Look here for Elizabethan Idol Contestant information and a way to vote!

Contestants listed below as pictured left to right. 

Each dollar designated to the contestant is one vote toward that contestant's tally.  The winner will have the largest "purse." 

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, by 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.

Elizabethan Idol vote for - Gail & Mike Yanney

Jane Bailey, MD, has been an ophthalmologist since 1993.  She is a mother of 4 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.

Elizabethan Idol vote for - Jane Bailey

Otis Twelve is currently host of the morning show (6 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, T.V. 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.

Elizabethan Idol vote for - Otis Twelve

Shari Stone is a very popular morning announcer for KLTQ, Lite 101.9 FM from 10 am to 3 pm weekdays. Shari has been with LITE for 5 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.”

Elizabethan Idol vote for - Shari Stone

Matt Geiler is an improvisational comedian and musician, perhaps best known to Omaha audiences for his stint as the host of KXVO's 10:00 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 is 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.

Elizabethan Idol vote for - Matt Geiler

When most people are hit by a taxi in Chicago, it changes their life. For Ronald J. Palagi it changed his destiny. 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.

Elizabethan Idol vote for - Ronald Palagi

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 Theater for Omaha Reads.  She is eleven 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 to not acquire any stitches or casts (in short, not to get injured).  You may be wondering why 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.

Elizabethan Idol vote for - Heidi Klem

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 approporiate Shakespearean quote, brightening the room and reminding us of what brings us together.

Elizabethan Idol vote for - Harold Rock

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 the honor of being the 109th Omaha Press Club Face on The Barroom Floor. She misses Erma Bombeck every day of her life. 

Elizabethan Idol vote for Mary Maxwell