Matilda – Maddie is excited to return to The Rose Theater and to play her dream role, Matilda. She will be an eighth grader at Brownell-Talbot School in the fall. Maddie made her Rose Theater debut in The Doll Maker’s Gift, earlier this year as Nora. Her previous theater credits include productions at the Omaha Community Playhouse, including Little Fiona in Shrek The Musical (2018) , James Trotter in James and the Giant Peach (2018) , Chip in Beauty and the Beast (2017) and A Christmas Carol (2015 – 2018) playing the roles of Girl with Sled, Belinda Cratchit and Fan. In her spare time, Maddie loves to read, play her guitar and ukulele, listen to her favorite music on Spotify, and spend time with her beloved dog, Mori. Maddie is so grateful to be a part of this beautiful show and to help inspire everyone to discover their true voice!
Trunchbull – Joey returns to the Rose stage after previously appearing as Francis in Big Nate! Other local credits: Madame de la Grande Bouche – Beauty and the Beast, Hertz Klinemann – Rock of Ages, Simon Zealotes – Jesus Christ Superstar, Angel City Tenor – City of Angels (Omaha Community Playhouse). William Barfee – The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Daddy Brubeck – Sweet Charity (Ralston Community Theatre). Blanchet – Thank You For Being A Friend: The Unauthorized Golden Girls Musical Parody (Shelterbelt Theatre). Ethel Merman – Christmas With The Crawfords (SNAP Productions). Veronica’s Dad/Kurt’s Dad/Principal – Heathers The Musical (Blue Barn Theatre). Avid video game fan. Ask me about Final Fantasy. Many thanks to husband Mark for taking care of our fur children while I’m so busy.
Miss Honey – Melissa King is thrilled to be back on The Rose Theater stage for Matilda The Musical. She has been active in the Omaha theater community for the past several years, with some recent shows including Faust (Opera Omaha-Supernumerary), Bold Girls (Brigit St Brigit- Marie Donnelly), Elf The Musical (The Rose Theater- Emily Hobbs), and Parade (OCP- Mrs. Phagan). As a bit of a Renaissance woman, she has been an artist of all kinds, from a nationally touring performer, to short film actor, costume and fashion designer, teaching artist, composer, and novelist. She graduated from the American Musical and Dramatic Academy’s musical theater conservatory program with a CPPT, is a proud wife and mother, and is joyfully pursuing a career as a performer once again.
Mr. Wormwood – Zach Kloppenborg is thrilled to be performing in another production at The Rose Theater! He is an Omaha actor and costume designer whose past acting credits include: Chorus 1 in Return to Niobrara (The Rose); Santa Claus in Elf The Musical (The Rose); Scurvy Sam and others in Judy Moody and Stink; The Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Treasure Hunt (The Rose); the Musician in Shakespeare In Love (OCP); Carmen Ghia in The Producers (OCP); Drake and Greylag in HONK! Jr. (The Rose); and Fighting Prawn and others in Peter and the Starcatcher (The Rose). His costume design credits include: Baskerville (Bellevue Little Theatre); Bent (SNAP!); Much Ado About Nothing (Bellevue Little Theatre); and The Feast (The Shelterbelt). During the run of Matilda, he will also be working as a stitcher for Shakespeare on the Green’s 2019 productions of As You Like It and Hamlet. He spends most of his free time rearranging furniture and slowly killing houseplants with his wife of eight years, Mariel, and their cockapoo, Ozzy.
Mrs. Wormwood – Sarah is delighted to appear in her fifth Rose production (previous: Elf, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Sherlock Holmes and the First Baker Street Irregular, Peter Pan). Credits include Heathers (Ms. Fleming), The Blue Barn Theatre, Omaha, NE; The Light in the Piazza (Signora Naccarelli), Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, St. Paul, MN; Boeing Boeing (Gretchen), Paul Bunyan Playhouse, Bemidji, MN; Sunset Boulevard (Norma Desmond), New Century Theater, Minneapolis, MN; Carousel (Nettie Fowler) Bucks County Playhouse (PA). Regional: The Blue Barn Theatre (NE), Chanhassen Dinner Theatres (MN), Skylark Opera (MN), Lyric Opera of the North (MN), Mixed Blood Theatre (MN), Theatre L’Homme Dieu (MN), Pioneer Place on Fifth (MN), Park Square Theatre (MN), Fiesta Dinner Theatre (NJ), Pocono Playhouse (PA), and the historic Highfield Theatre on Cape Cod (MA). In addition to performing, Sarah maintains a private voice studio and teaches Musical Theater for The Rose.
