In the majestic mountains of India, Monkey spends her days playing with her animal friends in a lovely jungle, but she notices that it has become hot and dry and the rain hasn’t fallen in the rainforest for many weeks. Monkey’s mother tells her of an old legend that a dancing peacock can bring the rains. But when Monkey and her friend Baby Elephant try dancing to no avail, she decides she must go on a quest to find the magical Peacock and return water to the jungle. Based on a magnificent myth from India and exploring the rich beauty of Southeastern Asia, A Bucket of Blessings offers our youngest audience members a lovely legend of play and perseverance as an introduction to the theater.
Monkey – Maddie Grissom
Peacock/Baby Elephant – Alease Timbers
Musician – Alphonse Kroeten
Director – Hayley Greenstreet
Assistant Director – Jessica Burrill-Logue
Choreographer – Mallika Jayanti
Cultural Consultant – Nethra Viswaroopan
Production Stage Manager – Kira Sheffer
Scenic Designer – Lauren Crabtree
Costume Designer – Sherri Geerdes
Hair & Makeup Designer – Zachary Kloppenborg
Lighting Designer – Bailee Boisclair
Sound Designer – Christy Hernandez
Director of Production – Erin M. Solemsaas
Technical Director – Hunter Andrews
Lighting & Sound Designer – Craig S. Moxon
Props Mistress – Devon Denn-Young
Resident Stage Manager – Lisa Krabbenhoft
Scenic Charge Artist – Savannah Savick
Master Carpenter – Jackson Curtright
Scenic Apprentice – Megan Bolander
Stitchers – Sherri Geerdes, Zachary Kloppenborg, Jill Maenner
Monkey -
Maddie Grissom is thrilled to be a Teaching Artist Fellow this year at The Rose Theater. A recent graduate of The University of Northern Iowa, Maddie earned her BA in Theatre for Youth. Following her passions for teaching and working with young people, Maddie is excited to be back on the stage acting. Past acting credits are To "Touch the Moon," "Guys and Dolls," "A Midsummer Night's Dream," and "Wizard of Oz."
Peacock/Baby Elephant -
Alease Arizona Timbers is excited to be back on the stage for the first time in 4 years. This will be her first performance since playing Dionne in Fayetteville States Production of “Hair”. She grew up in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and graduated from Fayetteville State University with a BA in Theatre and a minor in Dance in 2015. Then received her lateral entry licensure from UNC Asheville. She’s spent the last 5 years directing, teaching and choreographing in North Carolina, Up State New York & Pennsylvania. She has most recently directed “Footloose” at South View High School, “Disney’s Frozen Jr” and "School House Rock Live" at Temple Theatre and “Anansi and Friends” at Fayetteville State University. She has also worked Bristol Valley’s Theater as their “Children Program coordinator” for Summer 2019.
Musician -
Alphonse Kroeten made his acting debut in 2002 as Ren in "Footloose The Musical." Since then, he has performed on over one hundred stages across the United States and Europe, including Disney’s Animal Kingdom, New York City’s David Geffen Hall, and Norte Dame in Paris. After attending Midland Lutheran College and attaining his B.A. in Music, under direct tutelage of nationally recognized composers/directors Dr. Eric Richards and Jim Elsberry, Alphonse began touring nationally, with Omaha Theater Company, in "The Little Engine That Could" (2010), "Three Merser Meyer Classics" (2011), and "Diary of A Worm, A Spider, and A Fly" (2014). Alphonse is thrilled to be returning to The Rose Theater main stage after appearing as Emile in "Goosebumps The Musical: The Phantom of The Auditorium," Tall Boy in "Judy Moody & Stink: The Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Treasure Hunt", Phinneas in "Curious George and The Golden Meatball," King Julien in "Madagascar: A Musical Adventure," and in "Peter Pan" and "Harold and The Purple Crayon."
