New Horizons PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID OMAHA NE PERMIT NO. 389
A publication of the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging
March 2023 | Vol. 48 | No. 3
Dick Mueller’s Firehouse Dinner Theatre put the Omaha’s Old Market on the map
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By Leo Adam Biga ick Mueller, 85, is awash in memories of the Firehouse Dinner Theater, the equity house he opened in 1972 in his hometown Omaha’s then-fledgling Old Market. He repurposed a former fire station at 11th and Jackson into the theater, which proved, Mueller said, an “instant success,” hastening the district’s transition from derelict wholesale produce center to cool arts-entertainment hub. Before the Firehouse, he followed a circuitous show business path as a nightclub performer and stage actor. His musician father played trumpet in his own Mueller Rhythm orchestra, in which Dick’s older brothers played. Dick played trombone in the Omaha Central High band, but his true talent was singing. “My first hero was probably Bing Crosby,” he said. Mueller sang in the choir at Central, where he and fellow teenagers Rich Hansen, Bill Snyder and Bob Larsen formed The Stylemasters doo-wop quartet. Patterned after The Mills Brothers, they shined in Central’s annual Road Show and around town. They decided to try their harmonizations out west. Singing groups were all the rage and after testing the waters at a resort in Sun Valley, Idaho, the quartet signed with the Hammond/Romeo
talent agency in Omaha, touring Canada and the U.S., opening for Sophie Tucker in Winnipeg. They were a hot number at the Chi supper club in Palm Springs. They sang on the nationally televised Arthur Godfrey show in 1957. Their one chance to play Las Vegas was interrupted by a U.S. Army hitch. Meanwhile The Stylemasters cut singles on the Foremost label. That led to a Capitol Records deal. The members got drafted into military service in 1959. “Our military career was kind of interesting,” Mueller said. “We had to go through basic (training), but as soon as that was over we joined the U.S. Army Field Band in Washington D.C. as the featured act.”
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While in the service they signed with Epic Records, changing their name to The Bachelors and releasing “The Bachelor’s Club”/“Do The Madison.” “We came close to having some hits, but we were late to the game,” he said. “We had a good run though.” EPIPHANY While in New York for a recording session, Mueller found himself in the theater district. “I bought a standing room ticket for $3 and saw the original production of My Fair Lady. Until then,” he said, “I had no idea what theater was. I thought the ultimate entertainment experience was in a nightclub. It really changed
my life, those three hours.” He said he learned magical theater moments “have to do with what happens between a playwright, a good director and good actors telling a good story,” adding, “It doesn’t happen very often, but you’ve got to have some, otherwise you stop going back to the theater.” He booked The Bachelors at a Wichita club that they always sold out at, to test their commitment to touring clubs. They still packed the place, but the thrill was gone. “I knew it was over. We all felt the same way.” Back home, stage fixtures Norm and Louise Filbert and Rudyard Norton took him under their wing. Mueller got cast as Tony in Westside Story at The Chanticleer Theatre, then in Bye Bye Birdie at the Omaha Community Playhouse and in The Fantastiks at the old Jewish Community Center. “That’s quite a baptism for somebody who’d really never trod the boards before,” he said. “That solidified my love for the theater.” He made his living from an Old Market shop, Dictates, he and business partner Rusty Harmsen opened. “We were kind of pioneers down there,” Mueller said. “I really loved the Market back then. There were no franchises.” --Firehouse continued on page 9.
The stage for the FEI World Cup™ Finals in Omaha is set
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By Ron Petersen he Omaha Equestrian Foundation welcomes the world’s best Jumping, Dressage and Vaulting competitors as they are set to host the FEI (Federation Equestrian International) World Cup™ Finals on April 4-8 at the CHI Health Center. This year’s event will mark the second time that Omaha will serve as the host for the FEI World Cup™ Finals. More than 52,000 spectators, representing 38 countries and all 50 U.S. states, were in attendance for the four-day event at the CHI Health Center in 2017. Since the FEI World Cup™ Finals is back in a prime location, even more spectators are expected to attend the event this time around.
“Omaha is such a natural fit for this event,” Omaha Equestrian Foundation CEO, Julie Boilesen said. “Horses are a part of our legacy and are a part of our history. The audience really feels the connection, especially the mature audience, for those who have parents or grandparents who live on a farm.” The FEI World Cup™ Finals 2023 stands to build off of the 2017 success as the Vaulting Final makes its North America debut. Vaulting is a visually exciting equestrian discipline that intertwines the acrobatics of gymnastics with showmanship, joining Jumping and Dressage as the three events at FEI World Cup™ Finals. “You are looking at the very best --World Cup continued on page 8.
Entertaining activity: Bingo!
Bingo is a fun activity to play and can be played around town. Learn more about the Blondo Bingo hall and the other ways to play bingo in Omaha on Page 16.