Earl Bates performs in “Will Rogers in the 21st Century” at the Olde Glory Theatre in Seward Jan. 31. Bates asked Lloyd Schulz, left, of Goehner and Melvin Deinert, right, of Emerald to help him on stage with a rope trick.
Award-winning actor Earl Bates performed at the Olde Glory Theatre in Seward Jan. 31 as “Will Rogers in the 21st Century.”
The show, made possible in part with the support of the Nebraska Arts Council and the Nebraska Cultural Endowment, took a wry look at the world.
Bates, performing as Will Rogers, recalled the Vaudeville past and poked fun at the present through the eyes of one of the world’s most beloved and trusted personalities of the early 1900’s.
For over 35 years, Bates, an award winning actor, musician, educator and writer, has been performing on stage and screen all across the country.
Eighty years after his tragic plane crash, Rogers somehow found himself in the present day as he time traveled through America’s pop culture.
Assuming the Okie’s persona, Bates combined pre-recorded music with simple props, a few rope tricks, some Broadway song and dance, guitar, harmonica and audience participation during the event.
Bates has played guitar and hosted the Acoustic Jam for over 35 years at various clubs and concerts. Among honors he received T.A.G.s “Best actor in a Musical” award for his performance in the title role of the Omaha Community Playhouse’s production of The Will Rogers Follies. Many on-camera television and screen credits trail his name, including Lovely, Still, and Miracle of the Heart: A Boys Town Story.
“As a life-long musician, actor, performing artist and entertainer, I’ve never had a regular nine-to-five ‘real job.’ The Nebraska Arts Council offers me as a professional artist employment opportunites that can help supplement my income and allow me to share the wit and wisdom of Will Rogers’ wry truth. I’m committed to using my talent to provoke thought as I hope to entertain and raise social awareness. I measure the success of my day more by the number of people I made smile than by the performance of my portfolio,” Bates said.
Long before CNN, Walter Cronkite, FOX News, Judge Judy, Rush Limbaugh or Jon Stewart, the world looked to Will Rogers for a clever and humorous angle on the truth. Bates borrows from that angle to convey Rogers’ positive message of honor, good will, and tolerance. After all, Rogers said he never met a man he didn’t like.
Earl Bates’ career
Bates has been around the entertainment industry his entire life. From the moment at age 6 when he received his first set of drums from his father (a Lawrence Welk drummer and Omaha based 1930s band leader), he was destined to become an award-winning actor, director, writer, musician, producer, agent, performing artist manager and educator.
His experience as a performer in high school and college bands and plays, along with the task of booking the student dances and concerts, led him off the path to law school and back to the footlights where he began to manage and book the region’s top acts. When forced to pick up the guitar and fill in for a few cancellations, he found a whole new career as a solo singer/guitarist.
Digging through his eclectic musical tastes compelled him to write a crazy song list including the Beatles, Paul Simon, Cat Stevens, American Folk, Celtic traditionals, Eagles, Tom Waits, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, jazz, Sting, Broadway Tunes, Lyle Lovett, blues and John Prine.
Bates is also an accomplished actor who has appeared in television and radio commercials, training films and movies. He’s honored to have worked with a number Academy Award winning actors, most recently with Martin Landau and Ellen Burstyn in Lovely, Still, and also with Art Carney in Miracle Of The Heart-A Boys Town Story. Other movie credits include Omaha (the movie), A Conversation With an Alien, Power Slide, The Scientist, Rice/Poindexter Trial, Sons of Sons, and Stuck Truck. Listen for his voice in a variety of nutty characters on the animated TV series “Dino Squad.”
For over 30 years, the actor has performed on dozens of stages in scores of productions, most notably in the title role of the Will Rogers Follies at the Omaha Community Playhouse for which he received the T.A.G. award for Best Actor In a Musical. Many roles at the Omaha Theater Company for Young People at the Rose span a wide range from a young King Arthur to Sherlock Holmes, the Cowardly Lion to Harold Hill in the Music Man. Bates was cast in the theater’s regional and national tours as the Gingerbread Man, Alexander Hamilton and in the production of Hansel & Gretel at Broadway’s Brooklyn Academy of Music.
He was the long-time host, writer and co-producer of KYNE-TV’s Contact Omaha, a weekly, live phone-in talk show. Many remember Bates as host of the 40 year-old ACOUSTIC JAM open mic sessions at a variety of Omaha venues.
As a Nebraska Arts Council Master Artist in Residence, Bates has conducted countless acting classes and theatrical workshops. He was the creative drama teacher in residence at the Nebraska School for the Deaf for over nine years. Currently he’s working on his tour of Will Rogers in the 21st Century, a show he wrote and compiled. Also, he tours as the EmCee for Leap National Dance Competition. Somehow he still finds time to play guitar and sing in clubs and concerts, ride his 1800cc Honda VTX, attempt home “improvements?” and sail his two boats.
