July 30 - Aug. 9: Original musical production tells the story of the priest who could become Nebraska’s first canonized saint.
By S.L. Hansen
for the Register
S.T.A.G.E. Theatre will present the original musical production “Flanagan’s Boys” with eight performances in Lincoln July 30 through Aug. 9.
Showcasing the founding of Boys Town by Venerable Father Edward J. Flanagan, the musical will be presented at the Sacred Heart Center for the Arts, 540 N. 31st St. in Lincoln. S.T.A.G.E. (Student Theater and Godly Evangelization) is a non-profit organization providing a creative outlet for children and adults, offering theater and dance classes as well as three or four productions each year.
In front of a backdrop displaying historic photos and newspaper clippings, the “Flanagan’s Boys” cast of 10 adults and 35 students ages 9 to 16 will sing, dance and act the story of Boys Town’s founding.
Flanagan’s Boys was created after writer/director Lee Hotovy’s son asked her to create “a show for boys.” After first imagining a script about Saint John Bosco, who is recognized for his work with street kids in Italy, Hotovy realized, “We had our own Don Bosco in Father Flanagan.”
The Hotovy family has two unique connections to Father Flanagan. Hotovy’s mother once worked for the Omaha priest as a fan mail correspondent. On her husband’s side, his step-grandfather was one of the first five boys taken in by Father Flanagan.
Hotovy did many hours of research to turn Father Flanagan’s story into a script. The musical opens with the historic 1913 tornado that made headline news, and the priest’s frustration with trying to serve homeless men who were too set in their ways to accept his help. Then he turned his attention to troubled youth.
“There were a lot of homeless boys running around Omaha,” Hotovy said. “The reason why Boys Town was so unique is that kids in trouble used to be sent to reform schools and then became even worse people. Father Flanagan said there was no such thing as a bad boy. He got the kids schooling, started a farm, started a newspaper, started a broom factory – he showed them how to develop skills so they could go onto a normal life.”
To bring her script to stage, Hotovy collaborated with Anna Hanselmann and composers Melanie Kottwitz and Karrie Seeman, who wrote the 13 songs featured in the musical. The 2026 reprisal will include “athletic” choreography by Lydia Hotovy and Tatum Maley.
Some of the adults in the cast performed in “Flanagan’s Boys” as children during the initial run in 2013 and/or the first reprisal in 2015. Among the newcomers is Joe Neuhaus, who is cast as Father Flanagan.
A native of Bloomfield and graduate of Grand Island Central Catholic High School, Neuhaus studied theater as an undergraduate at the University of Southern California. Now an attorney who is raising four children – soon to be five – with his wife Vanessa, he said the family first got involved with S.T.A.G.E. Theatre when their daughter Josie wanted to take theater classes and learn to perform.
“She’s been in three or four productions,” Neuhaus said. “I think Lee does a really good job of teaching morals and lessons in her stories pointing to God and to Christ. It’s a good opportunity for fellowship with a common goal of sending a positive message.”
Through his daughter’ urging, Neuhaus auditioned for “Flanagan’s Boys.” S.T.A.G.E. has truly become a family event for the Neuhaus clan, with Vanessa portraying a poverty-stricken mother who brings her boys Howard and Pauly to Boys Town, daughter Josie as a newsie, and son Ben portraying Pauly.
Neuhaus said he has enjoyed getting back to his theater roots, even welcoming instruction to shave off the beard he’s worn for most of his adult life, and to comb his hair to match the real Father Flanagan’s center part. Neuhaus has also done his own research into the man who could become Nebraska’s first canonized saint.
“This wasn’t simply just a mission for him. It was something ordained by God,” Neuhaus reflected. “Obviously, I’m not a priest. I am a father in a different way. I think of the mission of Christ, ‘Whoever cares for the least of these…’ That is what I have been praying about and focusing on.”
Hotovy said that as she was creating the script, she learned just how much good Father Flanagan had accomplished. “All the battles he had to fight in the beginning to get it going... How many times he went to bat for kids across the country, kids being abused in prison systems. He made a real effort.”
Though it’s impossible to adequately present everything about Father Flanagan in one production, Hotovy said, “We do our best to touch on things throughout the piece. I really think we have done a good job in a way that educates but also entertains, and pays a beautiful tribute to a man.”
While the show is open to everyone, due to its serious nature and length, it is recommended for children 8 years and up. Performances are July 30, 31, Aug. 1, 6, 7, 8 at 7 p.m. and Aug. 2 and 9 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $10/$15 with reserved seating available online at stage4kids.com under TICKETS.
