Nebraska’s longest-running summer stock theater still entertaining sold-out crowds in the ‘Cowboy Capital’

An armed cowboy with too much to drink staggers from the saloon with a girl on each arm and exchanges words with another gun-toting cowhand. The crack of gunfire erupts and men lay dead in the dust. 

It’s another Saturday night on Ogallala’s famed Front Street, home to Nebraska’s longest- running summer stock theater, the Crystal Palace Revue.

The Revue, a vaudeville-meets-dinner theater-meets-Chautauqua hybrid now in its 62nd consecutive season in this Sandhills oasis, presents rousing music, song, dance and sketch-comedy numbers with melancholic interludes. It draws on actual figures and incidents alongside fictionalized bits to create an experience steeped in hyper-local stories. 

And it all unfolds on Front Street, a half-block-long replica of the original main street facade in old Ogallala. Opened in 1964 as a roadside attraction celebrating the town’s history at the end of the Texas Trail, the venue includes a Western decor steakhouse, bar, museum and gift shop.

Over the decades, through changes and challenges, Front Street and the Revue have endured as community staples and sources of hometown pride in this city that once was one of the largest cattle-shipping points in the world. It’s a way of remembering the past and celebrating a cultural identity that continues to live in the present. 

They also are big tourist draws, bringing in visitors from across the globe seeking to experience the Old West.

“These rural areas rely on tradition,” said Revue director Tomas England, an Ogallala Public Schools social studies teacher and former cast member. “It’s very important to carry on that stuff as a buffer in the midst of population decline. It’s about preserving your legacy … so people work really hard to keep these types of heritage things going because if they go, part of your story goes.” 

Two leading citizens from the past devised the show. Family physician James E. Thayer combined an interest in Nebraska’s frontier history with a hobby for composing songs, lyrics, even full musicals. Standards like “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys” got added. Vocal teacher Jack Learned directed. 

Over time, the production drifted from its roots.

“In the ’60s and ’70s, it was more of a variety show,” England noted. “In the mid-’90s, it started to evolve more around the story of Ogallala and not just random Western lore.”

In the latest iteration of the Revue, a pre-show engages the children in attendance. Everyone then exits to watch a mock gunfight before filing back inside for the main show. The high-spirited antics, complete with hooting, hollering, clapping, stomping and joking, unfold on a small stage and among patrons seated at tables and at the bar. Costumed performers interact with the crowd, some of whom get pressed into the act. 

“When that part comes up, I’m conveniently outside,” regular patron Dennis Thompson said.

Actors in the rotating 22-member cast are largely area high school and college students, most with one-act, play and speech performance backgrounds. Some commute to be in the show. Most double as servers. Few aspire to be professionals. One Revue graduate, Ogallala native Dan Bauer, has forged a Hollywood career. He credits what he learned in the show as formative training.

England said he thinks the show has found its sweet spot, a reflection of where Front Street, with its emphasis on history, has landed.

Known as Nebraska’s “Cowboy Capital,” Ogallala owns a monopoly on the state’s rich frontier heritage. The western Nebraska town plays a prominent role in Larry McMurtry’s iconic “Lonesome Dove.” It’s also home to iconic Old West-themed sites, such as Boot Hill cemetery. 

The Front Street Cowboy Museum’s displays describe the epic cattle drives cowboys made on famed trails — and the comforts awaiting at trail ends like Ogallala. A display England curated depicts madams and prostitutes. There are accounts of covered wagon trekkers, Plains Natives and brazen outlaws. The Revue enacts it all, from heroic to infamous.     

“We want people to feel as if they just arrived off the trail in Ogallala,” England said. “That is what makes the Revue a unique brand of theater. We don’t just have a bunch of random songs and sketches. You can get that in other places. We provide what you can’t get anywhere else.”

Revue veteran Bonnie Naughtin, a songwriter, has composed some of its original tunes. “I’ve always been inspired by the daring and hard work that came with those adventurous times,” she said. “The stories just write themselves with material like that.” 

One example: “Let it Burn” recounts when the old Crystal Palace caught fire and cowboys playing Three-Card Monte inside were so intent on finishing their game that they picked up the table, carried it out on the street and resumed playing while the saloon went up in flames.

Since launching six decades ago, the show has played to locals as well as tourists traveling along Interstate 80 or flocking to Lake McConaughy. Front Street — a site on the National Register of Historic Places — welcomes 50,000-plus visitors a year, including people from all 50 states and roughly two dozen countries. 

