"Purchasing a pass does not hold seats." The Nebraska Communities Playhouse prints that line under every option on its 2027 season subscriptions page. Anyone in Hickman who tried for Frozen tickets this fall will see why it matters.
As of early November, the playhouse's ticketing page for Disney's Frozen shows all eight performances from December 4 through December 13 as sold out. Each one has a waitlist link. The 2026 holiday show filled up weeks before opening night. The 2027 holiday show is Oliver!, and some of its seats are already being chosen. At NCP, getting in depends on when you're allowed to pick a seat.
Eight Frozen performances, all sold out
The run takes up two December weekends at 217 Locust Street. There are evening shows at 7:30 p.m. on December 4, 5, 6, 11 and 12, plus 2 p.m. matinees on December 6, 12 and 13. Every one of them is marked "Sold Out" on the ticketing page, with a "Join Waitlist" link beside it.
The venue is bigger than most people expect for a town Hickman's size. The company started out as The Stage Theater at 225 Locust Street. When Lincoln Today wrote about it in 2021, the Nebraska Communities Playhouse next door at 217 Locust was under construction as a planned 436-seat home for the company. Filling eight performances in a house planned at that size takes a lot of tickets, and they're all gone.
The order seats open in, for 2027
The 2027 calendar lays out who picks first. Here's the order, starting this week:
- Now. Super Pass and Mainstage Pass holders can reserve seats for 2027 right away.
- January 4, 2027. Single tickets go on sale, and Flex Pass holders can start picking seats on the same day.
- March 7, 2027. Enrollment closes for the 2027 Bravo! Booster Club, whose perks include early access to 2028 subscriptions.
The first step is the one that matters for the holiday show. Oliver! runs December 3–5, 10–12 and 17–19, 2027, and it's one of the five Mainstage productions. Super and Mainstage pass holders can claim seats for it today, close to two months before anyone can buy a single ticket. Buying the pass doesn't reserve anything by itself. The holder still has to go in and choose seats for each show.
What the passes cost compared with single seats
Single Mainstage tickets are listed at $26 for adults and $16 for youth, and premium seats are $29 and $19. Studio NCP tickets are $26 and $16. NCP measures its pass discounts against the premium price, and youth pricing covers ages 17 and under.
| Pass | What it covers | Adult | Youth | Seat selection |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Super Pass | All five Mainstage and both Studio Theater shows, seven tickets | $158 | $102 | Open now |
| Mainstage Pass | All five Mainstage shows, five tickets | $116 | $76 | Open now |
| Flex Pass | Four tickets to use across any of the seven shows | $104 | $68 | Begins January 4, 2027 |
The math is simple. Five premium adult Mainstage seats bought one at a time come to $145, and the Mainstage Pass costs $116. Seven premium seats come to $203, and the Super Pass costs $158. The Flex Pass saves less, about 10% by NCP's own figure, and it starts seat selection on the same day as single tickets. Y.A.C.H.T. youth productions aren't part of any pass and are ticketed separately.
The full 2027 season, ending with the holiday show
| Show | Series | 2027 dates |
|---|---|---|
| The Producers | Mainstage | Feb. 19–21, Feb. 26–28, Mar. 5–7 |
| Steel Magnolias | Studio Theater | Apr. 2–4, Apr. 9–11 |
| Once Upon a Mattress | Mainstage | Apr. 23–25, Apr. 30–May 2 |
| Disney's Newsies | Mainstage | Jun. 11–13, Jun. 18–20 |
| Twelve Angry Men | Studio Theater | Aug. 20–22, Aug. 27–29 |
| Hello, Dolly! | Mainstage | Oct. 8–10, Oct. 15–17, Oct. 22–24 |
| Oliver! | Mainstage | Dec. 3–5, Dec. 10–12, Dec. 17–19 |
Oliver! has three weekends on the calendar, one more than Frozen. Newsies, the big family musical of the summer, has two. The Y.A.C.H.T. lineup fills the gaps between them. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe plays March 13–14, Disney's The Aristocats KIDS plays June 25–26, How to Train Your Dragon The Musical JR. plays July 16–17, and Between the Lines JR. plays July 30–31. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer JR. closes out the year on November 13–14, the youth company's own holiday show. Y.A.C.H.T. tickets are listed at $15 for adults and $10 for youth.
Nights at 217 Locust that don't need a ticket
The Hickman Theater Cabaret Series takes place in the NCP lobby. Admission is a free-will donation, no ticket is needed, and seating is limited, with standing room available. The next one is "Once More, With Feeling: A Cabaret of Roles Revisited" on January 16, 2027. Doors and the bar open at 6 p.m., and the performance starts at 7. Another cabaret is on the calendar for March 20, 2027, on the same schedule.
The series' last event, "Against Type: A Miscast Cabaret" on November 7, had performers take on songs from roles they wouldn't usually be cast in, according to its Lincoln.org event listing. That listing advised arriving early because seating was limited.
The Bravo! Booster Club is the other way into the system. A 2027 membership costs $100, is open to anyone, and lasts through the 2027 calendar year. Members get an exclusive T-shirt, 10% off eligible merchandise, a free drink and popcorn at each Mainstage production and Studio Theater play, a year-end celebration, recognition in the program, and early access to 2028 subscriptions. Show tickets aren't included, and each person in a household can buy their own membership. Early access to 2028 subscriptions is how a member gets ahead of the holiday show after Oliver!.
Getting in as a performer
For one show, the early window is the next two weeks. Auditions for The Producers are open to ages 16 and up, with sessions November 20–21 and callbacks November 22. Video auditions are due November 20 at 8 p.m. Steel Magnolias auditions are January 30, 2027, at the NCP Studio Theater, for female-presenting performers ages 16 and up. Callbacks on January 31 are by invitation.
There's a winter path for younger performers too. The Y.A.C.H.T. production of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is for ages 9 to 14 and costs $375. Rehearsals run Saturdays from January 16 through March 13, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and the show performs March 13–14. The 2027 workshops are open to all grades at $35 each: Puppets on January 9, Directing on March 20, Props on April 10 and Script Writing on May 8. A nine-workshop bundle costs $270.
Before a 7:30 curtain
Mainstage evening shows start at 7:30, so there's time for dinner first. Hacienda Jalisco at 1204 Park Drive lists hours of 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sundays. For a 2 p.m. Sunday matinee, NEW DAY Coffee + Smoothies has a café and drive-through at 6740 Woodland Boulevard. Jeannie's Kitchen inside the U-Stop Market at 18940 S. 68th Street is open 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.
If you're on the Frozen waitlist, the waitlist links on the show's ticketing page are still up. If you want seats for Oliver! next December, Super and Mainstage pass holders can choose them now.
Randy Ralston grew up in Lincoln and keeps track of how weekends in Hickman and the towns around it fill up. If you're thinking about Hickman and want to talk through what everyday life there looks like, including how close you'd be to a night out on Locust Street, Randy Ralston is glad to help. Let's Connect.