Michael Wormwood/Dad 4 – is thrilled to be back at The Rose, having performed in last year’s Newsies as both a newsie and Teddy Roosevelt. Having recently graduated from Nebraska Wesleyan University, Jonathan now holds a BFA in Musical Theatre. Originally from Stavanger, Norway, home for Jonathan is Houston, Texas. Some favorite past productions include Xanadu (Danny Maguire/Zeus), The Robber Bridegroom (Clemment Musgrove), The Drowsy Chaperone (George), The Bridges of Madison County (Charlie), The Addams Family (Uncle Fester), and Into the Woods (Baker). He would like to thank The Rose for letting him be a part of this show, as well as the cast and crew for making the process wonderful! Enjoy the show!
Mrs. Phelps – Brissa holds a B.A. in Theater with a focus in Theater for Young Audiences from Brenau University & trained with Gainesville Theater Alliance. She is thrilled to be back on the stage this season as Mrs. Phelps! Previous favorite roles have been Ama/Enrique in Tomas and The Library Lady, Queen Willow in Mermaid Song & Ms. Hannigan in Annie. You may have previously seen her on the Rose Stage as Watty in The Little Engine that Could, Thumbelina or in The Adventures of Silver Cash: Money Detective! She would like to thank the cast and production of Matilda The Musical for creating an empowering story filled with creativity & growth! She hopes you enjoy the show & allow yourself to be transformed with the power of theater!
Escapologist/Dad 2/Big Kid – My name is Danny Enriquez. I am 27 years old and am playing the part of Escapologist in Matilda The Musical. I graduated from Georgia State University with a bachelor degree in biological science. I am a dancer, singer and actor and I have been doing stage productions in Atlanta, Ga since high school. Recently, I performed with the Atlanta Opera as a chorister in their production of Maria de Buenos Aires. I am new to Omaha and this is my first production with The Rose Theater but I look forward to doing more here in the future. Some of my hobbies include marine biology, fire poi, and flying trapeze.
Acrobat/Mom 2/Big Kid – Kendra Ball is delighted to return to The Rose Theater stage for her fifth production (previous: Judy Moody & Stink (Judy Moody), Elf: The Musical, Wonderland: Alice’s Rock & Roll Adventure, and Madagascar). Kendra received her B.F.A. in Theatre for Youth from Samford University, and she has worked with Lexington Children’s Theatre, the Virginia Samford Theatre, and Center Stage Dance Studio as a performer, teaching artist, director, playwright, and choreographer. Some of her favorite performance credits include Peter Pan (Peter Pan), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Puck), Jane Eyre: A Musical Drama (Grace Poole), and a one-woman show entitled The Amish Project. This August, Kendra will move to Tempe, AZ, to pursue her M.F.A. in Theatre for Youth at Arizona State University. During her studies she will be developing new works for youth (including Theatre for the Very Young), devising for social change and justice, and researching the ways in which creative problem solving through the arts mirrors the scientific method. As she likes to say: May we always strive to push ourselves to the limits of creativity and test the boundaries of our imaginations!
Doctor/Henchman/Big Kid – Ben is excited to be back on The Rose Stage again after his performance last summer in Newsies, where he played Oscar Delancey and Featured Tap Dancer. Previous Rose credits include Tubby Ted (Peter and the Starcatcher), Skut Farkus (A Christmas Story), and Frederick Von Trapp (Sound of Music). He currently is a Senior BFA Theatre Performance Major at Creighton University, where he has been seen as Warner Huntington III (Legally Blonde), Chuck Biggs (She Kills Monsters), and Andrei Prozorav (Three Sisters). Other credits include Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz (Sumter Amphitheater), Ricky Lee in Catherland (Shelterbelt), and Freddy in Carrie the Musical (SNAP! Productions). He would like to thank his parents for always supporting him, his friends for making him so happy, and the Rose Theatre for providing the best place to grow up.
Rudolpho/Dad 1 – Fran is excited to be back at The Rose Theater for his third production. Past credits include ensemble, Elf: The Musical, Romeo – Newsies, Nikkos/Grandmaster Chad – Legally Blonde: The Musical, Creighton University. Fran would like to thank the Matilda family for making this experience another fun and loving one at The Rose!
Amanda – Meghan is a fifth grader at St Wenceslaus School. This is her first main stage role at The Rose Theater. Over the past year, she was a member of The Rose Brigade and attended the Junior Theater Festival In Atlanta, Georgia. She was a member of The Dance Lab at The Rose. Meghan enjoys taking dance, singing, and acting classes at the Rose. She is excited to be playing Amanda and hopes you enjoy the show!
