Returning to his prairie roots

Richard Carsey vividly recalls the grand reopening of the Orpheum Theater in January 1975: What the Omaha Symphony played — an all-Gershwin concert. How the audience stood and cheered. It made an impression on the then-11-year-old.

In nine days he'll return to the Orpheum as conductor for the national tour of “Little House on the Prairie,” a musical based on the Laura Ingalls Wilder books about prairie pioneers. It stars Kara Lindsay as Laura. Melissa Gilbert, who played Laura on the 1970s TV series of “Little House,” plays Ma Ingalls.

Carsey said playing his hometown, and especially the Orpheum, is a dream come true.

“I have such a strong association with that place,” Carsey, 46, said by phone last week from his home in Milwaukee. “I've played in so many wonderful venues all over the world, but there's something really special knowing I'm going to get to do something at the Orpheum. That is very cool for me.”

Carsey has had a varied career as conductor, pianist, orchestrator and actor, including 20 years at the Skylight Opera Theatre in Milwaukee, where he still conducts. Francesca Zambello, Skylight's former artistic director, hired him. So it was a pleasant surprise to learn his gig for “Little House” would reunite him with Zambello, who directs the show.

Carsey is looking forward to several reunions when he arrives in Omaha Jan. 11. His brother, Michael, lives here, along with nephews Don and Matt. Another nephew, John Mayne, is a student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Though Carsey's parents, Don and Marilyn, have died, classmates from Millard High School, class of 1981, are still around.

He might even get to see some of his old piano teachers: Mike Janis from Millard High; John Bennett, orchestrator for the Omaha Community Playhouse's “A Christmas Carol”; and Jackson Berkey of Mannheim Steamroller.

As a teen, Carsey already knew he wanted a career in music. He studied piano at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y., before earning his bachelor's degree at the University of Louisville (Ky.) and a master's degree in piano at Indiana University.

“Indiana U was what prepared me for all this,” Carsey said. “It has the largest opera and music theater program in the country. I had an assistantship playing for opera rehearsals and singers. And I worked with some great conductors there.”

He has toured Europe and the United States as a performer, so being on the road isn't new. But the show's national tour — which started Nov. 6 and wraps up in June — is his first as a conductor. Fellow conductors warned him what he'd hate about it. But that's what he ended up loving.

“My favorite thing is that in each new city, we hire eight local musicians to play in our orchestra. I love preparing a new orchestra every single week. Meeting the musicians, teaching them the show, bringing their individual colors and strengths to the score — it's great, like rediscovering the score every week.”

British composer Rachel Portman, who won an Oscar for the score of “Emma,” scored “Little House.” Carsey compares the sound to that of Leonard Bernstein and Aaron Copland.

“It's an iconic, open, American sound, a sense of expansiveness that really fits this project,” he said.

Carsey read all the “Little House” books as a kid, part of his fascination with the pioneer era. The Western art at the Joslyn Art Museum and exhibits at Morrill Hall at UNL also drew him in. He said his Omaha roots inform his approach to the show.

“The work ethic that's part of the play, how hard people work to make their lives happen, that's definitely something you understand growing up in the Midwest,” he said.

He calls “Little House on the Prairie” a great show for the entire family. Fans of the TV show will find some of its characters missing, as the stage show sticks more closely to the story arc of the books, Carsey said. But he said you don't need to know the books to enjoy the show.

“Kara Lindsay is just spectacular as Laura,” he raved. “And Melissa has been so game about this new adventure. She just threw herself into the process from day one.”

Before this show, Gilbert wasn't known as a singer. But Carsey said her work ethic and professionalism in preparing raised the bar.

“I would think it takes a huge amount of bravery, to take your reputation out there and present yourself in a new way. That kind of bravery has infected the whole company.”

The payoff, he said, is that audiences have been turning out in droves, having a great time and standing every night.

“The most satisfying part of the job for me is that every night we seem to make so many people so happy,” he said. “They get excited about what they're seeing and hearing. That part of it's very fun.”

Contact the writer:

444-1269, bob.fischbach@owh.com