By Deanna Walz Hollywood, Nebraska, Lofte Community Theatre, Friday March 21, 2025 Hollywood, Nebraska, the play could have been sponsored by Dorothy Lynch. The name-dropping product placement peppered throughout the Nebraska debut of this play made the experience as sweet as the well-known Nebraska made salad dressing. Playwright Kenneth Jones served up ample helpings of…
By Deanna Walz Escanaba in da Moonlight, The Lofte Community Theatre, Friday September 6, 2024 Having spent a good six years myself “up nort’ der” in North Dakota, this reviewer found so much of Escanaba in da Moonlight utterly charming, donchaknow. The obsession with taking down the big buck, the religious adherence to tradition and…
By Jamie Bullins Lofte Community Theatre, Friday, March 22, 2024, 7:00 pm. “It’s the journey.” And we enjoy every step, every quip, every character shift/swap. First, it will never grow old to drive up a dirt road and find this lovely, charming facility. Sweet folks at the door, even in the chilly air, and that snack bar, so well-staffed and such…
By Scott Clark The Nerd, The Lofte Community Theatre, Sunday October 15, 2023 In his director’s introduction, before the play began, The Lofte’s Kevin Colbert gave the audience some background about The Nerd. Set in 1979, The Nerd is the first of two major literary contributions made by playwright Larry Shue, and first premiered in…
By Sheri Berger The Mousetrap, The Lofte Community Theatre, Friday September 1, 2023 Who doesn’t love a good old-fashioned sleuthy Agatha Christie mystery with many red herrings? It’s a wonderful choice for this time of year, when autumn begins lovely colors and spooky stories start to emerge. I encourage you to read this article and…
By Jamie Bullins 9 to 5, Lofte Community Theatre, Saturday, July 15, 2023, 7:00 pm. There may not be a lot going on in Manley, NE. It’s not a hopping metropolis most likely. Now, this is actually only like the third time I’ve ever set foot in Manley, so, I don’t want to judge it…
By Deanna Walz W;t, Lofte Community Theatre, Friday, May 5, 2023 The Lofte Theatre in Manley is well known for its fun, frothy comedies like Doublewide, Texas and Noises Off (which I had the pleasure of acting in this past fall.) Pulitzer Prize winning, W;t, written by Margaret Edson is something completely different. Funny, dry,…
By Andy Dillehay Doublewide, Texas, The Lofte Community Theatre, March 24, 2023 The Lofte Community Theatre kicked off its 2023 season with a heaping dose of down-home fun. Directed by The Lofte’s artistic director, Kevin Colbert, Doublewide, Texas is a fast-paced crowd pleaser. Written by Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope, and Jamie Wooten, this production feels…
By Jamie Bullins Lofte Community Theatre, Saturday, October 15, 2022, 7:00 pm. I must start by saying what a delight it was to visit the Lofte Community Theatre in Manley last evening. The drive from Lincoln was about 40 minutes or so, and just seeing this exceptional facility, kind of out in the middle of…
By Sheri Berger The Diary of Anne Frank at The Lofte Community Theatre, Friday September 2, 2022 7PM Experiencing this play is a must for all ages. It’s possible that people will immediately think this play is just a sad play. While it is a drama, and it is sad, this still isn’t exactly accurate….