Harold and the Purple Crayon

Dan Chevalier is thrilled to be back at The Rose after previously appearing in The True Story of the Three Little Pigs as Alex T. Wolf and in Honk! as Ugly. Over the past decade, Dan has appeared on stage at many theaters in the Omaha area, including the Omaha Community Playhouse, Bellevue Little Theatre, Chanticleer Theatre, and Shelterbelt Theatre. Some favorite roles include Snail in A Year with Frog and Toad, Bud in Gutenberg! The Musical!, and Leaf Coneybear in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Dan is a graduate of the University of Nebraska-Omaha.

Ashley Laverty was most recently seen as Lillian McGill in The Rose's production of The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. Ashley is a full time Teaching Artist at the Rose Theater and originally hails from Massachusetts! She holds an M.F.A in Theatre for Youth from Arizona State University and a B.A. in Theatre Arts with a concentration in Musical Theatre from Point Park University's Conservatory of Performing Arts. Ashley is a theatre maker, playwright, director and actor. She has performed nationally for young audiences with the National Theatre for Children, VEE Corporation, Roxy Regional Theatre, Vital Theatre Company, and Storyland, a family amusement park. For more information: www.ashleylaverty.com.

Alphonse Kroeten returns to The Rose after playing Papa Bear in The Berenstein Bears Save Christmas and the Guard in The Wizard of Oz. He also played the Monkey in The Little Engine That Could Rose touring show. We are pleased to have him back on stage at The Rose!

Rachel L. Aalund Griggs is a Lyric Soprano originally from Beulah, ND. She moved to Omaha after finishing her Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from Midland University (then Midland Lutheran College).

Currently, Rachel is working with the community as Omaha Conservatory of Music’s Community Engagement Coordinator. She also serves as a Voice Artist-Faculty and Brass, Wind, Guitar and Voice Department Head for OCM. Rachel is a member of National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) and also teaches private lessons at Cornerstone Christian School.

She has performed with a number of groups in the area including The Rangbrook Ensemble, Mastersingers, Masterworks, Class Act Productions, Fremont Festival Choir and Opera Omaha Chorus. Rachel is an engaging instructor, conductor, private lesson teacher and administrator.

Matthew’s recent directing credits at The Rose include this season's world premiere production of Prancer; Disney's The Little Mermaid; A Christmas Story; Disney's Mary Poppins; Robin Hood; and Ramona Quimby.  Other directing credits include Cyrano with Parallel 45, The Sparrow, Twelfth Night and Anon(ymous) at the Interlochen Center for the Arts, Wuthering Heights at the Mint Theatre in New York, and Whacked Fairy Tales at Twin City Stage.  His plays have been workshopped/produced by Wordsmyth Theatre Company, Horse Trade Theater Group (NYC), Reverie Productions (NYC), Tri Sate Actors’ Theatre, and Magic Chicago.  Matthew’s work for MagicMouth Theatre won a New Horizons Playwriting Award and the company premiered a new magic-theatre piece, A Christmas Carol In Prose with Parallel 45 in Traverse City, MI.  He is the former artistic director of the Children’s Theatre of Winston-Salem and completed a fellowship with the Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis under the mentorship of Peter Brosius.  Matthew assisted Peter Brosius on productions of 500 Hats of Bartholemew Cubbins and A Christmas Story.  He is a former Managing Director of the Yale Cabaret where he produced over 14 world premieres.  Matthew is also the recipient of a Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation Fellowship in Entrepreneurship, a member of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab, and a graduate of the School at Steppenwolf.  He holds a BA in Theater from Wake Forest University and received an MFA in Theater Management from the Yale School of Drama.  He is in his fifth season as artistic director of The Rose.