Nebraska Theatre Caravan

The Nebraska TheatRE Caravan

The Nebraska Theatre Caravan was founded in 1976 as a joint project between the Omaha Playhouse and the Nebraska Arts Council “to bring together a small group of professional performer-teachers for workshops in Omaha and out-state.” The original 12-week program soon became a full time program touring to Greater Nebraska, Kansas and Wyoming, and in its second season was playing to 45,000 people in 37 communities.

In 1978, the Caravan started touring the Charles Jones adaptation of A Christmas Carol nationally with one company touring the Midwest. Three years later in 1982 another company was added to tour the East Coast and a third to tour the West Coast in 1987.

Since its inception the Nebraska Theatre Caravan has produced over 100 fully mounted productions, many of which were new works, and has played to 160 Nebraska communities and hundreds of others across the nation. The national tour of A Christmas Carol has performed in over 600 cities in 49 states and 4 Canadian provinces, and has been seen by over 3 million audience members.

The Nebraska Theatre Caravan is constantly evolving into new and exciting forms of theatre, meeting the artistic and educational needs of local, regional, and national audiences. From the middle of the country, thousands of miles from the heralded squares of art and culture, the Nebraska Theatre Caravan annually produces nationally acclaimed tours of A Christmas Carol, and other special tours and projects intermittently throughout the year. It is both an honor and a privilege to serve each community we partner with, and we hope to look forward to continuing those relationships for decades to come.