Prancer

Chloe is thirteen and a seventh grader at Gretna Middle School. She has an older brother and sister and two pugs. She is a member of show choir, loves school, and spending time with her friends. Most recently, Chloe was seen at Omaha Community Playhouse in "To Kill A Mockingbird" (Scout). At The Rose, Chloe has enjoyed roles in "Ramona Quimby" (Ramona) in 2014, "A Wrinkle in Time" (Charlie) in 2014, and "Honk!" (Downy) in 2016. Chloe has been in various shows throughout the community including: Creighton University, SNAP Productions, Nebraska Shakespeare, Bellevue Little Theater and Papillion/LaVista Community Theater. Chloe is so honored to play Jessica in this world premiere of "Prancer" at her favorite place, The Rose, and thanks Matt Gutschick for the opportunity.

Nils Haaland began his professional acting career at age 10 after being cast in the lead role of “Dandelion Wine,” a Berkshire Playhouse production of Ray Bradbury’s coming-of-age tale. In 1989 Haaland Graduated with a BFA in Acting from Professional Theatre Training Conservatory at the State University of New York at Purchase. That same year Haaland helped establish the Blue Barn Theatre in conjunction with the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts. The actor, who grew up in rural New York, found Omaha to be an exceedingly generous community and relished the “extraordinary freedom to choose the shows you wanted to perform and pursue the craft as you learned it in school.” After making Omaha his home, Haaland earned his MFA in Theater Arts from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. His resume is as diverse as the roles he’s performed – he’s done voice over work at the national level, directed animated television programs, worked as a staff educator and actor at The Rose Theater, performed the role of Ebenezer Scrooge for Nebraska Theater Caravan. Nils has acted in speaking roles with Opera Omaha and taught workshops for the Omaha Community Playhouse and with Shakespeare Unbound – the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s touring company, and is the recipient of numerous acting awards, including The Theater Arts Guild Award for Best Actor in A Drama playing Ludwig Von Beethoven in Blue Barn’s production of “33 Variations” by Moises Kaufman.
Nils is grateful to be included in this very fine ensemble of actors, designers and technicians. He also wishes to thank Matt Gutschick for his insightful and compassionate direction. Happy Holidays and a Merry Christmas to all.

This is Louisa’s third performance on The Rose stage. She played Mrs. Beaver in "Narnia" and Ladybird/Aunt Sponge in "James and the Giant Peach." Other local productions include Aetherplough’s "Love and Information," The Witch in "Into The Woods" at Bellevue Little Theatre and "Man From Nebraska" at The Blue Barn Theatre. She is a clinical psychologist and a registered drama therapist with The Center for Mindful Living.

Moira Mangiameli is a familiar face to area theatergoers, appearing in numerous plays and musicals over the years. Most recently, Moira performed the roles of Lear in Walk the Night: Where Madness Lies, Mrs. Gibbs in Our Town at the Blue Barn Theatre, and Sonia in Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike for SNAP, for which she received the Theatre Arts Guild award for Best Actress. She has directed plays for Creighton University, the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, the Omaha Community Playhouse, the Nebraska Theatre Caravan, Iowa Western Community College, Broad Street Theatre, among others. She is the former Theatre Program Chair at Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs, IA, and served as Director of Education for Nebraska Shakespeare and the Ocala Civic Theatre in Ocala, FL. Moira has also lent her vocal talents to Dino Squad (CBS Saturday Morning cartoons) Harlequin Romance books-on-tape and VH1. Currently, she holds the position of Artistic Director for RESPECT, an educational theatre-based company focusing on helping children and adults form and maintain healthy relationships. Moira is thrilled to be making her debut at the Rose in Prancer.

This is Grant's fourth theater production, and his second production at The Rose Theater. He was previously in "Shrek the Musical"
at The Rose. Grant's very first production was "Little Shop of Horrors" at Millard West High School where he played Seymour Krelbourn. Over the summer he was in "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" at Papillon La Vista Community Theatre, and he participated in the Nebraska High School Theatre Awards where he was selected as one of the top six male musical performers in the state. Grant was selected as a national finalist, and won best leading actor. He also got the privilege to sing with Tony Award Winner, Laura Benanti at the Holland Center. Grant is very honored to play the role of Steve Riggs, and is looking forward to doing more shows at The Rose!

Caulene hails from Fruitland Park, Florida. She graduated in 2013 from Flagler College with a Bachelor’s in Communication (focus cinema and media studies) and Theatre Arts. Since graduation, she freelanced as a director, scenic artist and teaching artist in Pennsylvania and Alabama. Caulene arrived in Omaha in 2014 as a Teaching Artist Fellow with The Rose Theater, where she happily worked for the past two years. Currently, she is a part time teaching artist with The Rose and pursuing her Masters in Theatre Management at UNO. Some favorite theatrical projects include: "Sherlock Holmes and the First Baker Street Irregular" (Wiggins; world premiere at The Rose Theater), "Walk the Night: Visions of Shadows" (Lysandra; immersive theatre project presented by the Blue Barn Theatre), and "A Child’s Garden of Verses" (Actor 4/Musician; theatre for the very young presentation at the Rose Theater). This is Caulene’s first opportunity to puppeteer and is thrilled for the chance to work with this amazing team!

