museum in the state of Nebraska, United States of America. Located in Omaha, it is the only museum in the state with a comprehensive permanent collection...

, and its first play, directed by Greg Foley in April 1925, was The Enchanted Cottage, which starred Dodie Brando

Dodie Brando

Dorothy Pennebaker "Dodie" Brando, was the mother of Marlon Brando and among the members of the Omaha Community Playhouse's first cast.-Biography:...

, mother of Marlon Brando

Marlon Brando

Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...

. When, later in the Playhouse's first season, the need arose for a young man to play the lead for You and I, Brando suggested that twenty-year-old Henry Fonda

Henry Fonda

Henry Jaynes Fonda was an American film and stage actor.Fonda made his mark early as a Broadway actor. He also appeared in 1938 in plays performed in White Plains, New York, with Joan Tompkins...

, son of her friend Herberta Fonda, contact the director. The Playhouse would later see the acting debut of Marlon Brando, Dorothy McGuire

Dorothy McGuire

Dorothy Hackett McGuire was an American actress.-Career:Born in Omaha, Nebraska, she began her acting career on the stage at the Omaha Community Playhouse...

, and Julie Wilson

Julie Wilson

Julie Wilson is an American singer and actress.Born in Omaha, Nebraska and first finding a musical outlet with local musical group Hank's Hepcats, Wilson headed to New York City during World War II and found work in two of Manhattan's leading nightclubs, the Latin Quarter and the Copacabana...

, and appearances by Letitia Baldrige

Letitia Baldrige

Letitia Baldrige is an American etiquette expert and public relations executive.A graduate of Vassar College, she is a former State Department employee and was the White House Social Secretary to Jacqueline Kennedy....

, Glenn Cunningham

Glenn Cunningham (Nebraska)

Glenn Clarence Cunningham was a Nebraska Republican politician.He was born in Omaha, Nebraska on September 10, 1912 and graduated from the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 1935. He sold insurance for a while. From 1946 to 1948 he was a member of the Omaha board of education and a member of...

, and Lenka Peterson

Lenka Peterson

Lenka Peterson is an actress of stage, film and television.On Broadway, Peterson's roles included Ella in Sundown Beach , Maude in The Grass Harp , Kitty in The Time of Your Life , Sally and Mary in All the Way Home , Rose in Nuts , and Sarah in Quilters ,...

.

The Playhouse experienced tremendous growth throughout the 1980s and 1990s under the direction of Charles Jones.