Lavender – Eva is excited to make her debut at The Rose Theater. Matilda has always been one of her favorite Roald Dahl books, and it is a dream come true to perform in Matilda, the Musical. Eva has also appeared at the Jewish Community Center Theater in Annie (Molly), Peter Pan (Jukes), Oklahoma! and Fiddler on the Roof. She will be a sixth grader and enjoys reading, cooking, riding her bike and playing the violin. She is especially grateful to share this experience with her sister, Lillian, who just graduated high school and will be leaving this fall. Eva thanks her family, friends and teachers for their encouragement and support.
Alice – Chase is in the 6thgrade at Alice Buffet Middle School. She has been attending classes at The Rose Theater since she was 6 years old. She loves dancing, singing and musical theater. Chase has also had roles in Madagascar and The Best Christmas Pageant Ever here at The Rose Theater.
Hortensia – Summer is excited to be making her debut on The Rose’s mainstage as Hortensia in Matilda The Musical! Originally from Elk Grove, California, she starred in her first role as Ida Walters in Toby Johnson Middle School’s production of another Roald Dahl story, James and the Giant Peach, Jr. (2017), and performed as Theseus in the school district’s puzzle play production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2018). Most recently, Summer starred as White in Elkhorn Valley View Middle School’s production of Dystopia: The Hungry Maze Game of Divergent Death (2019). Summer loves everything BROADWAY, and dreams of performing on the New York professional stage!
Eric – Artie started acting and dancing at his church, Salem Baptist Church, for the Easter and Holiday productions. the Easter one happens at the church, and the Holiday one, which is called Joyful Noise, at the Holland Center. My church roles have been an angel, crowd members, a kid in a family, Malchus, and lately Peter the disciple. Also, at my elementary school, Central Park, I got this role where I announced the upcoming songs for the holiday program. The character was called Joel Gingerbread. After fifth grade, I graduated from Central Park, and in sixth grade, I moved to Davis Middle School. It was my opportunity to act in a school play. Even though I got the role of Nerdy Actor, which was the smallest part in the play, I still made people laugh the moment I got on stage. I even worked harder to get in the one act plays they were doing and I got the male lead role of Bert in the secret holiday play Good News. My sixth grade roles were Nerdy Actor, Construction Worker, Bert, and Timmy. Then in seventh grade, I got even better parts of Hansel, Tiny Bear, Comedia Dell’arte, and Joel March. My first musical was at Northwest High School called The Battle of Boat, where I played Jimmy Biggs. And through all this, I sent in my email information for The Rose Theater, and I was so exited when they emailed me back. And from that, I went there, auditioned, made callbacks, and I got into The Rose Theater!
Bruce – Jonas is thrilled to be R-E-V-O-L-T-I-N-G with his friends this summer! He previously appeared on the Rose mainstage in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever: The Musical (Ollie Herdman) and Peter Pan (Tweedles). He has also enjoyed various projects in the metro area, including Ibsen’s Madrigal Christmasse Feaste (Children’s Chorus), Dundee Drama Club’s Thriller flash mob (Guest Zombie Dancer), Chanticleer’s G2K Cinderella (Chef/Rat), and the Junior Rose Brigade (Madagascar). An upcoming 6th grader, Jonas likes to work on the tech team at church, play baseball, draw, and train his dog, Bodie, to sing!
Nigel – Judson is excited to be making his debut on The Rose’s mainstage as Nigel in Matilda The Musical! You may have seen him on stage at the Omaha Community Playhouse in A Christmas Carol (2016, 2017, & 2018), as the Pepper Shaker in Beauty and the Beast (2017), and as Baby Bear in Shrek The Musical (2018). Other area credits include Wally Webb in Our Town at UNO (2017) and Lollipop Guild Tough Guy in The Wizard of Oz at the Elkhorn Community Theatre (2018). Judson lives on a farm outside of Kennard and he just finished 4th grade in the Blair Community School District. He enjoys EVERYTHING Broadway and Roald Dahl is his favorite author. Judson’s very first theatre experience was coming to The Rose as an infant in his car seat carrier; he is extremely thankful and excited to now be performing on the same stage where his love of theatre was founded!
Tommy – I am very excited about this upcoming show. It is my first show and I am intrigued to perform in front of friends and family. Being in a special event at The Rose makes me feel like I am famous knowing that I am not.
