BILLY MCGUIGAN
Audiences just love it when Billy McGuigan isn’t feeling himself — and that’s a good thing. A 1999 UNO graduate, McGuigan has made a career on stage playing others. That began in 2002 when McGuigan, a professional musician, used his guitar to channel the spirit and sound of the legendary Buddy Holly at the Omaha Community Playhouse. He’s done so more than 2,000 times since in his own stage show, “Rave On! The Buddy Holly Experience,” and more than 450 times in “The Buddy Holly Story.” Next came the live-request hit “Yesterday and Today,” which includes brothers Matthew and Ryan. The group plays Beatles songs at an audience member’s request, meaning McGuigan and the band must know all 200-plus songs in the group’s anthology. More recent is “Rock Twist,” which features McGuigan as Frank Sinatra, Harry Connick Jr., Paul McCartney and others. The shows travel nationally, making McGuigan something of a household name in Omaha, as noted by the record-breaking crowd of 11,000 that came to see him during a 2016 “Jazz on the Green” performance.