Katie Copple

07/12/2026

I wish I would have had more time to try other pickle items, but I LOVE DILL PICKLES and Jefferson Beer Supply!

07/09/2026

A little Sioux City Explorers action tonight!

07/07/2026

BROADWAY EPISODE 4: GIULIA - THE POISON QUEEN OF PALERMO

Most nights in New York, the crowds are heading toward the bright lights of Broadway.

On June 28, I found myself walking the other direction for my final show.

From the Theater District to the World Trade Center, every step felt like I was leaving behind the familiar and heading toward something new. Waiting for me at PAC NYC was the first preview of Giulia and by the final curtain, I knew the walk had been worth it.

As a longtime fan of Jennifer Nettles of the country music duo, Sugarland, I was excited to see her on stage, in a musical she wrote and stars in. She delivered exactly what I hoped for: a performance filled with strength, vulnerability, and heart.

But what stayed with me most was the story itself.

Years of telling stories in television taught me that the best ones don't end when the camera stops rolling. They follow you home. They make you think. They invite you to see the world and the people in it a little differently.

Giulia is one of those stories. It’s based off of a real woman from 1560s Rome who creates a deadly poison to help women escape their abusive husbands. But then everything gets out of hand.

The ending isn’t at all what you expected. It left me utterly speechless. This show will be on Broadway before we know it.

Sometimes the best theater isn't found where everyone expects it. Sometimes it's waiting just a few subway stops, or a long walk, away.

07/06/2026

BROADWAY EPISODE 3: Every Brilliant Thing

Show 3 was the show that brought me to NYC.

Every Brilliant Thing is a play featuring a single performer and their audience.

It’s a collaborative, immersive theatre experience where the actor/narrator takes the audience through their life living with a parent who attempted su***de twice, beginning in childhood.

That first attempt led them to create a list of Brilliant Things in the world to show their parent, and themselves, that there are many things worth living for.

The smell of fresh cut flowers.

Rollercoasters.

Watching an episode of your favorite TV show.

Petting a cat and hearing them purr.

Before the performance, the actor/narrator spends time walking through the audience as people find their seats, “casting” the rest of the play, handing out cards with numbers, and brilliant things, to be shouted out during the 90min show.

Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) received a Tony Award nomination for this play, originating the role on Broadway and exiting in May.

When it was announced that Mariska Hargitay, who has played Captain Olivia Benson on NBC’s Law and Order SVU for 27 years, would be making her stage debut, leading 40 shows of Every Brilliant Thing in June, I knew I had to make the trip!

Anyone who knows me knows SVU is my favorite TV show! So what better time to return to Broadway and NYC!?

Playing someone on screen as serious as Captain Olivia Benson, especially for as long as she has, I wasn’t sure what to expect from Mariska Hargitay leading this one-woman show, especially with the more comedic moments, and there were plenty! But there was not a moment during the 90min show where she wasn’t in full command of that stage and the story. She had the audience laughing, and crying, tackling a hard and raw topic like depression and su***de.

This was the one ticket I purchased ahead of my trip! I snagged a seat on the stage, and got to witness one of the most brilliant plays of my life.

Sitting on stage, we were ushered out the stage door, where hundreds waited for Mariska Hargitay to leave. Before the show, I’d met two other solo theatre-goers and we caught up afterwards at the stage door. Theatre really does bring people together!

I’ll admit, I’m not someone who typically loves a play. I’m a musical girl through and through. But regardless of the actor on the stage, this play was life-changing. It really put into perspective that even in the darkest days, there are brilliant things all around us.

The smell of an old book.

Finding the perfect song to match how you’re feeling.

Laughing so hard you snort.

Bubble wrap.

Seeing the lead actor of your favorite TV show take on a Broadway play and getting a chance to be in the audience.

Needless to say, this show was brilliant, and has inspired me to create my own list of Brilliant Things as a simple reminder that there is beauty all around us.

Oh, and Reese Witherspoon and Kristin Chenoweth were also in the audience. Check the comments for a really bad photo 🤷🏼‍♀️

07/05/2026

BROADWAY EPISODE 2: Death Becomes Her

A viral sound on TikTok first introduced me to this musical. I fell in love with the cast album last year, but with only a limited number of opportunities and too many shows I wanted to see on my short NYC trip, I wasn’t sure this would make the list.

