2007 Elizabethan idol Winners

Congratulations, winners!

Elizabethan Idol Gala Committee
Melissa Marvin, Joleen David, Mark Carpenter, Jan Buckingham,
Mike Duman, Ruth Keene, Judi Napier, Alisha Palagi

ELIZABETHAN IDOLS IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE
Mike and Gail Yanney are co-chairs of Nebraska Shakespeare Board of Trustees. Mike is Chairman of the Board of The Burlington Capital Group LLC, which manages public investment funds with assets in excess of $16 billion.  Gail is a retired anesthesiologist.  This wonderful couple have been and continue to be dedicated to the Omaha community and Nebraska, through their many years of leadership on countless boards.  They appreciate Shakespeare on the Green as great family education and entertainment.  With their leadership, Nebraska Shakespeare will be able to continue to be a cultural destination that combines art, nature and community.
Harold Rock is a founding partner of Kutak Rock LLP, that specializes in general corporate law, bankruptcy reorganization, corporate finance and federal securities law. Harold is the great legal mind of Nebraska Shakespeare, sharing his expertise since the incorporation papers were first drawn up in 1986.  It is Harold’s great love of Shakespeare that makes him such a treasured member of the Festival
family.  Harold often enters board meetings reciting an appropriate Shakespearean quote, brightening the room and reminding us of what brings us together.
Shari Stone is a very popular morning announcer for KLTQ, Lite 101.9 FM from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays.  Shari has been with Lite for five years and Omaha radio for 13.  "My public service is a labor of love. Volunteering helps bring a higher visibility to the cause. Community Service is an important part of my life that allows me to give back to the people and the city I love.”
Matt Geiler is an improvisational comedian and musician, perhaps best known to Omaha audiences for his stint as the host of KXVO15 10 O’Clock News on television.  Matt is a graduate of the prestigious Second City Conservatory and has performed around the country at venues such as The 20th Century Fox Comedy Showcase in Los Angeles, Stand-Up New York, Orlando's SAK Comedy Theatre, and Donny's Skybox in Chicago.  Apart from his comedic work, Matt writes, records, and performs with the electro-pop group Clubs Of Branches.  Earlier this year, he was awarded Best Comedian at the 1st Annual Omaha Entertainment Awards.
Mary Maxwell is the wife of Chuck Maxwell, mother of 5, grandmother of 12 and foster mother to 4 well-behaved geraniums and an azalea with a personality disorder.  She says her public speaking career, which is now more than 40 years old, grew out of the desperation of program chairmen who had run out of ideas with three meetings to go.  Her audiences include corporate dinners, church groups, chamber
of commerce events and slow moving lines at express check-out lanes at the grocery store. She is
passionately devoted to Nebraska football and was placed under a doctor's care after the 2004 season.  Mary has served on many boards and had the honor of being the 109th Omaha Press Club Face on The Barroom Floor. She misses Erma Bombeck every day of her life.
Otis Twelve is currently host of the morning show (6 a.m. to 10 a.m.) on Classical 90.7 KVNO. Otis is an inductee into the Nebraska Radio Personalities Hall of Fame and the Nebraska Music Hall of Fame.  His comedic stories and monologues have been performed with the Boston Pops and other orchestras from Jacksonville to Salt Lake City.  His eclectic career includes stints as a Benedictine monk-in-training,
a stand-up comedian, a radio host, TV critic, and concert narrator. Most recently, Otis won the 2006 British Crime Writers Association, Debut Dagger Award for his novel, IMP: BEING THE LOST NOTEBOOKS OF RUFUS WILMOT GRISWOLD IN THE MATTER OF THE DEATH OF EDGAR ALLAN POE.
Jane Bailey has been an ophthalmologist since 1993. She is a mother of four and is in solo practice
in Omaha. She always wanted to play Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream but was afraid she'd look fat in tights.
Ronald J. Palagi changed his destiny. When most people are hit by a taxi in Chicago, it changes their life and so it was for Ron. Angered by the way he was treated by his attorney he decided to move back to Omaha and get his law degree at Creighton. In 1975, Ronald J. Palagi started practicing law with only two people in a single office.  One of the first attorneys to advertise, his firm now encompasses two
offices and 20 people. In his free time he enjoys cooking, spending time with his wonderful daughters, and working on the next great American screenplay.
Heidi Klem played a "Who" in the Rose Theater's Seussical The Musical and read the part of Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird at the Blue Barn Theatre for Omaha Reads.  She is 11 years old and will be a sixth-grader in the fall.  She is a model represented by Select Model Management.  In her spare
time she loves to read, ride horses, play softball and volleyball, and swim.  Her goal for the summer is not to acquire any stitches or casts (in short, not to get injured).  Why does Heidi's name sounds so familiar - despite the similarity to a popular model, the significant connection happens to be Heidi's dad, Alan Klem, who is Co-Founder of the Festival with Cindy Melby Phaneuf.
Judges:  Steve Krambeck as Ryan Seacrest, James Wright as Randy Johnson, Theresa Sindelar as Paula Abdul, Jerry Longe as Simon Cowell 
Herald Trumpeters:  Nathan White, Kevin Mitchell from Central High School

TABLE SPONSORS 
Lead   Gail & Mike Yanney 
Principal   UNO Chancellor John & Jan Christensen, UNMC Chancellor Hal & Beverly Maurer, UNMC Dean, School of Medicine John & Roseanne Gollan, Joslyn Art Museum
Player   Melissa Marvin & Geoff Hartig, Ron Palagi, Kutak Rock, Mike Cassling, Creighton University President John P. Schlegel, S.J.

SINGLE TICKET 
Lead   Harold & Marian Andersen, Joan Gibson & Don Wurster 
Principal   Mike DeGeorge
Player   Ellyn Grant, Carol & Ed Smith, Lenore Polack, Mary & Tom Jetton, Rick Scofield, Vernie & Carter Jones, Kim & Jim Simon, Mark Maser, Jan Buckingham & Lauren Ronald, Ruth & Jim Keene, Harry Crook, Laurie Smith Camp, Michele & Greg Eakins, Deborah & Kip Kippley, Pat Leuschen, Joan Desens & Simon Carr-Ellison

THANK YOU   Libby Lauritzen, Dixon Family Foundation, First National Bank, Dick Holland, Fred & Eve Simon, Tom Rogers, ConAgra Foods, Mike Simmonds, Parker Family Foundation, Mammel Family Foundation, MidAmerican Energy, Silverstone Group, Amy Scott Foundation, Bozell, Rhonda & Howard Hawks

SPECIAL THANKS    Renze Display, FedExKinko’s, Mr. Cosby / Instrumental Music Central High School