Anna is thrilled to be returning to The Rose stage after puppeteering in last season's world premiere of "Plastic Drastic." Anna received her Bachelor of Arts in acting and directing from the University of Nebraska-Omaha in 2015. At UNO, she originated the role of The Witness in Caridad Svich's "The Archaeology of Dreams." Other credits include Eileen Osbourne in "The Cripple of Inishmaan," Logainne Schwartzandgrubinerre in "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee," and the titular role in Hedda Gabler, for which she was a semi-finalist in the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship competition at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. She also directed a studio production of "The Vagina Monologues" in partnership with UNO, and has appeared in Nebraska Shakespeare’s productions of "Julius Caesar," "The Comedy of Errors," "The Tempest," "The Compleat Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)," and "As You Like It," as well as their regional educational tour of the same show. Anna is currently an actor and educator with RESPECT, using theatre to teach students about healthy relationships. 

After spending two amazing years as a teaching artist at The Rose, Shannon is absolutely thrilled to be back as part of the team bringing Prancer to life! A native of Reading, Pennsylvania, she graduated from Allegheny College with a B.A. in Environmental Studies and a minor in Theater. In her current home base of Portland ME, Shannon recently performed in the PortFringe Theater Festival and in Joan, a cutting of Shakespeare’s Henry VI Part 1. At The Rose, she performed in "The Super Adventures of Nutrition Woman & Dr. Exercise,"" Balloonacy!", "A Palette of Possibility," and "Plastic Drastic" and also directed some awesome young people in "Alice in Wonderland" and Pride Players. Shannon sends huge thanks to Matt for this incredible opportunity, Stephanie for her passion and guidance, Anna for her friendship and energy, Caulene for too many things to count, and to her family for their never-ending support. Enjoy the show!

Stephanie is a full time Teaching Artist and the Director of Youth Productions at The Rose Theater. She previously directed "George and Martha," "Charlotte’s Web" and The Rose’s world premiere of "The Grocer’s Goblin and The Little Mermaid" as well as "The Misfits" and "A Child’s Garden of Verses." She will be writing and directing a TVY adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s "Thumbelina" this January. Stephanie has her MFA in Acting from the University of Iowa, is a certified Yoga instructor, participated in the Diavolo Project: Nebraska, and is a trained puppeteer specializing in shadow puppetry and Bunraku. In the Midwest she has worked puppet builder and director at Cornell College for their production of "The Long Christmas Ride Home." Before moving to Omaha, she lived in NYC where she acted and puppeteered with Taylor Mac and Liz Swados in "Swado’s Jabu" at The Flea Theater, Lee Bruer’s "The Mabou Mines A Dolls House" (both the National and International Tour), "Luces de Bohemia" at Repertorio Espanol, Eric Novak’s "The Bacon Mingus Triptych" at the Voice 4 Vision Puppet Festival, "The Puppet Kitchen" and The Jim Henson Company, "Sesame Street." She would like to thank her Rose family, her husband Chad, son Finn, and Blue. Thank you, Rose Theater goers, for supporting this theater and arts for children in Omaha!

Hannah Mayer is an Omaha-based cellist passionate about contemporary classical music. Ms. Mayer recently created an improvised score for the Shelterbelt Theatre’s production of "Celine Song’s The Feast." Her work was nominated for both an Omaha Entertainment and Arts Award and a Theater Arts Guild award in sound design. Her ambient noise band Screaming Plastic performed at the 2016 Omaha Under the Radar contemporary performance art festival. In July 2015 she participated in several performances for the Omaha Under the Radar festival including Luciano Berio’s Folk Songs at KANEKO and Julia Wolfe’s Believing with Ensemble 768 of UNO. Ms. Mayer was a fellow at the nief-norf summer festival (2015), the fresh inc festival (2014), and the soundSCAPE international composition and performance exchange (2012, 2013). She holds a BM from the University of Nebraska at Omaha School of Music. Ms. Mayer has performed in masterclasses for Yo Yo Ma, Csaba Erdélyi, the Aviv String Quartet, the Strung Out Trio, and the Turtle Island Quartet. She is a student of Tim Strang at the Omaha Conservatory of Music.

Philip Kolbo is a percussionist, composer, and performing ar2st based in Omaha, NE. He performs a diverse repertoire of contemporary mul2-media works as a soloist and in ensemble se@ngs. Philip has performed at events such as Omaha Under the Radar, Kaneko’s Open Soiree, Bemis’ Open House, and the Percussive Arts Society Interna2onal Conven2on. He recently received a Bachelor of Music Performance Degree from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, studying with Dr. ScoM Shinbara. Philip is a barista at Omaha coffee shop, Muglife.