Then, it announced its final performance, happening the weekend I’d be in the city.

Then I arrive at my hotel, and the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre was next door.

I took that as a sign and Death Becomes Her became show #2!

This musical is your traditional Broadway musical, filled with catchy music, showy costumes, and big names.

Based off of the 1992 movie by the same name, Death Becomes Her is a raunchy comedy that plays on death, living forever, and realizing your soulmate is actually your best friend.

I bought my ticket for the Saturday night performance, its second to last, snagging a last-minute 7th row seat in the orchestra.

This cast is HUGE in name, with Michelle Williams (Destiny’s Child) and Broadway greats Betsy Wolfe, Jennifer Simard, and Christopher Sieber starring.

This show blew me away! I was prepared for the great music, but the comedic timing of this show was the best I’ve experienced! Plus the costuming… out of this world.

I can see why so many have been shocked at this show closing.

This is one that I would have seen again and again if I could!

Thankfully, Death Becomes Her is going on a National Tour this fall and will be in Omaha!

Also, I have had this cast album on repeat for a week.

07/03/2026

BROADWAY EPISODE 1: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

When I landed in New York City around noon on June 27, I had roughly 48 hours in the city. My one goal?

Broadway.

Show #1 was unplanned. I came into Saturday with no tickets, with a plan to figure out which matinee to see once I made it to the Theatre District.

Let me tell you, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was NOT even remotely on my list of possibilities.

Once I checked into my hotel, I went for a walk. The Saturday matinee shows start between 2p and 3p, so my plan was to walk around between the theaters and just see what called to me.

The Cursed Child is a play that has been on Broadway for several years. My last trip to the city, it was running, though as a two part piece.

As I passed the Lyric Theatre, the giant, 150-foot metal wing sculpture caught my attention. It’s not new. But something pulled me to it. Then I saw that Tom Felton was still in his run, reprising his movie role on the stage as Draco Malfoy.

Done.

This was it. Show #1.

It was after 1pm and the doors were already open, with people streaming in to the Lyric. I bought a ticket at the box office and went in.

Immediately, you’re transported into the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. There’s magic everywhere! The concessions were selling Butter beer and Chocolate Frogs. QR codes posted throughout brought the space to live with your cell phone.

The Lyric Theatre is one of the largest Broadway spaces. I snagged a ticket in the second mezzanine in a box on the left. A perfect view of the magic on stage that extended into the audience throughout the performance.

The book was a little cheesy for what I expected for a Harry Potter play, but the storyline and the magic were otherworldly.

The MAGIC! I don’t know how they did it. This production absolutely blew me away with how “real” the magic was!

It’s a long play, running over three hours. But it did not feel long at all. Whatever magic drew me into the Lyric Theatre, I don’t regret spending my return to Broadway in the Wizarding World.

And Tom Felton? He hasn’t lost his Draco Malfoy touch!

06/29/2026

Returned to the city that holds my heart to be immersed into four different, and brilliant worlds.

06/24/2026

Two years ago, a small community in Southeast South Dakota was changed forever.

When flood water tore apart the McCook Lake community, I don’t think anyone knew the reverberating impact it would have on everything and everyone.

I was immersed in that community for days, weeks and months after the flood. What I saw will forever be etched into my memory. The utter devastation. The gaping holes where homes stood just hours before. A community broken, but still standing strong together.

The clips in this video are just a few of hundreds I took walking through with Renae Wakeman Hansen, photos and videos I’ll never be able to delete from my phone. Some which I never published.

The McCook Lake community welcomed me and my camera into their darkest and hardest moments. Not just in the immediate aftermath, but consistently over the last two years.

In my decade as a journalist, I’d covered disasters, floods, fires. But nothing impacted me like this did.

That flood didn’t just change that lakeside community and those who lived there, it changed me, too.

To those who felt safe enough to share your story, your loss, with me, on camera and off, those who opened their doors, who allowed me into your heartbreak and fight to rebuild, I thank you.

06/20/2026

Shop my closet!

Doing a bit of a closet clean-out since leaving the news industry.

Posting on my Poshmark page!

Katie is using Poshmark to sell items from their closet. Poshmark is a fun and simple way to buy and sell fashion. Shop from millions of people—and start selling too!

06/19/2026