Big Kid – Lillian Cohen is excited to return to the Rose Theater stage after last performing in Madeline’s Christmas. She has most recently appeared in Cinderella at Brownell Talbot School, Singing in the Rain and James and the Giant Peach at the Omaha Community Playhouse, and The Music Man at the Bellevue Little Theater. Lillian recently graduated from Brownell Talbot High School and will be attending Kivunim, a gap year program, in the fall.
Big Kid – My name is Olivia Hess, and I have been with The Rose Theater since I was 7 years old. I have been a member of The Rose Brigade and Broadway at The Rose Intensive Student and Competitive dancer for about eight years. My first show and most treasured memory of my early theater days was being cast of the Young Kangaroo in Seussical the Musical, here at The Rose in 2011. Since then, I have been in Tarzan, Mary Poppins, The Little Mermaid, Peter Pan, plus this years production of Matilda and a High School Intern! This year, I graduated from Marian High School and will be attending Loyola University Chicago to double major in vocal performance and forensic science with a minor in musical theater. I’m so excited to wrap up my childhood experiences here with this wonderful show and cast. Special thanks to my parents who always supported me, and Sue Booton for giving me the love of theater.
Big Kid – Chisom Anyaegbunam is making her community theatre debut here at The Rose Theater. Chisom will be a junior this upcoming school year at Burke High School. She has been involved in other school productions including Big Fish and You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown!, in which she played Lucy van Pelt. Chisom is a member of her school’s varsity show choir and enjoys working with diverse music genres and styles. In her free time, she can be found writing poetry or practicing her tumbling skills. In the community, she works with local kids, teaching hip hop, jazz and contemporary dance. Chisom thanks her family, her friends, and the wonderful production team for making all this magic possible.
Big Kid – Kaylee is happy to be back on The Rose stage after her last appearance in the holiday show, Prancer. Kaylee has also been seen in Stranger in Paradise with Opera Omaha, Sweeney Todd at the Chanticleer Theater and Music Man at the Bellevue Little Theater. Kaylee loves to dance and is a part of The Rose’s competitive dance team, The Dance Lab at The Rose. Kaylee would like to thank her family and friends for all of their love and support.
Big Kid – Chuck is thrilled and honored to return to The Rose Theater. After debuting as the Captain Doll in The Doll Maker’s Gift, he is excited to be back on stage. He is a freshman at Gretna High School where he played Benjamin in Suffer Not, an original one act play. He is actively involved in drama club and is a member of the speech team. Apart from performing, Chuck enjoys writing and spending time with his friends and family. He plans to continue acting and musical theater and is extremely thankful to all who encourage and support him in the pursuit of his dreams.
Big Kid – Elliot Kerkhofs (Big Kid) is excited to be a part of the Matilda cast. He most recently appeared in March at the Bellevue Little Theater in She Loves Me. He has previously appeared on stage at The Rose in Goosebumps: The Phantom of the Auditorium (Zeke), Prancer (Gavin), Peter Pan (Lost Boy), and Madagascar Jr. (ensemble). In January 2018, Elliot was honored with the Individual Excellence in Acting award at the Junior Theater Festival in Atlanta, GA, as a member of The Rose Brigade. Elliot hopes to make a career of his love for performing and is grateful to everyone at The Rose for the instruction, guidance, and opportunity to learn and grow in the arts.
Big Kid – John Kinney is an actor at his high school and now making his debut in community theatre here at The Rose! He has been in the following shows: The Miracle Worker, You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown, 14 Lines, and Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dream coat. He is beyond excited for you to see the show and hopes that you have as much fun as he and his cast mates had putting the show together!
Sergei/Dad 3/Big Kid – Earl is thrilled to be making his Rose Theater debut! An Omaha based performer, he spent the last two years studying Vocal Performance at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. He hopes to transfer to a school in the Big Apple to continue his studies in performing arts. His credits include – Gregory Robinson in THE BUBBLY BLACK GIRL SHEDS HER CHAMELEON SKIN (The Union for Contemporary Art), Once On This Island and In The Heights with Snap Productions! and so much more!
He would also like to thank his friends, family, and those who come out to support the cast and the show, he hopes you all enjoy it!
Henchman/Big Kid – Katie is extremely excited for her first production at The Rose! For the past five years she has been traveling, performing, and teaching with The Young Americans. Through this organization she has gotten to experience incredible places such as Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Spain, Germany, The Netherlands, Poland, and many states across America. Katie is originally from Grand Island and is currently attending The University of Nebraska at Omaha.