William Grange

William Grange is Professor of Theatre in the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film at the University of Nebraska. His most recent book is "Cabaret," which you see displayed on this page. In addition to authoring other books on this page, Dr. Grange has also written dozens scholarly essays, book chapters, journal articles, reviews, and encyclopedia entries. He has received several international awards for his research and teaching: Guest Professor at the University of Heidelberg, the Distinguished Chair in Humanities and Cultural Studies at the University of Vienna, and a Fulbright Professorship at the University of Cologne. At those universities he taught in the German language, but at the University of Nebraska he teaches almost exclusively in English. His research efforts have twice earned him the University of Nebraska Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Research in the Humanities, while Nebraska students and the University parents’ organization have awarded him distinctions of teaching merit at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

An Equity actor for over four decades, the Actors’ Fund in New York has cited Dr. Grange for meritorious service to the American acting profession. He has played leading roles in several productions, including Caldwell B. Cladwell in the award-winning musical “Urinetown,” Prof. Henry Higgins in “My Fair Lady” with Gwynne Geyer, Capt. von Trapp in “The Sound of Music” with Lindsey Alley, El Gallo in “The Fantasticks!” and the carnival owner Schlegel in “Carnival!” and was a member of the original Light Opera of Manhattan company in New York, appearing in numerous Gilbert and Sullivan productions while still a graduate student at Columbia University. He was also a founding member of the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, playing Polonius in “Hamlet,” Duncan in “Macbeth,” Cleante in “Tartuffe,” Amiens in “As You Like It,” Leonato in “Much Ado About Nothing,” and Balthasar in “Comedy of Errors.” With student film directors in the Johnny Carson School he has played several oddball characters in thesis films, ranging from despondent police detectives, to murderous CIA agents, to philosophical fishermen.