A recent visit found a couple from Brazil lured there by a fascination with the West. Curiosity led a couple from Oklahoma on their way to Mount Rushmore to stop. Many  come for a meal, refreshments, supplies or a look-see at the museum and gift shop. The more adventurous indulge in the two-plus-hour dinner and show. 

Front Street and the Crystal Palace Revue “are often mentioned as a key reason people stop in Ogallala or choose to stay longer,” said Molly Jeffres, district administrator for the Western Trails Creative District. “They perfectly complement other district projects by anchoring our creative and historic narrative with an immersive experience.”

Just a decade ago,  Front Street’s future was in doubt. The late Darlan “Doc” Rezac, the last surviving investor who helped build the attraction, was in poor health and looking to sell. The only interest came from an outside investment group. Rezac and his wife, Jeanne, wanted to keep it in local hands.

Finally, Ogallala residents Stacey and Kathleen Bauer rode to the rescue in 2016.

“They had been trying to sell it for several years,” Stacey Bauer said. “It didn’t pan out for them, so we decided to go for it.”

Jeanne Rezac said she and Doc were grateful the Bauers acquired it. “It was a godsend and meant to be. I hope it continues for generations to come.”

Longtime Crystal Palace bartender Robin Butrick said family and staff were glad “that somebody from here was taking it over and was going to continue it on.”

The Bauers bought it despite having full-time day jobs and limited hospitality experience. Family members help pitch in. And the community provides unwavering support, Stacey Bauer said.

“The overall landscape of Ogallala is changing, but we’re still a vital part of it,” he said.

DeVere Larington, a band teacher in Cozad who is in his seventh year as the show’s accompanist at the upright piano, echoed that assessment.

“This is my hometown,” he said. “I know how important it is. If coming back is a way to keep the show alive I’m happy to do it. That tradition is really important to me. I don’t want that to die.”

The Revue’s fans extend well beyond Keith County. Omaha playwright Laura Leininger Campbell is among its admirers.

“Any theater that can endure more than five years is a miracle these days,” she said. “Knowing Crystal Palace has spanned over 60 is stunning.”

The attraction survived COVID-19, but the Bauers see a new potential threat: the soon-to-open Lake Mac Casino Resort & Racetrack. The horse track plans to open a temporary casino this summer. The full casino resort remains in the planning stages. 

The casino and racetrack has stirred some controversy. Multiple write-in candidates joined the race for Ogallala City Council in 2024 after the council approved a zoning change paving the way for the casino’s construction over the objections of the planning commission, which voted to reject the zoning change, KNOP reported. 

Among other concerns, opponents cited the potential negative impact on established local businesses, which will have to compete for tourist dollars and workers.

Supporters argue that the facility will create jobs and growth, and help bring in outside dollars that can pay for local services.

The Bauers, who say they have invested an estimated $1.2 million upgrading the 16,000-square-foot Front Street facility, share the concerns about the impact of the casino and racetrack.

“The casino will be a competition with labor as well as the restaurant market and potentially entertainment later on,” Kathleen Bauer said.

Thompson, the frequent Front Street patron, said if it ever disappeared, regulars like him would lose “a gathering place.” The regulars include area cattlemen, with whom Butrick has built a rapport over the years.

”“They just come in to unwind after the sale,” he said. “Sometimes, they’ll do deals right here. They’re a great bunch of guys. I can’t imagine what it would be like here without them.”

It’s equally hard to imagine Front Street without the Revue.

“I remember coming to see it all the time as a kid, and then one day, I ended up being in it,” said Blake McLeod, who works at an office supply store when he’s not performing in the Revue. 

“I do that as my 8 to 5,” McLeod said, “and then at night, I star as a cowboy, sing and dance, and all that fun stuff. It’s a blast.”

The performers and other Ogallala-area residents appreciate the show’s emphasis on history.

“We learn about the history in school and then you come here and they play it out in person,” said Sarah Hobbs, a local who grew up watching the show. “You learn, honestly, a lot from it. And they involve you. It’s a great community thing.”

But for the performers, the show’s importance strikes on a deeper level, noted John Clarence Fricke, an aspiring diesel mechanic who sings a mean cover of Dan Fogelberg’s mournful “Sutter’s Mill.” 

“I’ll tell you this,” he said, “we don’t do it for the money. In all honesty there’s not a whole lot in it. But we do it for the people. We come back for each other. We’re basically one big family. We watch out for each other, we take care of each other.”