Director -
Hayley Greenstreet comes from Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She earned her BA in Theatre from Wake Forest University in 2015. Since graduating she has worked as an Education Intern at Lexington Children's Theater in Kentucky and is returning for her fourth year as a Rose Teaching Artist! She has most recently directed in The Rose's Teens N Theater productions of "Young Playwrights Festival" and "Pride Players 20." She is excited to be working as a director for the First Stage Series here at The Rose. This past year she had the thrilling opportunity to work with TVY production as the Assistant Director to Kerfuffle's "Nested" - a devised theater experience for the very young at The Union for Contemporary Art. She hopes to continue her work with Theater for Young Audiences by attending grad school in the upcoming years (though she is not sure where yet)! She is so very happy to be working at The Rose Theater where she and the rest of the wonderful education staff continue to engage, inspire, and empower students every day. Thank you for joining us, and we hope that you enjoy our production of "A Bucket of Blessings!"
Choreographer -
Mallika Jayanti is an exponent of Bharatanatyam dance. Dedicated to promote the art form across globe, she has performed and conducted workshops, lec-dems, classes in three different continents and various countries. For this, she travels extensively, organizing and participating in various events. She has received intensive training in Bharatanatyam and in Kuchipudi as well. Her training in Bharatanatyam started at an early age, when she was only 3 yrs old. She has been performing since the last 15 years on several stages across India, Australia and USA. Many newspapers reviewed her dancing and said that she is the most promising and talented dancer of recent times.
She earned a national recognition of "Natya Sri" in the year 2008 and an international recognition of "Nrutya Praveena" in the year 2012 at International Dance Congress, for her contribution in the field of “Bharatanatyam”. Currently she is teaching Bharanatyam for Gurukulam in Omaha.
Cultural Consultant -
Nethra Viswaroopan is from Springs, Colorado. She is currently a sophomore at Creighton University with a Biochemistry Major on the Pre-Medicine track with a minor in French. She has been doing Indian Classical dance since she was 6, and has been a certified classical trainer since 2013. Besides Indian Classical dance, she has also studied contemporary, hiphop, and bollywood for more than 12 years!
First Stage: A small stage for big imaginations
Our FIRST STAGE productions feature:
The Rose’s Hitchcock Stage (a smaller theater space located on our 4th floor), allows children to become completely absorbed in the theatrical experience. We encourage their interaction with the performers and invite your family to tear down the fourth wall and become a part of the performance.
Purchase a FIRST STAGE+ PACKAGE for $75 and receive 4 tickets to A Bucket of Blessings, The Little Engine That Could AND the mainstage production of Corduroy! Plus, receive 2 sample dance and drama classes to give your preschooler a jump start into the arts!
A few minutes after the performance, our actors will conduct a Question & Answer session from the stage. It’s a wonderful opportunity to learn more about the scenery, costumes, special effects, and other aspects of the production. The actors may even have a question or two for you about the story.
Some performers will be available after the show to say hello, pose in pictures, and sign their autographs for you. You can meet them on the mezzanine level right outside the entrance to our balcony level seats.
Everyone deserves a chance to experience the magic of theater. Performances are open to children and family members of all abilities. Click here to learn more about accessibility at The Rose.
A social story is a tool that helps individuals better understand the world around them so they can plan for a positive experience, even if they are going into an place that is unknown to them. Social stories help individuals know what to expect and what to do in unfamiliar situations by walking them through the experience. They are often used by individuals on the autism spectrum, children with sensory needs or those with other special needs. They can be very helpful for very young children anticipating their first theatrical experience. The Rose’s social stories feature photos of all areas of the theater to help children of all abilities with a step-by-step explanation of what it is like to visit The Rose, as well as answering questions they may have. Click here to access The Rose’s show-specific social stories.
The Rose is located in downtown Omaha at 2001 Farnam Street on the southwest corner of 20th & Farnam Streets.
From west Omaha, take I-80 East to 1-480 North and exit onto 20th Street. The Rose is located on Farnam Street, approximately three blocks south of the 20th Street exit.
Parking is available for $2 in the parking garage at 19th & Harney, courtesy of the Omaha Douglas Public Building Commission (1910 Harney St., Omaha, NE 68102).
Parking meters surrounding the theater are active from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Saturday, with free parking available on Sundays and holidays.
